I wear my sunglasses at night...

Well, not exactly...but I do go snowshoeing at night. David and I took a wonderful weekend trip to Bend, Oregon this past weekend. On Saturday night, we went on a snowshoe tour on Mt. Bachelor. What a great experience!

Although the snow can be a bit irratating at times and I am definitely a desert girl at heart, there was something so magical and peaceful about being out in the middle of the forest at midnight while it is snowing.

And our tourguide, Jack, was probably one of the most knowledgable guides I have ever had. He recieved his degree in international eco-tourism (what!?!?) and he was full of great little stories and facts.

Below are some photos of our trip, but first, I wanted to share with you a couple of my favorite stories we learned:

1.) Oregon is the most volcanic of all of the 48 states. Around the world, the earth's crust is an average thickness of 17 miles but in Oregon, it is an average of 2 miles thick! This just makes me wonder... how come it isn't warmer here in Oregon? Huh? Someone answer that for me...

2.) There is a great pine tree that is called the Hemlock. The hemlock is one of the most durable of all the pine trees and thus can live in crazy amounts of snow. There is an old story that has been passed around about the hemlock tree:

At the beginning of creation, God called a meeting for all of the pine trees in the forest to collect their cones. The Hemlock tree, being the most durable of all pine trees, strutted into the meeting and went straight to the front of the line thinking "I am the best of all the pine trees because I can live through any weather. I am sure to get the best cones today from God." God saw the Hemlocks attitude and told him that he would have to wait in line like all of the pine trees. The Hemlock tree was disappointed but went to the back of the line. By the time the Hemlock tree got to God, all that was left were the smallest of the cones. To this day, the Hemlock hangs his head in shame at the size of his cones.

Next time you are in a snowy forest, be sure to keep your eyes open for the Hemlock Pine Tree hanging his head in shame!