The upside of little or no snow in mid-December?

The roads are better.

Last weekend my brother and I drove to Revett Lake in Northern Idaho. The road leading to the Revett Lake trail head is not maintained during the winter. As my brother and I drove past Murray Idaho and started heading up, toward Thompson Pass, flurries of snow encroached on the pavement. Soon, we were driving along packed snow and ice.

Being the only vehicle on the road meant we had plenty of space to maneuver and no reason to rush. Bit, if it had snowed more I don’t think our 1996 Subaru could have made the haul. Or, maybe I just wouldn’t have wanted to.

As it was, we made it safe and sound to the Blossom Lakes trail head and snow shoed the remaining mile to the Revett Lake trail head. We followed a Nordic ski track for a while, until we reached a partially covered boulder field and the Nordic skier turned tail. We pushed on breaking through untouched (by humans) snow.

We didn’t make it to the lake, but had an enjoyable afternoon nonetheless in remote, snow covered woods. An afternoon that wouldn’t have been accessible (to us) if we’d had a snowier start to December.