Spring Skinning

Jason and I had a date this afternoon/evening so that we could get out and play.  We hired a babysitter and drove to Rocky Mountain National Park to play in the snow.  Jason recently got a new ski set up, and this was a good excuse to go try it out.  Plus, we want to take any chances we can to get out and play while we can, knowing that when the new baby comes I won't be able to leave the baby very much.

So we drove to the park and looked around, squinting to find something white.  It was a little windy and quite grey with clouds.  We realized quickly that all the low level trails are good for hiking right now without any snow to ski, so we drove up as high as we could drive.  We saw piles of elk, deer and mountain goats as usual.

At the end of the road, we parked our car, donned our stuff, and set off up the rest of the road which is closed in the winter.

Not much of a view

Parked our car at the end of the road

We skinned up 30 min, beside the pavement we could have driven on or hiked on, turned around, and skiied down.  The slope on the way down was barely even enough to get us to the car, and required a lot more poling than anticipated.  Note to self: using my poles to propel myself forward by leaning body forward does not work as well when 7 months pregnant!

Back at the car with snow blowing hard, we jumped in and headed down the road to stop for some cherry/apple pie.  Then we came home to relieve our babysitter and put Rachel to bed.

A silly and fun date for us!

No point in skiing here, other than because we still can