Portland rarely gets snow. A few weeks ago the snow started falling and falling and falling and falling… The city comes to a halt when it snows here, and this amuses me greatly. Sidewalks don’t get shoveled, roads don’t get plowed, public transportation flops, schools close for days, people complain and hibernate indoors, and the only news in the papers and on television relates to the weather. Eventually people realize life must trudge forward and they start digging their cars out from mountains of snow and ice, they ski/snowshoe/walk to work, kids go back to school, and attempts (not necessarily successful however) are made to clear roads and sidewalks. The funniest part? The names the local media give to winter storms. I remember the “Winter Blast of 2004″ as a particularly snowy stint. This year? It was the “Deep Freeze 2008″. Ha! I almost look forward to snow just to hear what privileged title the storm will receive. Sigh… The temperatures recently warmed to above freezing and rain melted most of the snow. Life goes back to normal I suppose. Luckily for people like Tim and I, we have Mt. Hood as a snowy retreat. So, we bundled up and packed our snowshoes and some snacks and headed for the mountain the day after Christmas. You would think it would be crowded with folks escaping the city, but we only saw one other group of people on the trail we picked, and we had complete solitude pretty much the entire time!
Here are some images from our snowshoe hike:
Tim sipping tea! He gave me an awesome insulated thermos for Christmas and we filled it with tasty spiced chai before we headed out the door. It stayed perfectly hot and delicious the whole trek! It was even warm enough to enjoy some afterward when we got back to our car. It was so relaxing to take a rest in the snowy cold and warm up with this tea.
Trekking poles and snow. Look how heavily weighted those trees are! We usually see gray jays fluttering about in this area, but there were none to be found this time around.
A tasty snack mix. See the banana chips? We made those ourselves!! We received a food dehydrator for Christmas and the first (and only so far) creation was banana chips. They aren’t as crispy as store-bought ones, but they are more pliable and sweet, and just plain addictive! I can’t wait for berry picking season!!!!
We hope to head up to the mountain again next weekend…
My next post will cover a recent PPK swap I participated in! Hooray for swaps.
I totally covet your banana chips. and consequently, your dehydrator. fun fact of the day: I first typed “babana”.
babana muffin. yes.
oh man, i’m totally jealous! i wish it would snow like crazy here in richmond! it hasn’t snowed buckets & buckets in YEARS – and dan & i both wish it would! (i’m totally keeping my fingers crossed) that’s too funny that they title each storm! ahahaaaa! i love it!
what an awesome winter hike! that’s one helluva insulated thermos – warm chai for the hike + more. superw00t! i’d also like to add that i’m jealous of your food dehydrator. we used to have one, but it broke in the move a few years ago – i think it’s time to get another one. your banana chips look perfect! i can’t wait to see what other goodies you guys dry up to enjoy! mmmmmmmmm!
hope you’re both enjoying all the holidays have to bring!
I love homemade dried fruit…I just tried homemade dried apples and they are so much better than store bought!
No snow here this year, which is EERILY weird. Enjoy yours!!
what an awesome little adventure! and lucky you with that dehydrator. cool!
I wish we lived near a mountain! We don’t shut down when we get just a little snow, but we certainly can’t handle the glut of snow people get in the north. It sounds like you guys had a wonderful mountain trek as well as an excellent holiday. Wahoo for the food dehydrator. I can’t wait to see what else you do with it!
wow. what do you have against babies, anyway? you’re all about bugs and animals, but no kids?