Hiking in the Snowy Range (literally)

The last Saturday Ana was here before basic training she was supposed to be working but ended up not.  So we headed up to the Snowy Range to hike and canoe and roast hot dogs.  We got the hiking part in.  We were going to hike the summit trail to Medicine Bow Peak but the entrance was closed with snow drifts (we hiked past them) and then I think we missed the trail head because it was snowed under, so instead of hiking 3 miles we hike 5 and a half.  We hiked through a lot of slushy snow drifts, and a lot of the trail was covered in runoff, so it was a very wet and muddy hike.  And Ana, Elena, and Isabel were all in sandals.  They were freezing.  Poor Isabel's feet were red the whole time.  Elena and Ana didn't complain.  And then at our turning back point (I had realized by then we had definitely taken the wrong trail) it started to get colder and thunder and eventually started snowing on us. Hard.  The wind was whipping through the light hoodies and jackets we had.  (We were at 11,000 ft.) Efraim was crying and his legs were freezing so I took off my jacket to cover him up more.  And frankly, lightening in bare nothingness frightened me so we hiked those kids out of there so fast.  I carried Nicolas, Sebastian and Isabel across several melting snow banks (the worst was actually water under us and the snow was melted enough that it wasn't holding our weight very well, yet it was still over a foot of slushy snow and then the ice cold water we were trudging through--actually not trudging at that point, my adrenaline was up and I was going as fast as I could back and forth over that carrying them.  (Leo was behind me trying to encourage Nicolas.) Ana carried Nicolas a lot too.  Anyway, it was wet and miserable and Wyoming wind is terrible.  I can't imagine  what it would be like to have to try to camp after a day like that.  So glad I'm not a pioneer.  Anyway, we did make it safely back, and all the bad weather cleared by then and it was nice and sunny again.  But we were all too cold for canoeing or roasting, so we drove home.  That was the craziest hike I've ever been on. I did not stop to take pictures during the crazy weather.  And to be fair our hiking guide book did say to only hike the summit in July and August and it was late June when we tried.  And our camp ground guide book said to expect snow at that campground (located at the base of the summit trail) anytime of the year.  Guess we should pay attention more. And I think I need new WATERPROOF hiking boots.  Leo's feet were the only ones dry by the end.