It’s been a mild winter, but this weekend, headed to my parents cabin to prepare for the January Alpine Trails Book Club, we found plenty of snow! After getting a later start than we’d hoped, we wound up venturing off in the dark, armed with headlamps to light our way in the driving snow. By the time Andy, Ingunn, and I made it to the cabin, over an inch of wet snow had accumulated on all our gear. While it took several hours to warm the cabin, we had plenty of blankets along with soup for dinner to warm us. Saturday, the temperature climbed quickly, with snow slipping from the trees in soggy clumps as we hiked out to help Ashley and her family make their way to the cabin.
Read moreGold Creek Pond Snowshoe II
For the second year in a row - third if you count the year nobody came - our January Alpine Trails Book Club outing involved a snowshoe to Gold Creek Pond, followed by an afternoon of tea, snacks, and convivial conversation at my family cabin. Watching the forecast as the date approached, I worried that we’d have a repeat of last year’s epic snowstorm, making for lots of soggy gear and photos smudged and blurred by fat flakes. Happily, by the weekend all predictions of 7-8 inches of show on Sunday had vanished. Instead, our group of 15 set out under a low, dense blanket of familiar wintry grey, with not a glimpse of the surrounding mountains to be found.
Read moreGold Creek Pond Snowshoe
Typically, when planning an Alpine Trails Book Club outing, I start with the book, then wrack my brain to come up with the best possible trail to pair with it. To start off 2018, for once I knew exactly where I wanted to go: a short snowshoe around Gold Creek Pond paired with a stop at my nearby family cabin would be the perfect way to ease out of the holiday season. I envisioned a laid-back morning of snacking, hot beverages, and meandering conversation. The trouble was I couldn't come up with a fitting book, but when Ashley suggested reading The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking, I knew we'd found the perfect combination. I'd already unintentionally planned the perfect hyggelig day for our meeting!
Read moreLife: Week 3
This week was busy with planning and preparation for the January meeting of the Alpine Trails Book Club. We were spending a long weekend at my parents cabin up in the mountains, so every night was spent making large batches of soups and sauces to freeze in preparation for our weekend. After all the busy preparation, arriving at the peaceful cabin was a relief. Friday, we spent a quiet evening watching movies while snow fell outside. Saturday morning, we woke up to several inches of new snow, just enough to decorate the trees and hide our tracks from the hike in. By the afternoon, our group expanded with the addition of Ashley and her little one. After some snowy exploration around the cabin, we settled in for another quiet night of card games and puzzles. We ended the weekend with our perfectly hygge January Alpine Trails Book Club hike, which I'll be sharing soon!
Read moreLife: Week 1
I've never been one for resolutions, but this week I have found myself making plans and setting goals. There's snow in the mountains to play in, but also plenty to keep me indoors for the winter - between the tempting knitting projects I keep finding and my every expanding tower of books to read, I could easily not leave home until summer! It feels like I ended 2017 in a rut, spending much less time outdoors than I need to maintain my sanity. One of my biggest obstacles to getting outside over the year was literally getting out of bed, since working from home allows me to sleep in much later that I used to. A 5 AM wake up call feels a lot earlier when you've become used to getting out of bed at 7:30! For 2018, I'm also trying to cut back on my indoor hobbies to make more time for the outdoor adventures I love so much. I even mentioned to Andy that I'd like to take a break from knitting for at least a few months (after I finish my current project of course), and he not-so-jokingly bet I wouldn't make it three days. I'm nearly finished, so I guess we'll see if he's right!
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