Every year, the road up to McKenzie Pass is closed down for the winter. Instead of waiting for the snow to melt in the spring time, I thought I would take a chance to throw on my snowshoes and make the trek up to Proxy Falls to see it in the winter time. This had been a pretty moist winter, so there was lots of snow around, yet I still had to walk the first part without snowshoes before it became consistent on the road. Once it did, it was pretty easy walking, just uphill getting to where the parking would be packed full in the summer.
It was a beautiful day out yet the canopy of trees did not give much sunshine until I reached this spot. From here, I tried my best to find the trail. I followed it for a bit, but gave up after not too long. Instead I just went cross country across the snowfield. Well, in summer, the snowfield is actually a bunch of basalt deposited by the volcano. This meant that there were frequently places I put my foot that were false floors. I punched through banging my shins in many places. I was happy to make it out of there without hurting myself.
I made it to the junction and went to the highest falls first. The scene was pretty amazing with the water coming down through the frozen white scene. There was not nearly as much water coming down as the summer time, but still an awesome sight. I took some pictures and went over to the other falls. This one was less high but still dramatic. The trail to it was a lot easier to find, so it did not take me much time. Once again, not nearly as much water, but still fantastic. I was able to find the trail out a bit easier by taking the other fork, since it was a loop trail.
I made it back to the road. I considered hiking up farther, but decided against it today with other things to get accomplished. Still, it was not too difficult or too long getting here. I knew that if I came back on another day, it would be possible for me to make it up to a higher place on the road. Downhill was much easier and I was back to the Xterra in not much time. The next day, we added another 8 inches of snow to the pile that we had already accumulated this year. It had been quite the snowy year, but it helped to make the beautiful places more amazing.
