One of the perks of living in small town Arnold, California is the proximity to the beautiful Bear Valley.
In the summertime we love going to the higher elevations to enjoy the crisp air and cooler temperatures for mountain bike rides.
In January, however, we like to play in the snow.
This past weekend, my husband Jeff and I used our season passes to the Bear Valley Ski Resort to tear up the slopes on Saturday. And by “we”, I mean Jeff tore up the slopes, and I did my best not to break myself. (Side note: Mission Accomplished this time around!)
On Sunday, we decided to switch it up and do a more dog-friendly activity.
We had actually originally planned on hiking with the dogs at Spicer Reservoir, but found the majority of the road to be closed off, and what little bit that was open to be densely populated by a sledding crowd. So we drove further up the hill.
We ended up hiking at a location we had mountain-biked before, but experiencing this trail in the snow was an entirely new adventure.
When we lived in the Bay Area, finding dog-friendly hikes that allowed dogs to be off-leash was a significant challenge. Plus, the dog-friendly hiking areas that were within proximity were generally over-crowded and shall we say, not-so-serene?
This hike, on the other hand, provided what the Bay Area couldn’t.
We had privacy. We had snow. We had views. We had off-leash allowances. Pine trees as far as the eye can see.
And to top it off, we had ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS WEATHER.
We didn’t have to go far to tire the doggies out. They were having so much fun running around, chasing snowballs, rolling in the snow, and sniffing for squirrels on the first half of the hike (the downhill part) that they didn’t save much energy for the return journey. However, we used that as an excuse to take a break halfway through our trek back up the hill we had walked down. We sat on a rock, soaked in the views, and even shared a can of wine (how awesome is it that a can of wine is a thing?!)
So if you’re looking for a dog-friendly snow hike in bear valley, this one can check off that box
Goals:
Daily dose of fresh air, open skies, and mountain views
Tired, happy puppies
Tired, happy humans
No crowds
No traffic
No leashes
