Senior Hiking #388

Jan 24, 2011…Schweitzer - above firehouse …
hike # 388
by Betsy


It snowed all night and Schweitzer got their share…headed up to firehouse to hike in the hills above to the ski run under chair 1. One snowshoer had been on the trail. Headed up Televator Hill...so dubbed by me several years ago because this is where we lift the televators on our snowshoes, making this steep climb a bit easier. The snow was hard to walk in and go more difficult as more snow fell…it was deep, soft and fluffy. I did not lead today. This the longer way…and today it felt like it. We finally got to the main trail, an old jeep trail, at around noon. There had been a bit more traffic here but the snow was still hard to walk on. A slight wind came up but it wasn’t too bad…it just kept blowing the falling snow into my eyeballs in spite of glasses but because it got bothersome on my chin and cheeks, I pulled my zipper all the way to cover up. That helped a lot. The tape measure on the tree showed that they now have almost 6’ at that point…about midway up…more than a foot from last time we were there a couple of weeks ago.

After ditching the tracks we had been following, we decided to head straight up to the run. Traversing sideways on this hill kills my ankles. Wind was getting strong up top so we huddled in a clump of trees to eat our lunch. Saw a few skiers come down thru the fog. No views today. Didn’t put my face mask on but I kept it accessible just in case.

Since we had the time, we drove up into the village to check out a wine and cheese store, thinking we would find something new and different for supper. Nothing worked for me but Jim bought a couple of Lanjaegers, (sp?) which he downed before we even got back to the truck.

It snowed nicely all day…the next day I read that they received 6”. I took not one picture today and Jim took just a handful so just a few will be in the album. Same old, same old…and now views. A hard hike on the ankles and knees…for me.

Left home 10:05Started up 10:30
Got to run 1:15Turned around 1:30Got to truck 2:40
Total miles hiked 7-8 miles…seemed like 28 miles!
Total hiking time 4 hours, 10 minutes…felt like 8 hours!