Upper Huffman Hike

The group setting off

  It is mornings this this one that truly take an effort to get out of the house. Temperatures ranged from -6 to 8 degrees all over town. Lucky for us, a temperature inversion made it slightly warmer at Upper Huffman (6F!) We, and 5 other families, set out to explore.

The pink sky made a gorgeous backdrop for our morning

 If you have yet to see the new design of the parking lot, it can be a bit jarring-- where to go? Luckily two of the parents had been lately, so we chose the "high road" trail to the right--- by walki g up the road above the parking lot and taking the trail behind the striped gate. This was I stead of the trail that winds down from the parking lot.

Kids getting prepared for the wild sled ride down the trail

Sleds were a boon on this hike, and we all worked out (and remembered) how best to pull our wee ones. It seemed as if the "pack mule" approach worked best while going up hill. This involved extending the sled rope (like with a dog leash tied in a circle) slipping it around the pack mule parents waist and heading upward. The kiddos had fun and marveled at the large ice crystals everywhere!

Our fearless leader showing good form on the ride down

After a short while cheeks turned very rosy, so three families opted to sled down the trail. This made the hike even more worth it! To note this was performed with adults in the sled and braking quite a bit for obstacles, slowing down for safety and ruts, etc. Either way, it was an exciting way to end the hike!