Snowshoeing: A Bucket List Completion

Several days ago, I had a chance opportunity to cross snowshoeing off my bucket list, and I seized it.  Not knowing where to go or what exactly I was getting myself into, I asked an acquaintance at church for some recommendations, and he offered to take me out.  We went to Bear Creek Regional Park, where there's a road over the mountain that's closed in wintertime.  We didn't get to go as far as we wanted because my new snow boots that weren't bought for hiking began to rub, but we did get in about 2.5-3 miles.

Since it was a closed road over a mountain pass, the road took us straight up for as far as we wanted to take it.  Along the way, we passed pine trees draped in snow in picture-perfect fashion, a curtain of ice, and even a stream that still babbled as it meandered down the mountain.  When we finally turned around, we were high enough up to get a gorgeous view of the surrounding mountains as the sun began to set.

The hike down was much easier since it was all downhill, and the crampons on the shoes didn't catch in powder giving a mild skiing sensation.  All in all, the outing was a huge success, giving me the intro I needed before planning an actual snowshoe hike. The next step is to find a time to get the family out!