Western States Trail on Snowshoe

We finally got some snow in the Sierras this past week. I made plans to run up to the the top of Castle Peak in a pair of borrowed snowshoes, but had to turn my car (I also had all my snowboard stuff in the back as well as the standard sleeping pads/bags. Winter travel is such an ordeal, and though I do love the variety we get with the seasons, there is something to be said about summer/fall when I can travel anywhere with running shoes shorts and a bottle) around in Applegate. Not yet ready to give up on the day, I decided to check out the canyon instead. There was plenty of snow before I even got to Foresthill and I had to reluctantly give up my hope of getting the toad(my Subaru wagon looks like a toad) all the way out to Robinson Flat. I decided to head down the unplowed Bath Road and towards Michigan bluff on the WS Trail. Dropping down was a lot of fun, even though snowshoes sure do slow you down(I could definitely use some technique pointers on this one, I don't know anything about snowshoeing). I was all alone in the surprisingly deep snow. there were a few icy puddles in the flat spots, some of which I could jump across and more then one where I came up short with a soaking wet sock. It was very cool to look out across the canyon and see snow falling in the fog. I wasn't moving too fast and didn't have any workout goals in mind, I just wanted to play around with some snowshoes. The relaxed expectations enabled me to bring a camera along and snap some amateurish action pics. By the time I came back up to Bath Road it had been paved and I opted to kick the frames off and boogie up the pavement in my Skylites feeling somewhat liberated.  

 Crossing back over Volcano Creek

(the snow was much deeper away from the creek bed)

Amphibious snowshoes!

(Does anyone else have chafing problems with tights?)