Growing up in the Midwest you learn to love and hate the weather. And when I say "hate".. I'm referring to the bone-chilling COLD that literally takes your breath away and makes it painful to breathe. Which is why Jenna and I were so shocked to realize we actually missed it! Well not so much the cold, but definitely the snow! We have so many fond memories of fun in the snow including; snowmobiling, building snowmen and snow-tunnels, and just about anything you could invent while being outside surrounded by snow. When you aren't opening your door to freezing conditions and blizzards every day, you really start missing it!
This past weekend Jenna and I united with our awesome friends Nils and Nathan on an adventure to Government Camp, which is a very small town located at the base of Mt. Hood. We've all been kooked up indoors too long and decided it was time for some adventure. Nathan and Nils already owned snowshoes so Jenna and I rented ours from Next Adventure for about $30 dollars (with poles) and packed our bags for some fun in the white powder! If you don't already know, we are in the season of El Nino, which is Spanish for "The Nino" : ) .. It's been an unusually warm and wet winter, so we were nervous nearing Government Camp since we couldn't see any snow. However, after rounding the corner of the mountain we saw it....The SNOW LINE.
There's an indescribable beauty of freshly fallen snow covering tree branches! It's the perfect combination of two opposites merging temporarily to create something beautiful. Driving through the town I couldn't help but snap a picture of the unfolding scene before us!
If you've never been snowshoeing, it's basically like you're on a hike in the snow, except you don't need to drag your feet and struggle as much. The "paddles" work as such so there's less effort needed. However, that doesn't mean I wasn't soar afterwards! I always love hiking or climbing when there is a goal in mind or awesome view along the way, and this view definitely didn't disappoint!
The other element we really enjoyed was the power of the mountain (volcano). Timberline Lodge is a very popular ski resort and we quickly forgot mother nature was also joining us on our trip.We needed to travel past the ski area boundary for the start of our hike and knowing we were on our own was a liberating and intimidating experience. There were times when the high winds, elevation and snow made it very difficult to see even a few feet in from us! It was so crazy wandering between feelings of joy, nervousness, intimidation and recklessness.
Honestly, I definitely thought about turning around and traveling closer to the ski area boundary. Closer to safety and where we were still within sight of the ski lodge. However, Nils said he knew the way and we trusted in our guide. I told that voice, feeling, intuition within myself to shut the fuck up! I and everyone else needs to be bigger risk-takers. Do something that scares you tomorrow and you'll be rewarded with a pretty cool experience! Everything you've ever wanted is on the other side of fear! A young lad (Nils) said it best, "never stop exploring! So much to do in life. Share it with great people! Make play time your passion. Playing is living!"