Snow Shoeing / Wraith Falls

Oh yes, we had to try it! We are Georgia-Florida raised and lived, both since the age of 5, so we are Southerners. This is probably the biggest snow adventure we will have. Cody (our grandson age boss from last season) gave us snowshoes to use for March. And he told us where to go to have fun with them in the park.

In my imagination, the picture to the left is what I pictured they would look like.






Was I surprised to see the hard plastic shoes they use now with the stretchy straps to keep them on your shoes. Very comfortable and easy on and off.

First adventure was to Wraith Falls. It's a .5 mile hike to (what else?) a waterfall. We got to the pull out parking area and thought we'd be able to walk it with the "bear trax" on our shoes (spikes and chains). There was another lady there and 2 guys from Germany, we all pulled in together.






We had to wait a few minutes before starting due to bison running down the hill. (Is that normal? Not really). Once the danger was past, I began walking up the hill. After walking on top of the snow about 10 yards, I went right through the crust up to my thighs. The only way I could get out was to roll onto my back and roll down onto a more packed area to stand back up. Soo, Bob and I went back to the truck and pulled out the snowshoes. A 2nd start up the hill was more successful.


The other 3 had plowed their way along ahead of us but we were able to stay on top of the snow with the shoes.We made it another 500 yards or so and Bob made a comment I couldn't hear. So I went to turn around, and stepped on the planted snowshoe. If you've ever seen a tree fall, you have an idea of what I looked like as I went down...laughing. If you've ever fallen on a bed of feathers, you have an idea of what it feels like to land softly. I would do that again anytime! I was laughing so hard I had to roll around again to get my feet back under me to continue. Bob would have helped me but he was taking pictures. Alas, he had his camera on the wrong setting so they didn't turn out. (Whew!)



We made it to the top and saw the frozen falls, unfortunately they are frozen with no water visible. The falls reside up the crevice in the hillside to the right of Bob. (I posted a summertime picture at the end.)







The views allowed for looking over some beautiful, pristine snow. Even though the snowshoes felt like we were basically walking with large platforms it requires energy that walking doesn't. We decided that my rolling around in the snow and the 1 mile hike was enough excitement to start with.





I was somewhat wet but since we love to hike, it was a good beginning.

The snow shoes are a real hit!









This snow is deceptively deep. We figured it was at least 2' along most of the trail.











And here are the falls in the late summer.