My timing couldn’t have been better. I drove into the Horse Hill Nature Preserve parking lot this afternoon just as a snowmobile emerged from the trail after grooming the snow. We’ve had about a foot over the past three days, topped with lovely powder, and I was eager to bring the snowshoes out from offseason storage. I usually don’t get out on trails after snowfalls until the snow’s been chewed up & packed by lots of other people. Today, I had two great hours on the main loop trail: no ice, no bare spots, no skiers. I love skiers – in fact, I’m married to one – but today, I didn’t have to worry about staying off to one side to make room for them. Today was for snowshoers.

There were ten cars in the lot when I arrived, but that didn’t presage a traffic jam on the trail. Horse Hill covers a lot of ground. I passed maybe a dozen people altogether, along with four friendly dogs. The presence of the dogs probably accounted for the absence of wildlife along my way.

To the folks whose photo I took, I am omitting the picture from this post since I neglected to get your names. My mistake! The four of you looked like you were having a great time. You can post the photo taken with your camera in the comments section, I think.

Just a little copper glow on the treetops as the sun goes down.

Freshly packed, ready for snowshoe tracks.

Even with ten cars in the parking lot, I found the trails uncrowded.

Stiff breezes will probably take some snow off this lodge tonight.