My legs are hammered. Today I hiked Tronsen Meadows with four women near Blewett Pass, WA. We went eight miles (felt like 10) with over 1,000 feet of elevation gain. I lost a basket on my hiking pole in the heavy snow.

We were floundering and sinking on snowshoes. At 55 degrees, snow was disintegrating in the sun. On backcountry skis, Karen sank up to her thighs at times.

I discovered when I doubled my speed, my snowshoes didn't sink as much. When a snowshoe sank, I powered through and kept going. "Skimming across the snow," I thought optimistically.

We steeply ascended to the upper trail and even higher for lunch. Descended to the wrong parking lot. Oops. We turned around, heading back uphill.

Leading, Gro missed the lower trail that we needed to get to our cars. Karen knew it.

"Does anyone need to get back right away?" Karen asked tactfully. She didn't want to argue again with Gro about which way to go. Karen has an excellent sense of direction.

Floundering and sinking, we struggled to the upper trail again. This felt like a forced march. (I noticed the lower trail, too.) Finally, we stopped to remove our jackets.

Went across - by now the snow was mush - then down to the cars.

Over 44 years of hiking, I have never seen mountain snow melt this fast.

Benefits:

1. Great views of the Enchantments.
2. Excellent workout. Probably burned 5,000 calories.
3. Outdoor in the sun.
4. Wonderful company.