While the weather was great in Portland, somehow I just knew we would run into snow in the Columbia River Gorge.  And guess what?  I was right.

Fortunately the early portions of the trail were clear of snow.  However, where there isn't snow, there is mud...and plenty of it!  As my friends quickly figured out, Ally prefers to take the point position on hikes.

Introducing the friends...well, you can only see two of them in this picture.  Up front is Denise followed by  her husband, and our co-worker Thomas.  Sorry Sanjay and Champ (yes, that is his real name), you guys didn't jump in front of the camera very much.

A little farther along the trail we started running into pockets of snow.  The heavy snow cover is still a ways down the trail.

Our first view of Gillette Lake.  Closest to the camera is Sanjay, and in front of him, and still not visible, is Champ.  The next picture down is the view we were enjoying of the lake.

Gillette Lake from up on a ledge.  Unfortunately you lose some detail when you scan in a picture.  The water in this lake is a very bright green...absolutely beautiful.  When we got closer to it we realized it was very clear water, and VERY cold.  Not too cold for Ally to go swimming though...twice.

This picture is missing one key detail.  It was around this point in our hike that it started snowing on us very heavily.  The temperatures were still very bearable, so the snowfall really added a great effect!

We are pretty close to water level here.  Yes, that is a power-line in the background.  I probably should have dubbed it out of the picture, but I figured I would leave it in for the humor value we all enjoyed during the hike.

Back on the trail... just past the lake we had to cross this stream which fed into the lake.  This is easier said than done.  The way across was on a wood "bridge" which was basically a slab of wood about 10-12 inches wide.  Add to that a layer of snow and ice, and having to lead a Golden Retriever across it.

As we started climbing we had one last look back at Gillette Lake.

Again, Thomas and Denise following close behind.  Apparently Sanjay and Champ are camera shy.

We are getting close to the top of the trail, and have another stream to cross...

But at least we have a real bridge to cross on this time!!

Just another snow shot from along the trail.

And yes, I had to include a shot of Ally enjoying the snow.  This is only the second time in her life that she has been around snow.  The first time was about a month before this hike when Portland received a little bit of snow.

The view from the top of the trail.  We are looking back South from here, across the Columbia Gorge to the mountains on the other side (the Oregon side).

The top!!  We got to the top and decided to take a break and enjoy the view for a while.  From right to left are Denise and Thomas, Sanjay, and that is Champ sitting down behind Ally. 

And one last token shot of Ally at the top of the trail.