After saying our goodbyes to Casey, Sam & Erica, we began our ascent up the mountain to Explorer Ponds. The hike is up a ridge and if you miss it on either side, you pretty much get lost. We did end up going too far East at one point but luckily caught our mistake and were able to get back up on the right ridge. We couldn’t believe how beautiful it was hiking through the snow. It was my first time hiking in snow and I was in love! I can see myself wanting to start snow shoeing at some point because it was so fun and beautiful! We all just really loved it!
In our rush to get out of camp and hike as far as we could with Casey’s group though, we ended up forgetting a few things. One of which was a water bottle. Doh! We almost headed back to get it, but then realized we had fresh water right at our disposal with all the freshly fallen snow! So we ate snow as we hiked which made for a fun adventure as well.
I loved looking up at the trees from the ground. So so pretty to see all the freshly fallen snow on the branches.
One of the signs you are heading in the right direction is if you make it to this small meadow on the top of the hill. If you miss that, you most likely will miss Lost Lake. But usually there is an awesome view of the mountains right here. That day though, all we got was a view of these gorgeous trees! 😉
Hard to tell in this picture, but during our 4 days up in the Winds we probably saw 20 different sets of Moose tracks, but never once actually saw a moose.
The hike to Lost Lake is about 2.5 miles one way.
The ponds are probably about 1/4th a mile from the Lake and are always a joy to find!
Adam has special memories fishing with his own Dad in these ponds when he was little and loved making memories with his own boys. He hopes they will love this place as much as he does.
See the little fishy in the picture below?
Adam ended up helping each of the boys catch a fish at the ponds and while he did that, I helped the kids who weren’t fishing with Adam get some lunch and make homemade snow cones! Here Branson is showing off his cherry limeade snow cone!
Next up – Lost Lake!