At One Point I Thought My Heart Might Pound Out of My Chest

I love snow. Always have, probably always will. However, I am not a participator of winter sports. I lack the grace, sense of balance and fearlessness necessary for skiing or snowboarding. But I do love me some snowshoeing, where both feet are firmly planned on the ground. So when CLA suggested hitting up Baker for a little snow shoeing, I was in. Having only been a couple times before I figured I’d be ok.

After only 2 hours of sleep (whole different story) I ventured my way north. We got to Mt. Baker in the early afternoon, just as the sun was trying to come out. We bundled up, strapped on the shoes and took off.

Now, let’s be honest here, I will do just about anything, but perhaps not with wild abandon. I tend to be fairly cautious for the primary purpose of acknowledging a history of personal injury. Additionally, if I were completely honest, I’m not in the pinnacle for cardiovascular condition. So there may have been a point early on during the uphill trekking I may have thought I was going to die as my heart was pounding out my chest and breathing was seriously labored. At the same time, I approached many of the downhills with trepidation, because not that CLA isn’t the specimen of strength and physical health, being carried out by him was a less than desirable idea, for both of us. So I approached some parts of the journey with serious trepidation (hello, story of my life). When I didn’t have complete faith that I wouldn’t fall head over heals down a hill, I slid down, bum first. I walked in CLA’s tracks. I walked focusing on not tripping, falling or otherwise potentially causing injury to myself. Low and behold, I came out of the trip uninjured. Miracle, I know.

We trekked out a little ways, the sun briefly graced us with its presence and we found a spot to enjoy some hot apple cider and few snacks of rice cakes and almond butter. We photo opted a few self portraits with the assistance of a strategically placed tree stump. After a little sustenance I felt a little bit more energy for the walk back, which was much needed.

To summarize: Sometimes snowshoes are unnecessary when you can slide bum first, like this:


Nothing I’d rather drink than this:



Nothing I’d rather see than the glory and majesty of snow covered mountains like this:


And better friendship than found in this guy:



Good times.