In early December the doom and gloom of our traditional Pacific Northwest winter weather finally lifted, and on a weekend day no less!

Unfortunately this was also the day we had to stay home in the morning for a fire inspection, so after noon we got in the car and drove to our favorite short snowshoe destination, Skyline Ridge.

I think this was my fourth visit to the Ridge and the cool rock garden, and this was the best trip yet. Blue skies, sunshine, fresh snow on the trees…I was in heaven.

Since we got such a late start and the days are agonizingly short this time of year, we had planned on staying up on the ridge for sunset…

…but unfortunately the clear skies and impressive gusts of wind made this the coldest hike I’ve ever been on. Brrr!

We had a quick lunch, then decided that getting back to the car (and the butt heaters!) was more tempting than alpenglow.

We hurried down just as the mountain gods started painting the sky with pastel colors, and were treated to a surprising splash of hot pink on the way back to the parking lot.

These three miles equaled at least three months of therapy.

- Skyline Ridge | 3 miles | 1300 feet elevation gain -

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