Love letters from our public lands: Lee's Cabin

Clean, white snow has been falling in broad flakes for hours, blanketing the cabin in silence. We sat, huddled around the window, warming our hands around cups of cocoa, and watching as the small front porch to our temporary home disappeared inch by inch. From our cozy hideaway, it feels for all the world that we are alone on a distant planet. This unexpected storm shows no sign of stopping, so we are here for another night.

The seven-mile hike in was slow going with two young children in tow, but well worth the urging and candy bribes that got us here. After parking at the Wickersham Dome Trailhead, it took the better part of a day to make our way to the cabin. We took our time, stopping along the way to build snowmen and launch snowballs that only stung a little on impact. Our packs, firewood, and other supplies fit snuggly on the sleds we loaded up that our two huskies were kind enough to pull them in for us.

After we arrived at the cabin, we made short work of settling in for the night. What was meant to be a two-night stay has since turned into three, but you won’t catch me complaining. Winter break offers a short reprieve from school and work schedules that leave little time to slow down, and there’s no better place to spend that time than the White Mountains. This is our third year making the trek out to Lee’s Cabin with the kids and it is a tradition I hope they carry on.

Stocked with more than our fair share of firewood and cans of soup to heat over the cook stove, we are passing the time with endless rounds of Candyland and Hangman. Bunkbeds make for excellent blanket fort scaffolding, and it seems my shadow puppet skills have not declined with the years. The dogs are taking well to an extra day of rest, lounging in front of the fire. Cabin fever, mercifully, has yet to set in. It is a wonder, seeing a pair of elementary school children break away from their iPads and social circles long enough to sit with their parents in front of the fire and play the games we were raised on.

Tomorrow will come and, with it, time to dig ourselves out of the cabin and begin the journey back. But, for now, we have nothing to do but enjoy the luxury of another night together, as a family, in Lee’s Cabin.

Write your own adventure story at Lee’s Cabin in the White Mountains. Visit Recreation.gov to reserve: https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campsites/639772