The unseasonably warm temperatures and brilliant blue sky were irresistible this morning. In record time we gathered our snowshoe gear, packed a lunch (well, Reg packed the lunch) and followed the crowd up to Mount Ashland.
In the past, we have always followed the trail leading to the top of Mount Ashland. It’s a steep route with beautiful views across the Rogue Valley. Since we’ve struggled up that hill several times in the past, we chose the lower trail out to the Grouse Gap shelter hoping we’d find a dry spot to sit and eat our lunch.
Along the way we crossed the Pacific Crest Trail, buried somewhere beneath snow, patiently awaiting next year’s crop of hopeful hikers. The shelter proved to be the perfect lunch stop, complete with covered picnic table, the remains of a still slightly warm fire and an unlocked restroom! Perfect!
Oh, and the view was pretty nice too! Could it be that spring is right around the corner?
carryoncouple 
The sky is gorgeous!!
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What a wonderful experience! It looks cold to me though.
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Not too bad…we warmed up quickly, but had to keep moving!
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Wow what fabulous photos, you had a wonderful day to explore Mount Ashland. Looks beautiful and there don’t seem to be many other people around either which must have been great.
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Fortunately we arrived early enough to take photos that made it look like we were nearly alone. It was beautiful.
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