[/caption] One of my best snow-shoe adventures was when I visited Big Lake, which is just a short hike from the Ski Hoodoo parking lot. Big lake is actually frozen in winter so you could take your chances and x-country ski or snow-shoe over the lake since I saw several snow-mobile tracks x-crossing the frozen lake. However, during my visit it was rather warm and the edges of the lake weren’t frozen but I was able to cross over the lake in some areas. The trek around the lake is pretty easy and you get some unbelievable views of Mt. Washington. There are also areas where you can try to climb towards the snowy banks of the mountain. However, I ended up turning around after about an hour, of trudging up its steeps banks, since I was more interested in visiting the lake. I actually underestimated the magnitude of the uphill trek and expected to get above the treeline rather quickly but was sorely mistaken in the difficulty. If you had all day and have some luck with sunny skies you will have a great opportunity to see Three Fingered Jack towards the north. I would also think that if you could snow-shoe up one of the many lava cones you would get a descent glimpse of the Three Sisters in the south and Mt. Jefferson in the north. I hope to visit Big Lake and Mt. Washington this winter and will post some photos if I get any of these views.