Sandals and snow

Tyler taking refuge on a stump.

Since the restaurant is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays during the off-season, all of the coworkers are able to organize outings and barbecues very easily that accommodate every schedule. We all decided to go out for a hike on East Lake Creek Trail.

There were six of us that embarked on this journey: Tyler, me, Mel, Sebastian, Travis and Rachael. We even had a pack of five dogs: Aspen, Moses, Maggie, Tyson and Boston. All together we were quite the large posse making our way down the trail.

Now I've lived in the mountains for a few years, and I should've known better than to wear sandals. But the weather had been so nice, and all the immediate trails by my house have been clear for weeks, that I didn't think that this trail might have some snow still on it. I wasn't the only one who fell into this realm of comfortable footwear. My husband showed up in his flip-flops and Mel wore her Keen sandals. The rest of our group was much wiser than were were.

After a little ways down the trail, Mel turned back because she was sick of hiking in the snow. I wasn't ready to admit defeat. I can be pretty stubborn when I want to, and I didn't want to give up just because I was a dumb ass. Even though my toes were bright pink and stinging inside my Chacos, I forged ahead stupidly.

But when we began to lose the trail, and snow poling became more and more frequent, I had to throw in the towel. It was a valiant effort for the first big potential hike of the season, but alas I fell far short of success. Next time I'll just throw the damn hiking boots in the back of the truck.