Hiking in the Snow

It was another beautiful weekend here in Washington. Its supposed to do nothing but rain once the winter months kick in but we've been treated to sunshine for the last couple weekends. To take advantage, we made sure to spend some time outside. Saturday, our friends and neighbors Karen and Alex invited us for a walk along the bay. We got a bit to eat at the RAM Brewery, which was great. Louis didn't make a peep the whole time we were there despite a rather loud atmosphere from the crowd watching collage football. Once finished we headed out for about an hour-long walk. He made it almost the entire way but about 20 minutes from the finish he woke up with a hungry tummy. After a quick pit stop with Mom on a park bench we were ready to finish our walk.

Sunday morning we woke up early (well around 8am) with the intention of getting an early start out to the mountains. First we made our traditional Sunday breakfast (poached eggs, bacon, and English muffins), then made the cappuccinos, then got Louis ready and packed, then headed out the door. Okay, so it wasn't an early start, but we still got out before 10.

It snowed in the mountains on Friday night so I was hoping that we could find significant snowfall to hike in for the first time of the season. We ventured up to Crystal Mountain, which is a ski resort with a 4000' base. Obviously it isn't open yet but there was plenty of snow (4-6") and plenty of hiking. I brought all my camera gear in anticipation of beautiful scenery but as I got out of the car I discovered that I forgot my memory card at home. Luckily I had our video camera so I was still able to get a couple pictures. This was Louis' first introduction to cold temps and powder but he didn't seem to mind. We managed to stay out for about 2 hours and he slept for just about the entire hike. I'm not sure how old he has to be to get him on skis but I think we'll be able to give it a try in a couple of months :)

We've been trying to get out and see the world as much as we can. Louis eats about every two hours so that gives us little windows for adventures. As long as we can split our days into two-hour segments, he seems to do okay. If Louis remains a good sport, I think this winter will be a lot of fun.

Pictures - We also tried including a video this time. It's in the photo gallery so we'll see how that goes.