Light snow welcomed 9 hikers to the starting circle and stuck around for most of the hike. It sure wasn't enough to dampen spirits by any means and we headed out to Panel Mine Rd where we expected a snow-covered trail. Instead, we found ski tracks! Kudos to the team who were reluctant to disturb them out of respect for skiers, however, the leader assured them that nobody sking on the trail would expect it to remain untrampled since most of it is too narrow to go beside them. So on we marched! The going was not too tough and those breaking trail had to be encouraged to rotate out and give others the chance at the beautiful view in front. Just before our break, the skiers veered right and our destination was to the left so we had the full-on trail breaking experience for a short time. After break, it was not long until we re-connected with the the incoming trail and had an "easy" finish to a great walk in the woods ... we hardly noticed that long hill... All agreed that it had been an enjoyable Thursday hike - even more so for anyone anticipating a great ski on this well prepared trail!
