Through the Candy Cane Forest

This would be Mirror Lake with beautiful hoarfrost in the foreground

This weekend, I went to brunch at the Ahwahnee. All you can eat deliciousness, topped by tiny desserts. I'm a sucker for tiny desserts. Not to mention, all the coffee and juice that you could ever want. Ahwahnee style (read: expensive, and good). So after all the eating, we decided to hike around the newly opened loop that circles Mirror Lake. A portion of this trail was closed in March 2009 due to rockfall. After blasting all summer, trail crew whipped this rockfall section into shape (or rather, fixed it) and I was super excited to see it.

It's an easy, 5 mile, loop hike. Easy. Unless there is snow on the trail. Snow that has been packed down, melted, then frozen, melted, then frozen. The downhill sections which are usually gentle, dirt-covered, forest floor slopes became icy slaloms. Yak tracks (like snow chains for your shoes) or snow shoes probably would have been helpful. But where's the adventure in that? We talked about slipping, and anticipation of the slide, and not to put your hands out, and not to hit your head. I fell once pretty hard (are you noticing a theme here in my life? Cause I am!). I was okay. But there were definitely some sections that took me some time to get down (cause I was scared) and there was a lot of crouching down and sliding on my feet (cause I was scared).

The moral of the story. Mirror Lake is NOT an easy hike in the winter! But, we most definitely worked our brunch off, and we had felt like we did our ice skating for the day, therefore not having to go to the rink, therefore getting right to the hot chocolate, warm house part. I liked that part quite a bit.