Bobcat Ridge

We finally got our first snow of the season. It was quite a bit late, but we've been wanting to go do snow activities for quite some time now. Our original plan was to go up into the mountains and do some real snowshoeing, but since we had just driven 5 hours the day prior on icy roads back from the mountains, we didn't want to have to drive that far on potentially on slick roads. We decided that we needed to get out and enjoy the sunny weather, so we headed to Bobcat Ridge, an area that we have both explored on our own, but never together. Bobcat Ridge was an area that was engulfed in flames during the 2019 Cameron Peak fire so we wanted to check it out to see what kind of damage was done to the area. We only did the valley loop, which like its name suggests, is in a pretty open area, so there wasn't a whole lot to burn. We passed by a few patches of burned trees, but the lower areas of Bobcat Ridge seemed to be pretty unscathed from the fire.

There were about 6 inches of snow on the ground, and initially, we started the hike without even our microspikes thinking that it would be trampled down enough for us to hike on. Once we got off the pavement (which is about a quarter-mile from the road) we realized that we did need our microspikes and went back to the car for them. Including our half-mile out and back to get our microspikes, the hike was 3.75 miles long and took about an hour and a half. There was only about 400 feet of elevation, but everything is harder in the snow, something we often forget. I wouldn't call this challenging, but the snow definitely added a layer of complexity that we haven't experienced since the last snowshoeing season. Hopefully, soon we can get up into the mountains and do some real snowshoeing.