We had a nice drive down with a little fresh snow going over the Dallas Divide. Some fresh powder in town which made the trees quite lovely. We got our gear ready for the Gondola ride up. This was the easiest way to get into the mountains and trees without much exertion. After all, Emma and Ben can only handle so much.
Once at the top, we strapped on our shoes and began the roughly 2 mile trek down the North Ridge Trail to Mountain Village. We enjoyed the amazing views of the surrounding mountains and the valley below.
The trail had an eight inch ditch-like dredge in the snow where previous adventurers had packed down the snow. However, at least 6 inches of fresh powder from the previous night blanketed the area with velvety smoothness. This made the going tough: sinking 4 to 5 inches WITH snowshoes on the trail, and over a foot off trail. Most of the woods had at least 3 feet of snowpack. What few sections were briefly uphill caused us much anguish and labored breathing. At least it was mostly downhill!
Ben walked about 20 feet in his shoes and wanted to ride, so I was relegated to hauling his load down the mountain in our kid-carrier backpack. I learned quickly to go around any low branches since simply ducking under resulted in a heaping of fresh, cold snow depositing on Benjamin. I only really fell once about halfway down: my arm, which I put out to catch me, simply plunged into the softness up to my armpit. Thus it was useless in aiding my attempts to stand. When I finally got my shoes uncrossed and on my knees (all with Ben on my back asking "Daddy, you ok?" I was finally able to stand. I should take Ben up Virginius or Grant-Swamp for Hardrock training huh?
We managed to finally meander down to the ski area where we decided to ride the gondola back to town and nourish ourselves with yummy goodness from Brown Dog Pizza. Pickles must have run around at least double the miles, rolling in the snow and seeking out deep stashes of wind-drifted snowbanks. He was fairly tired by the end, especially since I ran him 8 miles early that morning so he'd be bearable during the car ride!
After some yummy Detroit style pizza and a Fat Tire Ale, we decided to pack up and head for home. There's nothing like a nice day trip to ease the mind and remind myself of why we're in Colorado. Emma did a fantastic job on her shoes, and despite a little complaining, really performed well on the trek. She liked playing in the deep snow, but not so much all the walking. The kids slept most of the return trip and had no major issues going to bed either!
We hope to get in more of these next season, and we are taking the kids to the Mesa this first weekend of March for a XC ski lesson. Until then........
A lovely time had by all and it's why I love Telluride SOO much. Thanks for taking us up :)
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