Nieve, Otra Vez

It was yet another beautiful late-summer day, so Kelly accepted her coworker's invitation to hike up to Snow Lake. Although we had already done this hike, you could have fooled me. When we went in May there were 3 other cars - today there were 30. Before the switchback, the trail was pretty much the same. After we turned up toward the crest, however, it was vastly different. Instead of a vague insinuation of a path in the snow we had a well-trodden dirt path to follow. We could still hear the waterfall from the top, but this time we descended in the sun rather than the mist. It took a lot longer to follow the actual trail, which meandered back and forth toward the lake - sliding down the snowy hill was much quicker. Groups of people huddled in every available clearing at the edge of the lake, munching on sandwiches and fruit instead of heating up soup. The clear water was still chilly, although nothing like Lake Viviane. One group of hikers were jumping off a rock on the far bank, squealing and splashing as they entered the cold water. The path up was a little easier, since the lack of snow meant no kick-stepping and a gradual climb instead of straight up the cliff.