West Lake Creek Trail {In the Snow}

We've been itching to get out on the snowshoes this winter.  We had planned to do our annual Christmas snowshoe hike, but Gregg wasn't feeling great that day so we just lounged around in our pjs all day.  Then we thought maybe we'd try again on New Years.  Callie and I were less than peppy that day, so again, it was a pajama day for us.  But today the stars finally aligned for us to be healthy and the weather to be warmish.  So we suited up and headed out after Cal's nap.  She was so excited to go on a hike, which makes her parents pretty dang happy.  And she did great, only getting a little fussy/tired/cold/hungry for the last 10 minutes or so.  Can't wait to do it again!

The Stats:
Trail: West Lake Creek (only the first time on snowshoes, but we've hiked this multiple times - something like 4 - in the summer and fall; it's become one of our favorites, but for some reason I have zero posts of those hikes here on the blog.  What's up with that?)
Start time: ~2:30 pm
Back to car time: ~4:00 pm
Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total mileage (according to my fitbit): 3.06 miles

Cal is really catching on to the whole "cheese
it for the camera" idea (as you'll see in many
more photos to come).

Cool snow on the fence at the beginning of the trail.

Sure do love this cheesy girly.

Stopping to breathe and look back at the view.

One of my favorite spots along the trail - you can
just see a snowy New York Mountain (I'm pretty
sure that's what it is) just below the clouds.

A sunny spot.

The snow crystals all along the edges of the trail
were so crazy/interesting/cool looking.

Our turnaround point - a paved road that leads to
the main road and a green house/garden - believe
it or not there were two giant mansions right behind
us in this photo.

More cheese from the cheeser.

Takin' a break from the "hike" (what Cal calls
the backpack) to test out those new boots in the snow.

I think she's having a pretty good time.

And I think she likes her daddy.

One more of the view.  There's New York Mountain again.
My fave.

We traded cargo for the trek back.  I got the squirmy
one and Gregg got the water bottle.

I thought the aspens through this stretch looked so cool with the
snowballs hanging in the branches - almost like they were
decorated for Christmas.

That view again, this time coming back.  The light was
just starting to turn slightly pinky and it was so pretty!