We knew that when we bought our toddler cross-country skis a year ago, they would not be getting weekly usage right away. Heck, last year it was all about not being afraid of the skis! As a one-and-a-half year old, the first time she saw her little skis in the house, she was scared of them! After a few months of coexisting with them, she at least wanted to touch them and pretend to put her feet in them so we called that good progress.
This year, a year older (naturally), we hoped the skis — with her — would make it out of the house.
And, we did!
To no fault of our kiddo, it was not extraordinary. But, I hear that no one’s ski season in the Pacific Northwest was that great. Why? We never really got snow — or, good snow for skiing, that is. (Skiers, please correct me if I am wrong. Did good pow as you call it, ever arrive? Maybe at the end of the season, finally?)
First session in December
In mid-December, we decided to head to the mountains to check out the snow situation. We knew it wasn’t great. For context, Thanksgiving Weekend is typically the start of ski season around here but at least one of the two local ski areas couldn’t even open that weekend since there wasn’t enough snow. Anyway. We went to the Lake Easton Sno-Park (east of Snoqualmie) and the ranger at the gate told us they had only been having rain recently so there wasn’t enough snow for the snow plows. We drove a bit further east and posted up at a trail head for the Palouse to Cascades Trail.
There was enough snow for our toddler to glide. It was icy though so it made for an interesting first lesson. And by interesting, I mean it lasted for like 10 minutes. (I’m sure even if we had the best snow day, I would have still been ecstatic if my toddler wanted to cross-country ski for ~10 minutes!)
And then of course the holidays happened. Marathon training is happening (for me.) I had some travel in February. (I know, I know, I am sorry! I’ll write about that at um, some point.) And, the never-ending cycle of kiddo getting a cold, and then me getting a cold and then Bryce getting a cold kept happening. All this to say, we didn’t really have another free/good day to go out and cross-country ski until mid-March!
Round two in March
The second outing was much different than the one in December. This time we really could not find snow.
We decided to not trek back to the same area we went in December (which would have had snow at this point) because that would have required going east of Seattle and the weekend we were free was conveniently when the I-90 bridge was closed and anyone who lives around here can tell you that you should just avoid going east-west/west-east if one of the bridges is closed. (Why does it seem like one of the two bridges is closed at least every other weekend?!) So, north we went!
We went to the Iron Goat Trail, which is east of Monroe and even east of Index. We’ve snowshoed here in years past with plenty of deep snow. Well, this time that was not the case. When we got to the trail head, there was barely any snow to be seen. Just some dirty snow patches here and there along the side of the road.
Bryce knew a rode for us to take to go up the mountain that would connect to another trail head of the same trail. When we arrived, it was slightly better. But, I didn’t have high hopes. There was indeed more snow in the parking lot but the parts of the trail I could see from our car looked completely snow free.
Before we sought out snow, our toddler had fun going potty on the snow. And by this, I mean we brought her plastic little toilet knowing there would not be facilities at this trail and placed it on top of some snow that was on the side of the road — which she thought was hilarious — and she took care of her business. We are in the middle of our potty training efforts (or, journey? battle?) so this was a huge win. Note to self: If all else fails, put the kid potty on top of a new terrain/surface!
Once we started our trek on the trail, I was seeing even less snow than where we had parked the car. As we climbed higher, the opposite was even happening — no snow in sight at all! It was a hefty incline with large rocks here and there so we decided to turn around since we knew our toddler would not be able to make it much higher on her own. And with Bryce carrying both his and her cross-country skis, I knew I would not feel comfortable carrying her up or down this mountain. Once we got back to the flat/beginning part of the trail, we went in the opposite direction on the trail and started to see small patches of snow. Thank goodness!
We finally got to a good area after walking for about half of a mile and asked our kiddo if she wanted to ski. She was all for it so we put her in her gear and then … she got frustrated. I would have to. There was not a lot of snow so it was hard to navigate. Bryce held her hand and we both — and our dog — cheered our toddler on. After a bit of wobbling, the kid was somewhat getting the hang of it! This “ski lesson” again lasted about 10 minutes. I call that a success since I wasn’t even sure we’d find any snow. There was definitely not enough snow to make it worthwhile for Bryce to even put on his skis. (He did during the December outing.)
I’m sure looking forward to next snow season. Hopefully next year I’ll get to snowshoe alongside my two cross-country skiing family members. Because, not that I had even mentioned it before, but the original plan was that I would snowshoe while they skied. I grew up downhill skiing and have cross-country skied once as an older kid and twice as an adult. I was not a huge fan of cross-country skiing.
Maybe my kid will love it. Or, not. If we can make it out to some good snow, maybe we will eventually find out.
otter travel more 