By Pablo Alvarez Tostado
It was a foggy morning, with a dense cover all the way to Monroe. As we drove up the mountain, the fog stayed behind. We met at the trailhead before the sun came out. We geared up while we waited for everyone to arrive. It was a total of 18 hikers, with even numbers on scouts and adults. The Senior Patrol Leader opened the activity with some words and a prayer, and we started the hike up the mountain.
The chill in the air was quickly dissipated by body heat as we started to hike up towards the lake. Layers were peeled away as we climbed towards the moon, shining bright and clear just above the horizon. A few scouts were not inclined to follow the trail up the mountain and took a more challenging way up, cutting through the hill and making their way across the undisturbed snow.
We were fortunate to find a fully snowed trail, with trees heavy with snow they received a couple of days before. We stopped once mid hike to take a breather, and get everybody together, then we continued with the second half of the 1.5-mile hike that took us to Skyline Lake.
We broke up in two groups here, some staying at the lake, chatting, eating, and playing in the snow while the others looked to get a bit more elevation to relish in the views of the mountains. Identifying and remembering other hikes, backpacking trips, adventures.
We met again back at the lake and waited for the last two scouts that were enjoying some ramen up the mountain. Then we walked down to a fork in the road, where scouts took off their snowshoes, got themselves into trash bags and slid down the mountain.
It was a nice day on the mountain, the weather was clear and sunny, and everybody enjoyed the hike. During reflections there was a streak of 10 out of 10 that was stopped by a 9.something, but still, a highly rated event nonetheless. It was great to have 3 moms participating in the hike!
