Snowshoeing in the rain

My college roommate, Heather, visited this weekend. On Sunday, we headed into the Cascades to snowshoe.

Despite the warm, pineapple express weather that was nearly causing the meltdown of the entire mountain (and flooding in the valleys below), we plugged on and decided to snowshoe anyway... in the rain. Yes, it was 60* in the valley below and 40* at the pass.

However, in snow gear, the rain isn't so shabby. And we weren't out hours and hours where the soggy clothing would make us chilled to the bone.

So, out we went. A pair was rented for $8, and B and I had our own -- which, coincidentally enough, Heather gave us back in '09 as a wedding present. Pretty good wedding present, right? And they were Tubbs snowshoes!

I know. We have great friends.

I tried to take video and more photos of the Mads, but fumbling for gloves and the camera, while trying to not let the camera get wet did not result in good images. In fact, I thought I was taking photos and video, but I was actually not. I got one good shot, and that's it. DRAT.
Maddie was ecstatic. She LOVED the snow. She'd bound into the deeper sections like a bunny rabbit, doing Pepe le Pieu bounces. She'd occasionally face-plant, the product of her too-short front legs causing her to sink all the way up to her chin. She loved everything about the snow.

There was no one else on the trail, so we let her off-leash. This dog amazes me. She stays within about a 20-foot radius of her people, always trotting ahead, looking back occasionally to make sure we're on track. When we finally got near to civilization again, we clipped on her collar. Once we hit the pavement in the parking lot, she turned to mopey dog, and very nearly had to be dragged back to the car. This is the dog who loves going in the car, and is always bounding ahead on the leash as much as the leash will let her. But heading back to the car after the snow? She trailed us the length of the leash, head down, pouty, and coming very close to us almost dragging her.

The humans also greatly enjoyed the snowshoeing. The dog story is just more fun to tell.