The last day of the 15/16 ski season at Hilltop was Easter, which we discovered on our drive over to the resort. So we decided to hike for some turns anyway. But we were putting on our gear and Rick, the resort General Manager, came by to tell us that we could hike but not sled or ski.
Fine.
We chatted and asked Rick to take a family picture for us. Lincoln put on a serious pout face and Rick bribed him for a smile with some ice cream from the chalet. We changed out of ski boots while Rick went for ice cream. He came back with vanilla ice cream and a bottle of chocolate syrup. Bonus! Then we (Linc, Meta and Jessi) got a short ride around the slushy base in the Ranger with Rick. Bonus two!
We told Rick that we had vouchers we had planned to use today and they expired, apparently on Easter. So he extended the expiration date on them for us until the end of 16/17 ski season. We are determined not to let them expire a second time. Thanks Rick! Bonus Three!
Meta fell in a puddle/stream in the parking lot and almost derailed our Plan C hike. But it didn't soak through her snow suit or boots, so we ditched her boots and she went in the backpack in her wool - stockinged feet. For once, her hands and feet stayed warm.
It would have been a beautiful evening for night skiing. We still had fun in the snow, and started hiking season off well.
We started out by hiking ... just to the top of this first hill .... then to those two trees ... then let's check out the terrain park... and finally made it to the top of the ski lift. It was about 44-degrees on the thermometer we found on a tree half way up.