Upon arrival we were surprised to find the parking lot we intended on using unplowed and full of deep snow, forcing us to park on the shoulder of the road. After getting our snowshoes on and packing our food, Pauline and Carl, who had previously explored the area, took charge of the group and led us off for our day’s adventure.

It was a beautiful, sunny day, with the low winter sun producing long shadows through the trees. The Preserve is mostly wooded, and provided enough hills to give us a pretty good workout. Around noon we came upon a remote cabin in the woods and decided to stop there to eat lunch. The cabin was locked so we ate sitting on logs and rocks after clearing the snow off them. Nearby was an overlook giving us a great view of the valley and hills below.

After lunch we came across another surprise. In order to cross a gully, we had to "rappel" down a 20 foot embankment, using a knotted rope left by some previous explorers. Everyone made it down, awkwardly but safely, and vowed not to return by that route.