It’s a bit cold and windy when we pull into the Happy Jack parking lot, but we don’t have a clue what’s coming. Neither does anyone else – the parking lot and ski hill are bustling with tubers, sledders, boarders, skiers, and snowshoers like us. It gives one some respect for the constitutions of people around here – the wind chill is enough to turn bare skin to ice in a few seconds. We bundle up for our outing.
Improvised Happy Jack Loop at EveryTrail:

The wind is much less apparent in the trees, and we warm up fast. I love this network of trails that make a veritable maze with aspen stands, creeks, lodgepole pine, white fir, and granite promontories at regular intervals. As many times as I’ve been here, I still have no clear mental map of the trail network. I just like to launch myself into it and find my way out again. By the time we do that today, we find a much emptier parking lot. Snow is falling pretty hard while a few diehards get another run in. We sit in the camper and make lunch while the wind and snow increase. Conditions are nearing total whiteout when we’re ready to leave.