Snow-shoe-in'

Our short trip to Colorado last month encompassed lots of activities. Skiing, of course, and lots of game-playing, plus the obligatory chores and minor repairs around our house. 

The snow was not ideal for skiing; not nearly the breathtakingly good powder as Monarch is usually known for. But there was still enough for a few days of good downhilling, and plenty of the white stuff for some scenic snow-shoeing, which I enjoyed with some of our non-skiing guests. The super-fancy rental shoes that took me on the excursion are what I'm wearing the photo above.

This all happened before the star attractions rolled into town, after which we spent most of our time watching this little munchkin (on the right here) have her first taste of Rocky Mountain skiing. Although being from Maine, it wasn't her first time on the slopes! Yes, once she was in town there was no time for adults-only activities.

But I did get in a couple of nice snow-hikes before her arrival. The Fooses Creek trail is just off US 50, with wooded scenery and relatively flat terrain—perfect for not particularly adventurous or overly energetic hikers.

Fooses Creek under some—but not a lot of—snow

footprints of human and other critters,
along with photogenic winter shrubery

One sight we found a little odd, just barely noticeable in the lovely winter woods, were the pyramids of logs? brush? piled up against some of the tree trunks. I've drawn red lines pointing to these structures in the picture below:

Caches of firewood? Or, it could be collections for scientific study. On another hike (one during which no pictures were taken, sorry) we saw signs forbidding the transportation of downed wood from some slopes due to spruce beetle infestations. Unfortunately this climate-change-induced plague has finally entered our valley in a major way; especially up close to the Divide, near the ski area, there are a lot of dead and dying trees.