After a rainy weekend, Ashland woke up to bright sunshine and new snow up on Grizzly. Our group of eleven were ready for our first snowshoe hike of the season.
The Brown Mountain Shelter was our destination off of the Pederson Nordic Trail, which is part of the PCT and 27 miles up DIM Road.
The drive up for the three SUVs was a bit of an adventure as snow and ice increased on the road as we gained elevation. But all cars made it to the snow-covered TH parking lot with good traction.
Some of us struggled with attaching our snowshoes, including yours truly, as using them again for the first time in 9 months seemed like a new experience all over again!
Finally set, we headed across the road towards the posted blue sign marked Brown Mt. Shelter 2 miles.
The snow trail was in good shape with hard-packed snow and about three feet across giving room for the snowshoes. We didn't have to "break trail" as it was open all the way out to the shelter.
As we happily started out on our hike about half of us stepped out of a snowshoe, sometimes without knowing it!
The group rallied to take care of the unattached, and we were back on our way.
The day was beautiful with no wind and periods of sun breaking through the clouds. Temperatures were in the 20s and 30s, but we were all dressed for Winter conditions.
The forest was a Winter Wonderland with evergreens of all sizes flocked in snow.
We got to the snow-covered, one-room log cabin known as the Brown Mountain Shelter at about noon, some two hours from our start. This was our lunch spot as we squeezed in and found places to sit. At lunch, we all agreed it was a special day for our first snowshoe hike.
After lunch, we assembled outside the cabin for our group photo and discovered two nearby igloos that Linda, Luke, and Liz explored.
Randy decided to use a snowmobile track on the way back to parking, while the rest of us went back the way we came out.
On the hike back we met 4 cross-country skiers.
This first snowshoe hike was 4 miles RT with 400 feet of elevation gain.
Posthike nine stopped at Rogue Valley Roasting Co. for refreshments.
Happy Trails,
Rich
