At age 46 it’s not often that I try something new. But, tromping through the snow amid a winter wonderland with friends turned out to be my kind of fun!
Since hanging up my skis due to lack of interest (and, the astronomical price increase in lift tickets) in recent years, I’ve struggled to enjoy our winter trips for Kurt to ski. Enter snowshoeing. With a fellow non-skier on the trip with us this time, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give it a try. After doing some basic research on purchasing snowshoes (and, factoring in last-minute shipping options), I opted for a pair from Wildhorn Outfitters, a Utah-based outdoor company. I purchased both the Sawtooth and Delano versions, but ultimately decided on the Delano because the narrower profile seemed better for my petite frame. The ability to walk out the door with them made the decision to purchase vs. rent a better option.
Little did I know, but Winter Park, Colorado and the surrounding areas have numerous trails available for snowshoeing (and, even fat biking, which I would like to try on a future trip). Devangi and I opted for a pretty straightforward trail for our first outing since the Fraser River trailhead was located steps away from our condo. Turns out that snowshoeing doesn’t require much in the way of skill or technique. It’s essentially just hiking in the snow! We headed north from Winter Park to Fraser, and the trail was generally fairly wide and ran parallel to the highway so we didn’t have to worry about navigation. We enjoyed the solitude of the trail, as we only saw a handful of people while we were out there.
One man in particular was helpful to us, as he gave us some information on taking the trail all the way to Fraser (about 2.5 miles total) and options for lunch once we got there. This turned out to be a perfect scenario for us! We exited the trail at Safeway in Fraser then crossed the highway for lunch at Sharky’s (he had suggested lunch at the distillery, but we opted for something a little closer).
After lunch, we walked over to the brewery to pick up some bevvies for watching the AFC Championship game in the evening (paired with pizza from Hernando’s Pizza Pub). The girls really enjoyed the flavored seltzer options (aka “juice”). It was cool to watch the canning process for our 32oz Crowlers. Then, we hopped on the free bus back to our condo! It was a perfect set up!
Since our first snowshoe outing was such a success, Devangi and I decided that we were up for a more remote trail with some elevation the next day. We were able to just walk out of our door again and hop on the Rendezvous trails behind our condo. And, to my surprise and delight, a friend from Denver (who unbeknownst to me has a condo in Fraser) found us as we were outside putting on our snowshoes to get started. Turns out that Mary Frances (and, Corrigan, a Portugese Water Dog) was familiar with the trails so it was great to have her along with us! We did a loop through the forest and meadow, including the switchbacks on the Yankee Doodle trail. It was so peaceful and beautiful with all of the fresh snow! The only thing that would have made it even better would have been a moose sighting!
Bottom line: 10/10 would recommend! I’m excited to have this as an option that I can do by myself while Kurt is skiing on future trips.
Meanwhile, on the skiing front, Kurt enjoyed four days on the mountain. He got in a solid number of double-digit runs each day, some solo and some with the Ashleys. The amount of snowfall while we were there was much more than expected. So, while there was plenty of fresh powder, the visibility on the mountain wasn’t good at times. Nevertheless, he persisted!
Additional restaurants in Winter Park that we ate at: Breakfast at Rollin’ Street Bakery (pro tip: Get the chimney cake); Lunch at Carvers Breakfast & Burgers, Vertical Bistro & Tap (slopeside), and The Noble Buck (brewery); Non-traditional mountain food for dinner (these are small restaurants so make a reservation) at Paella’s Restaurant and Namaste India (an interesting selection of both Indian and French cuisines located next to a gas station). And, the girls raved about the opportunity to get waffles while ON the slopes! From a local’s perspective, Mary Frances recommended Fraser Valley Hot Dog.
While Kurt would love to get in another ski trip this year, our focus for the next few months is getting in a solid training block for our upcoming marathons in April.