9 mile hike: Silver Lake

Past the middle of February, and I was nowhere near halfway to my February goal, and while temps were still in the teens, the wind had disappeared and I decided to hit the trail for a couple of laps on the 4.5 mile trail at Silver Lake.

I made pretty good time for the first couple of miles since other people had broken trail through our recent snow, but around mile 2, whoever had broken trail had turned around, leaving me to work harder through the snowy trail, but the snow was dry and fluffy without much ice underneath, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

It had been 17 degrees when I hit the trail, so I was hiking fast to stay warm. I shed my windbreaker and hat and tucked them into my fleece like a kangaroo to keep them warm for when I needed them again when the wind picked up.

About 3/4 of a mile before I got back to the trailhead at the end of my first lap, I saw a small group of boy scouts out for their first major hike of the year. They were all bundled up and in high spirits, but I wasn't sure how long that would last.

I picked up the pace quite a bit after that, knowing that I had a cup of coffee waiting for me in the car and hopeful that it would be at least lukewarm after my first 4.5 miles. I spent a few minutes at the trailhead enjoying the tepid coffee and downing a few snacks before hitting the trail for lap #2 and a check on the boy scouts.

I still hadn't seen them after two miles on the out-and-back section of trail, so I knew they weren't moving too fast, but I caught up with them when they were almost done with the lollipop loop at the end of the trail. I was going in the opposite direction around that loop, but they thanked me for breaking trail for them earlier. After their group had mashed down more of the snow, I was able to go faster, too, and it wasn't long before I finished that loop myself and headed back toward the trailhead.

I was tired of being out in the cold, so it was full speed ahead for me. I picked up some sunglasses dropped by one of the scout leaders and passed all the boys and leaders one by one. Most of the guys seemed to be doing ok, but I felt bad for a few of the boys. One had an overbearing father who was trying to speed up the boy by getting him to lengthen his stride. I offered the kid some Oreos, but he said he was ok. Another leader had told them to make their hiking poles as tall as their shoulders, so those with poles were struggling to keep them under control. Between the cold and the less-than-helpful advice they had from their mentors, the kids weren't quite as perky as they'd been when I first met them.

Soon, I was back to the trailhead. I had thought about going back out to add a couple more miles before heading home, but since temps were still in the teens, I headed home for a hot bath and a beer instead.