Snowshoeing [Archive] - Women's Cycling Discussion Forums

LBTC

01-12-2007, 05:13 PM

Good idea, Lisa!

Sorry you don't have the snow! We won't get out snowshoeing this weekend - it's toooo cold! brrrrrrrrrrrr

It's a good time to catch up on a business law assignment I have to submit soon, and start working on the taxes. blech. Can you imagine?

I did go to kickboxing last night, though. No other participants, so I had a private lesson. Very different from the classes I took in my old hometown. That was an aikido dojo, this is a fight club. A smelly, black, metal filled boy's gym that hosts the one ladies class each night. The good part is that it takes about 2 minutes to walk there after work, and the class starts at just the right time. I still might shop around and see if here are other places to go.

Are you still riding?

Hugs,
~T~

BleeckerSt_Girl

01-12-2007, 06:12 PM

Hi T,
Sometimes we find good new objectivity and inspiration in places we don't expect to. Perhaps your stinky dark male gym place is going to offer some new experiences and discoveries for you. Contrast can bring new awareness. If it's a convenient time and location, it will at least keep you excercising more often. :cool: Perhaps you'll absorb some of the testosterone in the air there and rise to spectacular new martial arts heights! :D

I rode bike yesterday only 12 miles- so cold at 23F. :eek: I *should* have ridden today, but like a fool I believed the weather report that said rain all morning, so I walked 3 miles instead. Turned out it was 40 and perfectly lovely and sunny for a bike ride! :mad: A missed opportunity, and now supposedly 3 days of sleet ahead of us. At least I walked.

I had an interesting snowshoe occurance today. We live a 1/2 mile from Main st here in our little rural town. While walking through town today, I saw a flyer in the window of the land conservancy office that told about upcoming snowshoe classes right near me! I wrote down all the info excitedly. At home I saw on my calendar that I would miss all 3 dates due to guests here and also an upcoming vacation in early Feb. I was devastated!! But then I did some thinking- the first clinic was setup for a week from now- and clearly there would not be snow here for it, so I called the Land Conserv. office to see what they were planning to do about that problem. The lady in the office was the one who was going to give the snowshoeing classes! She said they had already canceled the first one, and weren't too sure about snow for the other ones either. Then she said the most amazing thing- she said she keeps her snowshoes right there in her office and when there is snow she often goes out snowshoeing on her lunch break etc. She said if there is at least a 3" snow anytime time on a weekday, I should just call her and she would come meet me right 2 blocks from my house where one of their nature trails starts! This was the trail I had planned on trying my snowshoes out for the first time. She said she's be glad to get me started and give me a little lesson anytime! :) :) :) This is all just a couple of blocks from my house!!! Am I lucky or what??

Now I have a snowshoe mentor to help me get snowshoeing when we get our first big snow!
Yesterday we actually did get our first "real" snow- but only 2". By this morning it was down to 1" and spotty coverage. That's at least breaking the jinx of no snow at all I guess. I feel pretty dopey talking about snowshoeing so much and never even having done it yet! :rolleyes: Well, I *did* at least try my snowshoes on in the bedroom once! Coudln't walk around the house though or I'da ruin'd the oak floors! :rolleyes:

We do our taxes pretty early, usually Feb. DH is a very efficient man, which suits me just fine.

LBTC

01-13-2007, 09:44 AM

Hi, Lisa!

Boy oh boy do I have some sore muscles!! Traps, rhomboids, lats, intercostals, abs, anterior deltoids, calves and to a small degree my pecs are all very very sore. Sneezing is a serious wake up call! :eek: Not sure if I'm a complete idiot or not, but I was so sore last night that I decided the best cure was to use all of the same muscles again, so I used the fancy winch and pulley system that DH built, and played with my own heavy bag for awhile. It was great to put some combinations together. <smile> This morning I'm still wicked sore, but it is so much nicer than being so fatigued that I only want to lay around....:)

If the soreness has dissipated adequately by Monday, which is what I anticipate, I'll head back to the gym again. I talked quite frankly with the owner about my recent diagnosis with Crohn's and how the fatigue is such a huge factor and I really don't know what I can tolerate. He's agreed that I can come as often as I like through January and at the beginning of February we'll figure out how much I should pay. I think I can do 2 nights a week at best, and his price is for 5 nights a week.....so hopefully there is a discount in there. :rolleyes:

Now your snowshoeing story is completely and totally cool! A mentor so close and trails so close, I sooo hope you get snow darned soon!! That teaser snow you had was just a hint of things to come. Yeah, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! Seriously, I'd love to send a little of ours your way....it's too cold to enjoy it today, but it is snowing yet again. Teeny weenie snow flakes....the kind that if there's a wind just feel like ice pellets whacking you in the face. And, of course, no sunshine, so not the kind of day that makes me want to head outside.

That's actually all very good. I have a completely disorganized room full of papers we have to go through just to find all the stuff we'll need for doing taxes and such. It's not like we can get the taxes done until at least March because employers don't have to send out their paperwork until the end of February, but this part takes so long and is so awful, the sooner we start the better!

You'd never guess that people I work with have this illusion that I'm organized!! hahahahaa

Let me know when you've finally gone out on those snowshoes! It's going to be soooo cool!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

BleeckerSt_Girl

01-13-2007, 10:30 AM

Hi, Lisa!

Boy oh boy do I have some sore muscles!! Traps, rhomboids, lats, intercostals, abs, anterior deltoids, calves and to a small degree my pecs are all very very sore.
Those all sound like tropical fish to me. :rolleyes:

I used the fancy winch and pulley system that DH built, and played with my own heavy bag for awhile.

Sounds kinda kinky. ;) ;) ;)

Seriously though, the first time I walked my 3 miles again a couple of weeks ago, after months of only biking, I had sore muscles in places I didn't expect- the INNER SIDES of my thighs mostly, my shoulders, and my stomach area...who'dda thunk?? I went right out again the next day and the soreness wasn't so bad after that. I'm sure YOUR soreness is way more than mine though, kickboxing being WAY more strenuous than brisk walking!! ( i'm probably older than you, and I doubt my hips would cooperate). I admire you for taking it on- kickboxing must be some big workout.
With only going 2 nights a week I would THINK you'd get at least half price- if he doesn't offer that I would suggest it if I were you.

I sooo hope you get snow darned soon!! That teaser snow you had was just a hint of things to come. Yeah, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Well it's forty today and raining all day, so the little snow that was left is gone again. Too wet for biking, so I walked my 3mile walk again this morning in the rain...
Getting a lot of things done today however- some actual "work" work, cleaned the tub and bathroom thoroughly (guests coming next weekend, and I rarely do such a thorough job on the tub, so that feels good), preparing a huge merchandise order to ship, changing sheets on the beds in the house, laundry...all stuff that feels good to get done and over with.

I just have to be patient with the snowshoeing- a decent snow is inevitable here at least ONCE this winter, fer cryin' out loud!

Did you get gaitors for snowshoeing? What kind did you get? I got some way cool Goretex ones. Tempted to wear them just for walking through my sleeting rain walks, but still too warm out. :mad:

LBTC

01-13-2007, 12:26 PM

hahahah Lisa you're funny! I'll take a picture of the heavy bag setup so you can see what I mean......it's not actually kinky, but funny to thing of it that way!

Did you get gaitors for snowshoeing? What kind did you get? I got some way cool Goretex ones. Tempted to wear them just for walking through my sleeting rain walks, but still too warm out. :mad:

I had gaitors already I used to wear them through the snow on the walks to work in our old hometown...Mine are low end, not fancy, and I'm pretty sure they're not gore-tex. I think they cost $18 from MEC. DH got a pair from FarWest that are Goretex and were more like $50 on sale. Your gaitors will be great in the snow! I've never tried them in rain...Goretex is breathable, so it might not be as hot as you think.....might get you a look or two, but, do you care? heehee You have cool new stuff, you should try it out!

Hugs,
~T~

Haudlady

01-22-2007, 07:26 AM

I LOVE to snowshoe (I don't wear gaiters, but I do wear windpants). DH and I like to go out after work in the moonlight. We are lucky - we have direct access to hundreds of acres of conservation land that we can use. BUT this only works if we have snow! Right now, we have about 1/2" of ice with 1/2" of snow on top of that. Anyway...

We have this nice hill that leads down into the lower fields... I was inspired. I brought my dog for our walk, and brought the little roll-up sled with me. It's really just a sheet of thick plastic, but it works! So, at the top of the hill I set off! Poor Zaboo! :eek: He was VERY concerned - chasing after me at full speed, barking in alarm. Let me just say - with all that ice, I was VERY fast!

So, there we are... full speed down the hill... Zaboo barking frantically, and me screeching like a banshee. I finally came to a stop by digging in my heels... and look up to see my neighbor staring at me. :o Just as well I didn't know he was there... I'm still embarassed about my shrieking!

When do we get to snowshoe??? Zaboo actually likes that! :D

BleeckerSt_Girl

01-22-2007, 03:59 PM

What a great story! Let your inner banshee scream, girl!! :D
I love the vision of you and your dog skidding and hollering and barking down the hill...

Yeah here in upstate NY we keep getting these lame 1" snow dustings and then it melts and repeats. Snowshoes still still sitting in the closet, all pristine and shining new...gaiters and poles hanging forlornly...

LBTC

01-22-2007, 05:58 PM

Hello snow fans!

Yes, DH and I got out and snowshoed again on Saturday. Same area, but new trail we hadn't been on before. With the fresh snow it was a lot harder work, which is great! I reminded us of the first mtb ride of the season, on a favourite climb where all you can think is, why is this so hard?? :D

Motion based links are below. You can actually view these on Google Earth. Pretty fun technology! My GPS obviously dropped out a lot, and for one really long section.....but it gives you the idea.

My GPS report:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/1933838

DH's GPS report:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/1934158

I hope you get snow very soon! Gotta get those shoes outside in their natural habitat!!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

annie

02-12-2007, 05:54 PM

I just got snowshoes for my birthday!! Been wanting them for years. I got Tubbs adventure 21 Womens' snowshoes. I am so looking forward to getting out and doing some decent hikes with them. They are my first Shoes. Do you use poles when you go shoeing? I have x-country ski poles that I could use. Do you think that'd be ok? Is there anything special I should know? Any techniques that work for uphills or downhills? I am really a novice at this and will appreciate any advice you pros can give. I'm kinda housebound for a couple of weeks, but as soon as I can get out, those shoes are going to be walking many miles! I can't wait!

Thanks for any advice!

Annie

LBTC

02-12-2007, 06:02 PM

Well, I'm certainly no expert, but I've really enjoyed our new snowshoes. We've been going to established trails and a nordic (x-country) centre, and they are really interesting trails with lots of twists and turns and ups and downs and through the trees like a mountain bike trail. I've been using mountain bike principals of weighting differently for climbing and descending, and it seems to be working pretty well. I've also found that at the one hour mark I start to run out of pep, so I need to bring food and more than just water. This weekend I put some electrolyte drops in some fruit juice and it seemed to work well.

My snowshoes kick a lot of snow up on my back and legs and butt, so I wear my cycling goretex jacket, a pair of newly purchased simple goretex pants (over tights) and goretex gaitors. Make sure your shoes or boots are really comfortable.

That's all I can think of for now. Have fun and let us know how it goes!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

annie

02-12-2007, 06:09 PM

Thanks, LBTC!! I'll let you know how my first venture goes.

Annie

cosc

02-12-2007, 08:29 PM

Yesterday I took my new snowshoes for their 2nd hike of the winter. Not a lot of snow -mabe 4 inches. My upper leg muscles told me when I'd been out long enough. My hour hike ended with a 2 hour tractor ride with my dh and rat terrier to feed the cows hay. After today snow I'm looking forward to shoeing in deeper snow.:cool: The cold and wind will keep the hikes short but that should agree with my muscles. I'm not a very coordinated person but fine shoeing very easy. I could use tips on how to go down steeper sections. Lisa I'm sorry your still waiting on snow. All that snow in NY and no one will share with you.:( I'm glad you presevere and don't let cold, wind, and ice keep you from riding bike or walking. You"ll do great when you finally get to use your Tubbs.

LBTC

02-12-2007, 08:42 PM

I could use tips on how to go down steeper sections.

cosc, try to put your weight on your heals as you descend, and keep your knees bent to catch yourself easily if you start to lose your balance.

annie, we don't use poles, but I can see they would ensure that your upper body would stay involved.

Good luck to both of you!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

DebW

02-13-2007, 05:34 AM

I'm jealous - haven't been out snowshoeing yet this year. Sounds like you all are having fun. A few tips: on uphills, keep you foot flat on the snowshoe so that the crampons fully engage (this builds a flexible achilles) and provide good traction. On well-packed trails, the toe crampon may be enough, but on loose snow you really need the whole shoe to get good grip. For steep uphills on loose snow, you can sort of kick in to the snow and create a flat platform for your shoe like making stairsteps. For downhills, keep weight on your heels and shift your weight back and forth from one foot to the other so the tips of your snowshoes don't get buried. It can be a rather fun ski/slide/run downhill.

BleeckerSt_Girl

02-13-2007, 05:41 AM

OH MY GOD!!! :D Here's tomorrow's forecast!!!:

WEDNESDAY: Snow....heavy at times...may briefly mix with sleet south and east of Albany...Accumulations by Wednesday night 10"-16"....Highs 20-25.

OK so I will be READY!!!! :D :D :D Just went to the supermarket yesterday so we are all stocked up. Got my warm baselayers, my Tubbs crampon snowshoes, my Ibex wool tights, Burley waterproof pants, poles, and gortex gaiters!!! Woo-HOOOOOO!! Can't WAIT!!!! :p :p :p :p

LBTC

02-13-2007, 06:10 AM

Wahoo!! Go, Lisa, Go!

~T~

Haudlady

02-13-2007, 09:58 AM

Yippee!!!

I have TONS of comp time right now, so I'm taking tomorrow off to celebrate the big snow (I just hope we get it)!

With any luck, me and Zaboo (my faithful dog) will be FINALLY going out to do the first snowshoeing of the winter!

I'll be thinking of you, Lisa!

:D :D :D

BleeckerSt_Girl

02-13-2007, 02:13 PM

The snow is supposed to start late tonight, with 8-10" by morning, another load of snow falling all day tomorrow too...for a total predicted snow accumulation of 18-30" by wednesday night!!!
It's the cold that worries me a bit- a high only in the teens for the next few days straight, with windchill making it single digits. I may have to make several shorter walks if I have trouble keeping warm. I will really layer up GOOD, believe me. I won't venture far from civilization though, so don't worry. My first outing might even be down into town for latte and eggs tomorrow morning, after which I might continue looping around the village perimeters before heading home.

I will practice this evening getting "clipped in and out" so to speak so hopefully I will be able to do it without fumbling too much in the cold and with gloves on.

It'll be my very FIRST time snowshoeing, and I'm so excited! :D :D :D
I'll be thinking of YOU guys too!!! :p :p :p

PAP103

02-14-2007, 08:45 AM

Yesterday they predicted a good amount of snow here in NE for today and tonight so I went and bought myself a pair of Tubbs snowshoes! :D Great time to buy them, they were on sale at EMS.

Its snowing right now so I'm hoping that it stays snow and doesn't turn to rain. I'm planning my first snowshoe stomp for Saturday! Can't wait.

BleeckerSt_Girl

02-14-2007, 02:02 PM

FINALLY!!!!!!!! :p :p :p
Got everything strapped on and bundled up and went all around the village boundaries for an hour and a half (about 2 1/2 miles). I kept pretty warm and dry except for my face- it was nasty sleeting/snowing right into my face most of the time and it was only 8 degreesF (with wind chill it must have been about 0). But I had all the right layers on and stayed snug. Lots of wool base layers and topped off by waterproof biking pants, windbreaker, balaclava, ski gloves,2644 and gaiters. :p Would have stayed out longer but wanted to do a lot more tomorrow so I took it easy this first day.
My Tubbs "Odyssey" women's shoes worked very nicely- it was EASY!!! I only stepped on my other shoe once when I was turning to look behind me while walking (quickly learned to stop to look back), but i didn't fall. I didn't have the dreaded "snow flip" effect at all. Our village was pretty deserted with the falling snow and only plows were out, waving at me. I did see one male friend I know XC skiing along the same street I was shoeing. Another lady was walking her dog in the snow and using hiking poles. :D
I got up and down our steep hill very easily with my crampons, and soon i just stowed my poles in my backpack as I found I didn't need them much.
I was surprised to see that one doesn't stay on TOP of the snow completely in snowshoes- you do sink a few inches down, but that's normal, right? On some snow I sank up to 6", in other snow I only sank 2" or so. Is 6" normal too?
Holy cow but I had FUN. :p :p :p Tomorrow should have a few more fresh inches of snow and I'll be going out again for sure, want to go at least 3 miles tomorrow and maybe shoe the woodland conservancy trail near my house too.

DebW

02-14-2007, 02:49 PM

FINALLY!!!!!!!! :p :p :p

I was surprised to see that one doesn't stay on TOP of the snow completely in snowshoes- you do sink a few inches down, but that's normal, right? On some snow I sank up to 6", in other snow I only sank 2" or so. Is 6" normal too?

6" is normal. Depends on the snow density and depth. Tomorrow try walking on the trail you made today. You'll hardly sink at all on an already-compacted trail, making it far less work. Kind of like cycling a paceline.

LBTC

02-14-2007, 07:30 PM

Lisa! I'm so glad you finally got out there on the snowshoes and had some fun in the snow!! Those are pretty crazy temps though - we haven't been out in anything nearly that cold! You go, girl!

We don't sink much on the established trails we've been SSing on, except when there's some fresh snow on top...I"ve stepped off the trail once or twice and get knee deep in a second. I have no idea how deep the snow really is, but I bet it's several feet compacted below, and the trails have gotten lower than the sides every time we've been there...

Let us know how the woodlands are! And enjoy!!

Hugs and happy butterflies,
~T~

BleeckerSt_Girl

02-14-2007, 07:54 PM

Lisa! I'm so glad you finally got out there on the snowshoes and had some fun in the snow!! Those are pretty crazy temps though - we haven't been out in anything nearly that cold! You go, girl!
~T~

T, if you only knew what a "winter wimp" I used to be!! :rolleyes:
Well, now I have wisened up to proper types of cold weather layering, and it has made all the difference in the world. I used to freeze and shiver even though I was weighted down by huge heavy (cotton/acryllic) sweaters, cotton leggings under jeans, knitted mittens and bulky scarfs....all kinds of bulky heavy worthless stuff that didn't even keep me warm! :o
Since biking and reading up and listening to the wisdom of TE ladies, I have smartened up and switched to slim but warm layers of Underarmour, merino base layers top and bottom, glove liners, balaclavas, and waterproof/windproof biking layers, etc...all very lightweight and breathable but incredibly warm and cozy. So, it wasn't that I was "brave" or anything- I really wasn't even cold! -only my face, which was uncovered except for my balaclava-covered chin and forehead. Tomorrow should be easier because i doubt there will be that nasty sleet-snow blowing down like we had today.

Wish we could all snowshoe together with a snap of the fingers! :)

DebW

02-15-2007, 06:03 AM

I got out for about 45 minutes of snowshoeing this morning. The snow crusted up overnight (must have rained), so I took out my wooden bearpaws (the newer MSRs are very noisy on crust). And just for Kit, a photo of the crampon on the bottom of one shoe. Actually, there is 1/2 a crampon on each shoe, attached with parachute cord (varnish the cord when you varnish the shoe and it will never come loose).

anakiwa

02-15-2007, 07:20 AM

Went out this morning to try to pack down a path so my dog could get somewhere to go to the bathroom. (The snow is currently deeper than she is tall and she's not happy about it.) Even with the snowshoes on my feet I was still sinking in up to my knees! (I sure was glad I had them on, I can't imagine walking through all the snow without them right now.)

annie

02-15-2007, 10:26 AM

I can't even imagine all the snow you NE'ers have!! We have just a nice amount here in IA. And we keep getting little bits at a time to keep it nice. I admire you all for going on about life as well as possible! And for getting out there and having FUN in the snow.

I tried out my new snowshoes this morning before work! Whoo-woo! They're great. Very easy on/off strap system. It was cold, about 7 F. Not sure what the windchill was, but not too windy and the sun was shining. Due to recent surgery, I'm not really supposed to out doing strenuous exercise, so I walked slowly and just took in the beauty of the day. I NEEDED to get outside. My body needs to take it easy but my spirit needs the outdoors! This was a good balance. :)

Annie

BleeckerSt_Girl

02-15-2007, 12:18 PM

Yay! So glad that some of us are getting our snowshoeing in now!!

I estimate we got around 16-18" snow here- nothing really when compared to the "other" upstate NY around the Great Lakes!
I went out again today, this time snowshoeing the woodland trail that is near my house. It goes all through the woods with slight hills and ends overlooking a little pond with a bench to rest on. Very nice! The whole trail is only about 1 3/4 miles round trip, but it was a pretty good workout with the deep snow and rolling terrain through the woods. I still find I don't seem to need my poles. It was the perfect quick hike, and I love that I only have to walk 2 blocks to where the trail starts- so no car use at all! :)
I will drive to other locations eventually to shoe when I want to go longer distance or want a change of pace.
Today was much nicer sunny cold 20degreeF weather, not freezing sleetsnow like yesterday.
When I finished the round trip trail, I created a seat for myself in a huge snowbank and took off my snowshoes and stowed them in my backpack, then I pulled on some Yak-Trax type crampons over my boots and hiked the 1/2 slushy mile to the village and had a yummy grilled cheese, then hiked home again. :) :)
Now back to work...

Happy shoeing, everyone!!
Annie, I thought of you with YOUR new Tubbs shoes, too!

BleeckerSt_Girl

02-16-2007, 07:58 PM

A good girlfriend of mine phoned this morning to see if i wanted to go snowshoeing....:D :D Lucky lucky me!! So we drove to a nature preserve near here and we shoed for about an hour and a half across very deep snow and hilly windy fields with beautiful views of surrounding hills and farms and a huge pond. The snow blew across the surface of the fields like sand dunes as we walked. On the way back, our trail of 6" deep tracks was almost invisible already!

It was wonderful! A nice workout because we sank 4 to 6" with every step and the wind actually knocked us over a couple of times! :eek: :p It was about 20 degreesF but wind chill must have made it like 5 or so. COLD. We had FUN. I kept nice and warm with my just-right layering. Didn't need my poles at all. We then stopped into town for some great smoked mozzarella grillled cheese sandwiches and soup to warm up before going home. What a nice morning! (tomorrow I have to buckle down to some jobs piling up on my desk though :o )

annie

02-18-2007, 05:04 PM

I got out shoeing again today! A gorgeous day! High of about 22, but very little wind (unlike your day, Lisa.) No getting blown over for me. :D You go, girl!!

I did a nice uphill hike, and then got to turn around and go downhill for the return trip. I was by myself. Nice sometimes, to have peace and quiet for thoughts.

Was so glad I was able to play in the snow today. Our predicted high is 40 tomorrow! Yikes! Can you just imagine what that will do to our snow? It won't melt it all, but it'll get all hard and crusty. It was soft and powdery today. Got to enjoy it while we can.

Annie

BleeckerSt_Girl

02-19-2007, 12:03 PM

Good for you, Annie! Keep shoeing.

I went snowshoeing again today for 2 hours. I stayed quite warm and dry despite it being about 10 degreesF out. Good gear is everything!
I followed some trails through the nature conservancy woods leading to a frozen pond. Got to watch a beautiful pileated woodpecker hammering away on a tree only a few yards away. He didn't seem bothered by my presence at all. There were several other sets of snowshoe tracks through the woods besides mine. :)

Oh, one thing I noticed about the snow- our big snowfall (18") happened a few days ago. Today I noticed that in areas where the sun hit (fields), there is a hard crust now on the snow surface that you have to crunch in your shoes. But when shoeing through the woods today, there was no crust- all the snow was still light and fluffy (except on the packed down trails of course). So just because there may be an ice crust on the snow when you go out in your yard to look at it, it might still be some wonderful fluffy snow if you try some trails through the woods. I guess even the bare branches manage to keep the sun from making crusts.

LBTC

02-19-2007, 05:28 PM

Lisa and Annie, those both sound like magical experiences! yay!

One of our recent snowshoeing ventures this month we went on a trail we hadn't seen before and the snow was deep and fresh beside the well tramped trail. Someone ahead of us had paused several times on the way and written words in the snow: like peace, joy, jubilation, magic, sacred sanctuary, etc. It was very cool - it added to the magic of the moment for me.

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

annie

02-19-2007, 06:38 PM

LBTC, Lisa,

So glad to hear you had wonderful shoeing, also. I'll have to shoe vicariously through you now. Our temps hit 46 F. today. :( Snow was melting and soaking into the ground. It's not gone yet, but our predicted temps are above freezing all week. Plus a day or two of rain. So much for the snow. It's possible we'd get enough for another round, but unlikely. So enjoy it while you can, I say. And look forward to biking season soon! Yay! It's all good.

Annie

BleeckerSt_Girl

02-20-2007, 07:50 AM

We will shoe for you Annie!! :)

And yeah, won't it be great when biking season starts again? :p :p
You'll be biking long before we get to, I bet!

annie

02-25-2007, 04:29 PM

We got more snow!! Slushy, sloppy wet snow, but snow, nonetheless! So I was out with the snowshoes again today. Let me tell you, shoeing through wet, heavy snow is one he## of a workout!! I am beat. :D I loved it. How's your snow, ladies?

Annie

LBTC

02-25-2007, 05:45 PM

snow in town here is disappearing rapidly, which I love as I wait to see what bulbs are poking out of the ground! :) I'm sure the trails we go to still have good snow, but we didn't go this weekend or last for several reasons, or are those excuses? :confused:

Keep enjoying while you have it!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

BleeckerSt_Girl

02-25-2007, 06:03 PM

The snow from 10 days ago is getting pretty lame- the woodland trails are so packed down. We visited frineds an hour away this weekend and I brought my shoes and they have some too, but their snow situation was worse than ours was, so none of us went shoeing.
But there is maybe an inch or two in the forecast over the next few days here, and if we get a new fresh surface I'll go out again. :) The forcast is odd for this week, and it actually could go either way between shoeing and biking! :eek: :rolleyes: I'll be watching the weather.

I guess I've been shoeing about 4 times total, all on just that one big snowfall we've had so far this winter, 10 days ago or so. It would be freaky if that's all the snow we get this winter!!

PAP103

03-01-2007, 06:33 AM

We're expecting 18-24" of snow in Maine tonight and Friday!!! I'm on vacation next week and will be in Maine the whole time. Its also a full moon this weekend. I'm going to try for a moonlight snowshoe. Can't wait!!!!

Think snow....

BleeckerSt_Girl

03-01-2007, 12:51 PM

Pap, you lucky girl!!

We are supposed to get 3-5" of mixed snow and freezing rain with sleet tonight and tomorrow. :( Doesn't sound too nice, but perhaps it will all be snow instead and we'll get lucky. Weathermen are not always right.

Tell us about your snowshoeing afterwards!

cosc

03-02-2007, 06:30 AM

I went shoeing at a park a couple days ago and so enjoyed a calm peaceful outdoors. Temps was 29 with no wind. Next time I'll bring my dog, since I saw nary a person (or another dog). Usually when I go hike the park there is lots of people and dogs for my rat terrier to visit so I always keep her on a leesh.
Winter weather does have some advantages. We have a blizzard today. No more nice snow to shoe in -just high winds to blow what we already have on the ground. If it has to be cold, I hope all the snowshoers receive some nice amounts of snow.

BleeckerSt_Girl

03-16-2007, 01:05 PM

3" on the ground so far, with 8-20" predicted by Saturday night.
It's snowing like mad, but it's almost dark. Dusting off the trusty snowshoes for tomorrow morning! :D :D

BleeckerSt_Girl

03-17-2007, 02:03 PM

OK, so we got a deep 16" of great snow last night, no ice or sleet.
I snowshoed about a mile through the woods on a trail. But I actually was the only one to break that trail today (everyone else probably quit being outside after shoveling out today), and believe me, it was HARD!!! All that deep powdery snow- I sank about EIGHT inches down with every step, and had to really lift my legs REALLY high for every step. I even had to cross several streams over a narrow board in my snowshoes! :eek: I found out it is not easy to tightrope walk in snowshoes. :cool: Although the whole trip was about only a mile, it seemed like more work than a 30 mile bike ride. :o

By the time I made it to my destination (a wooden bench overlooking an icey pond) my legs were shaking and rubbery, and my heart was pounding despite having rested briefly several times on the way. I brushed the snow off the bench and lay down on my back to rest a good long while. Man that felt good. When I looked up overhead, the sky was white and the black tree branches were all reaching towards the center of the bench clearing, it looked like a giant black lacey snowflake pattern in the sky over me, and i was right in the middle of the snowflake. Very beautiful. The woods were silent except for some woodpeckers and the streams babbling.

Going back over my own trail was a whole different story, if I kept to my own footprints I only sank about an inch this time- BIG difference, and much easier and more fun. I was glad to get back home. Tomorrow will be easier to do the same trail again. I expect to see some other prints on the trail tomorrow, maybe crosscountry ski tracks or even other snowshow tracks, like I've seen before. It's fun to guess from the snowshoe tracks whether it was a woman or a man who had passed on the trail, and what brand shoes they had. Makes me feel like a real tracker. :p

Here's a picture from today- we had already shoveled off the porch and paths, and unfortunately the wind had removed the pretty snow from the trees. But I climbed our little "Mt.Everest" for fun, where the snowplow guy had dumped some of the snow this morning. So there I am showing off on "the summit" in my snowshoes, just about to go out into the woods. -I didn't look quite so energetic by the time I got back, however! :rolleyes: :D
2785

LBTC

03-17-2007, 05:29 PM

Woohoo! Serious snow! and good for you for getting out there even though it was so hard!

And the black snowflake imagery was very cool. Aren't moments like that the whole reason we do these things?

Today I put the snowshoes in the shed, and we rode our BIKES. Spring is sprung! (sorry to rub it in).

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

Crankin

03-18-2007, 12:16 PM

I had the same experience as Lisa today. Went on a 3.5 mile snow shoe, and it was really hard, just walking on a relatively flat trail. Most of it, you could walk on top of the frozen crust, but in other places, you sank down and had to really work to step up. Usually this trail is 4.3 miles, but my friends were tired, so we turned around and went out for cafe mochas instead...
Hopefully, I will be on my bike Thursday or Friday.

BleeckerSt_Girl

03-18-2007, 05:51 PM

Went out along the same woodland trail today for about an hour and a half, but took the longer uphill loop. I followed some big man's snowshoe tracks, which was not always easy because he took much longer strides than I can, but still it was easier than breaking another new trail. No crust at all here, still very deep 15" inches of soft snow in the woods.

The trail is about 8 feet wide through this reserve. Yesterday I was the only one to leave a trail through the reserve, and I followed my own trail back again, leaving lots of space on either side for x-country skiers to make their own pristine trails if they wanted. Today I saw that this man in snowshoes had rather inconsiderately made a mess of the whole trail- he shoe'd all the way in making a big trail to one side of mine, leaving giant deep footholes....and then on the way back he shoe'd on the OTHER side of my trail instead of using his own trail back! Thus, in place of one snowshoe track, there were now THREE and the whole 8' wide trail was covered with deep huge shoe holes everywhere- those X-country skiiers are not going to be happy- and I don't blame them at all! It was ugly looking too. Why did this fellow do that??
I saw today that an animal had made use of my snowshoe trail from yesterday- for a long distance there was a trail in my yesterday's footprints of what looked like a cross between a large cat and a small very lightweight dog- I concluded it was a fox. Looked like dog prints but very small, dainty and pointy. No French poodles would be out there, for sure! :rolleyes:
I got really thirsty midway out. I could not resist drinking from a stream, and I crawled to the edge on my tummy in the snow so I wouldn't break through to the mushy edges. I didn't want to scoop the water with my hands and make them too cold. I felt very "wild" lying on my stomach in the woods slurping from the rushing stream with my mouth...

Because the snow was a bit wetter today (no crust though) and I was able to use previous footprints much of the time, it was not as grueling as yesterday's trail breaking. Still a good workout though, for legs and heart. I'm getting faster at getting my shoes strapped on and off.

BleeckerSt_Girl

10-14-2007, 11:21 AM

Hey, snowshoe fans! :)

Just checking in this fine Autumn to say hi and are you getting excited yet thinking about snowshoeing this coming winter?

I wanted to post this link to some nice thermal waterproof Merrill hiking boots I just ordered:
http://www.onlineshoes.com/productpage.asp?type=brand&brandid=9&brandcatid=64&gen=w&pcid=64085
One cool feature on them is that they have heel ridges that are specifically designed to hold snowshoe straps nicely in place without the straps slipping down! So great! :p :p I have to get the boots big enough to wear two pairs good heavy wool socks in them for the frigid cold. Will get back with a review once I wear them a bit.

surgtech1956

10-15-2007, 02:26 PM

northstar

10-15-2007, 04:48 PM

Glad to see this thread return to life...I'm interested in getting into snowshoeing (think it might be more convenient/affordable than XC skiing). I don't even know where to begin as far as equipment goes. There are two golf courses near our houses that are beautiful and groom trails for XC skiing. Thinking that might be a good place to start...

BleeckerSt_Girl

10-15-2007, 08:08 PM

Nice looking boots, pretty good price too. Give us an update. I'm thinking about snowshoeing this winter. Do you have to have lots of snow in order to snowshoe? What do you do, just put your snowshoes on and go for a walk, hike????

I just received an email that the boots have shipped, haven't gotten them yet.

You can snowshoe in about 5 inches or more of snow. We usually get a few good deep 8+" snows every winter here and a few 5 inchers....but last year was not much, just two big ones. :( Hope it's not a trend.

We live on a hill at the edge of our little small country town. There is a 2 mile trail through the woods that starts a block from our house, so there's always that. And I went into town once during a blizzard- now THAT was FUN!!!! It was just me and the snowplow guys out in the heavy snow flakes- beautiful. I shoed all around the streets of the village and no one was shoveling yet.
Another time I went with a agirlfriend to a nature reserve with rolling fields and ponds and we have a great time hiking all over there- no paths at all!
Once they plow the streets and shovel the sidewalks my options are more limited and I have to do the woodland trail here or go in my car somewhere else to some fields to shoe. There's a bird sanctuary with trails in a nearby town I could go to.

Glad to see this thread return to life...I'm interested in getting into snowshoeing (think it might be more convenient/affordable than XC skiing). I don't even know where to begin as far as equipment goes. There are two golf courses near our houses that are beautiful and groom trails for XC skiing. Thinking that might be a good place to start...

Yes it IS cheaper than getting cross country skiing equipment. But a decent pair of snowshoes will cost at least $125 i think. Cheaper than that and they dont have much crampons/teeth on the bottom and you'll slip on any hills you encounter. We have steep hills around here everywhere, so I got some with major teeth. Mine were good ones and I think I recall I paid about $200-225 for them. I've had to use them, too, climbing up and descending steep hilly trials in the woods! :eek:
One thing i bought and don't think I'll need much is poles. I find i keep my balance better without poles (for now) I suppose they are essential for mountain shoeing, but I've found I get annoyed at having to lug them with me.
I would think golf courses would be GREAT for snowshoeing! But you'll have to be aware that you should not "wreck" the nice smooth trails that the x-country skiiers go on- not polite to riddle their smooth grooved trails with giant Yeti pot holes from your shoes! When i see and groomed trail I stay to one side of it out of consideration for the skiiers.

Other than the snowshoes, all you need are good warm clothes that keep the snow and cold out. :) Some leg gaiters (gaitors?) are really handy- they keep the snow from flipping all over your legs and from getting into your boots. I found that any of my hiking boots fit just fine into my snowshoe straps- the straps are very rugged and very adjustable to various boots.

I am hoping for some decent snowfalls this winter. :p

northstar

10-16-2007, 05:12 AM

Yep...I'd be sure to keep off the nicely groomed trails! :) I do need to make sure it's ok for me to get out on the golf courses though. They're public courses, and people go sledding out there in the winter, so I'm pretty sure it is ok for me to snowshoe around out there. Just want to be sure, though. They're beautiful...hills and trees, and quiet! :) Can't wait!

I've looked at shoes online at REI and also wandered through the section in the store and boy, do they have a nice selection. Looks like they start right around $125, just like you mentioned, Lisa. Do you think I would regret getting something in the $150 range? Are there any really nice features missing from that level of shoe that might really keep me going?

After such an active spring/summer/fall, I really want to carry on getting outside and enjoying the outdoors this winter. I think this might be the ticket! And no shortage of snow in MN, you know! :eek:

BleeckerSt_Girl

10-16-2007, 09:21 AM

Hi Northstar,
I am no big expert, but I can only tell you about my own experiences.

I got Tubbs women's snowshoes. I am VERY pleased with them!

Here is the Tubbs site:
http://www.tubbssnowshoes.com/

On the site, you can enter your weight and terrain, and find the right size and style recommended for you:
http://www.tubbssnowshoes.com/products/shoefinder/
Be sure to follow their weight/size recommendations.

I highly recommend the "dayhiking" good crampon shoes like the "Wilderness:"
http://www.tubbssnowshoes.com/products/shoe.asp?ProductID=15,16&Series=Womens_Wilderness
(if you don't have good crampons (underneath steel teeth) you will slide on clines and hills.) I also love these shoes because they have a quick easy-in/easy-out strap loosener so you don't struggle so much when sitting in the snow getting them on and off. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to fit my big chunky muckluks into them, but the shoe grip system they have fits a wide range of sized boots.
I'm in the 155 lb range with my gear on, and I got the 25" shoes, as per Tubbs' recommendation.

Here is the women's Wilderness shoe for sale at EasternMountainSports for $169:
http://www.ems.com/catalog/subcategory_simple.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302886393&bmUID=1192553937531&i=1&n=1000
I think that's a really good price for an excellent shoe that's like mine from last year's models.

Some women's ankle gaiters (I got the first ones pictured, but they have cheaper ones):
http://www.ems.com/catalog/subcategory_simple.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302869790&bmUID=1192553998937

I also got this snowshoe tote bag:
http://www.ems.com/catalog/product_detail_square.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442588480&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302869699&bmUID=1192554480220
The small sized one fit my 25" shoes beautifully. It's great to hang your shoes in the closet off-season, or throw them in the car, etc.

If I were you I wouldn't bother with getting poles for now, unless you plan on climbing the Swiss Alps. :rolleyes:

I hope some of this helps you hone in on what you might need. There certainly are a lot of GREAT shoes out there to choose from these days! :p

northstar

10-16-2007, 02:54 PM

Thanks Lisa, very helpful. Great links! :)

surgtech1956

10-16-2007, 06:05 PM

Lisa - what type of clothing do you snowshoe in? any recommendations? thanks

BleeckerSt_Girl

10-17-2007, 08:43 AM

Hi Surgtech,

The only things I wear ONLY for snowshoeing are my snowshoes, my leg gaiters, and some lightweight biking rain pants over whatever warm leggings I am wearing.
The rest of my clothes are just various combinations of my usual warm baselayers and winter clothes I also wear for cold weather biking.
Stretchy warm leggings I can move in....extra heavy wool socks....insulated hiking boots....ski gloves....wool hat and maybe a balaclava or a neck gaiter if it's windy....soft thin merino wool base layers under everything.....vests or jackets I can move in.
I DON'T wear heavy thick sweaters, padded snowpants or snowsuits, scarves, or puffy jackets that just weigh me down and make it hard to move well.
Sunglasses or tinted goggles might be necessary for the snow glare or wind.
Definitely a cell phone for emergencies. If you fall into a ravine in the snowy woods and break your leg, you need to call for help. :(
Putting a thin layer of cold weather skin protectant on your face and lips really keeps them from getting windburn from the cold. There are lots of nice fancy ones available, but vaseline will do in a pinch.
Skiiers are experts on cold weather clothes and the art of layering.
(I am not a skiier)

surgtech1956

10-17-2007, 03:11 PM

Thanks Lisa. I need to revamp my winter attire. I cross country ski, but fine myself over dressing, I forget the rule that you should feel a little cool when starting out.

surgtech1956

10-19-2007, 01:17 PM

Is a soft shell jacket too heavy to wear snowshoeing?

DebW

10-19-2007, 03:45 PM

Thanks Lisa. I need to revamp my winter attire. I cross country ski, but fine myself over dressing, I forget the rule that you should feel a little cool when starting out.

Or you should start with an almost empty pack to hold the clothes that you are going to take off.

I always wear a hard shell (non-goretex non-waterproof shells breathe much better) but am usually down to that and a baselayer.

BleeckerSt_Girl

11-03-2007, 11:00 AM

I wanted to post this link to some nice thermal waterproof Merrill hiking boots I just ordered:
http://www.onlineshoes.com/productpage.asp?type=brand&brandid=9&brandcatid=64&gen=w&pcid=64085
One cool feature on them is that they have heel ridges that are specifically designed to hold snowshoe straps nicely in place without the straps slipping down! So great! :p :p I have to get the boots big enough to wear two pairs good heavy wool socks in them for the frigid cold. Will get back with a review once I wear them a bit.

Well I got the boots and they seem just great- very comfy and warm.
I was surprised to find that the uppers are actually made of a non-leather heavy waterproof material, flexible and strong like rubber. They look and feel rather like leather, but are not. I like these boots, and they should work well with heavy wool socks and gaiters. They have Thinsulate lining for the cold.

Aside from the snowshoe ridge in the back of the heel, I found that they also have a little D-ring for your gaiters to hook onto right in the front top of the foot, at the bottom of the laces (the photo sort of hides them). That will be very convenient to hook my gaiter hooks onto. :) Gaiters are good with this boot, since the boot is not overly high.
Now all we need is some deep snow to try them out. Might have to wait another month for that. :o

surgtech1956

11-03-2007, 04:24 PM

DebW

11-03-2007, 05:15 PM

What about cheaper snowshoes? I don't know if I want to spend almost $200 on snowshoes. But then I don't want to waste my money on cheap ones either. I was looking at the ones in LL Bean, don't know who the manufacturer is.

MSR Denali Classics $140, almost identical to the Denali Ascents but without the televator. Exceptional crampons for traction on steep slopes or sidehills. Easy to use pivoting binding. These are mountaineering quality shoes at an exceptional price.

BleeckerSt_Girl

11-03-2007, 06:33 PM

DebW

11-04-2007, 02:00 AM

MSR Denali Classics $140, almost identical to the Denali Ascents but without the televator. Exceptional crampons for traction on steep slopes or sidehills. Easy to use pivoting binding. These are mountaineering quality shoes at an exceptional price.

Deb, can you post a link to those? :)

http://www.msrcorp.com/snow/denali.asp

Available at LLBean (http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?page=msr-denali-classic-22-snowshoes&categoryId=43809&parentCategory=8923&cat4=8926&storeId=1&catalogId=1&langId=-1&feat=8926-sub2)

short cut sally

11-07-2007, 06:47 AM

Lisa...it snowed at my house last night! However, it is enough to cover the roof and the grass still has green poking thru, but non the less..IT SNOWED. thought I would share that with you. I am sure you are getting ready for the snowshoeing season.

short cut sally

12-14-2007, 05:09 AM

OK...It's official. I belong to the snowshoeing club here on TE now. I found a pair of shoes per everyone's suggestions in my post about s-shoes. I tried them out yesterday. We finally got some real snow, and it came down so fast that we had like 4-5 inches in no time at all. I was very hesitant about even wanting them, would I use them, would I like them, I have xc skis, isn't that enough type of thing. DH removed the twist tie things so we could re-apply, put garbage bags over them and taped the crampons so incase I found them awkward or not my cup of tea I could return them with as little wear on them as possible. I took them out for their test drive yesterday and what fun! The bags came off about my second trip around the hills. What a fun workout. Better than doing the elliptical inside anyday. I talked to my riding partner last night to tell her she needed to get some also, she said Santa was going to put them in his sleigh via the virtual world after she got off the phone.

BleeckerSt_Girl

12-14-2007, 09:31 AM

Yay Shelly!!! :D :p :D :p
I hope you can encourage your friend to go shoeing with you- I once went with a girlfriend and it's SO much fun to go together. :p

Yes, we had about 7 inches of snow yesterday!
Last evening just before twilight I HIKED through the woods for 2 miles on a nature trail near our house. This morning though, I snowshoed the same trail, 2 miles through the woods. I did take some pictures but don't have time to get them organized yet. The snow was deep, wet, and very pretty. I stayed warm.

Take some pix if you can and post them here! :)
I will post mine in the next day or two when I get the chance.

BleeckerSt_Girl

12-14-2007, 12:04 PM

Here are the photos I took this morning while snowshoeing behind my house:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Strumelia/LisaSnowshoeForestDec2007

surgtech1956

12-14-2007, 04:24 PM

What's the best boots to wear for snowshoeing? Could I wear some Goretex all leather hiking boots(with gaitors) or are pac boots a better choice??? Thanks

BleeckerSt_Girl

12-14-2007, 07:58 PM

I don't know- try the boots you have, and if they don't work ok then you'll need to buy something else...not much help I know. :o
Gaiters are definitely the best thing to have though!

Crankin

12-16-2007, 01:56 PM

Did my first snow shoe of the season yesterday. Our neighborhood association cut a new trail in our common conservation land that connects with another trail. So we walked down the street with our snow shoes, put them on and explored. The snow was great and we stayed to the side of some fresh cross country tracks someone had made, so it was deep. A total of 4 miles, including the walking part without our snow shoes.
It snowed again today, but now it is covered with a layer of ice. I hope to get on my skis this week, but not sure if it will be too icy. Anything other than the 35 minutes I just spent on the trainer...

roadie gal

12-16-2007, 06:33 PM

I have a boot suggestion. Instead of just plain gaiters, I wear overboots, like Neos http://www.overshoe.com/recreational/ over my regular hiking boots. My feet stay drier and much warmer.

Also, when considering snowshoes, think about what terrain you'll be on. If you're just going to be on packed trails, then the crampons really don't make a difference. If you're going to be off trail you want to get one with good front AND heel crampons. Otherwise when you're traversing, the shoes will twist out from under you. A great backcountry one is the MSR, which has a serrated edge rather than a tubular one. So it can grab into the snow from all over the shoe. The MSR does tend to be heavier than a lot of the others, though.

If you're going to race then look into the Northern Lites brand. They advertise themselves as the lightest on the market. I replaced my old (15 year old, died of metal fatigue) Tubbs with a pair of these. They are LIGHT. And they have a soft binding that molds to your shoe that hangs on very nicely.

ummbnb

12-16-2007, 06:51 PM

Just finished reading this thread and can't wait to get out! I'm getting snow shoes for Christmas, or perhaps just after to catch a good sale. I bought new snow boots last year with SS in mind and they are so comfy that I often leave them on all day at the office - heh heh.

BleeckerSt_Girl

12-17-2007, 06:46 AM

My snowshoeing tends to be over fields and through woods. Over fields is of course easy enough. Through the woods it's on trails, sometimes I'm the first one to break the fresh deep snow, and sometimes the trail has been used already and is packed. But my need for crampons comes in when I am going through the woods (my most common outing) and the trail climbs up and down sloping elevation woods. Without my good crampons I'd just be sliding on my behind and colliding into trees left and right, like what happens when I hike those same steepish trails in the deep snow in just my big tread hiking boots. ;)
Also, we live at the top of a VERY steep 1/4 mile hill, and if I want to go down into town after a blizzard I need those crampons bigtime.

My snowshoes are the Tubbs "Wilderness" model. I just love them. That's their model for mid-to-tough terrain, and it has the steel crampons rather than the slightly cheaper aluminum crampon-ed "Venture" model.
Tubbs has one more model that is made for super-tough terrain and has even more aggressive crampons than mine.
I agree, if you only snowshoe on level ground then big crampons are overkill and in fact may just slow you down.

Robyn, nice to hear about your shoe outing! :)

Ummbdb- I know just how excited you are about getting your snowshoes for xmas!! We want a report after your first adventure, hopefully with pictures! :D :D

short cut sally

12-18-2007, 02:53 PM

I went ss for the 2nd time today. DH took my truck downtown and I realized that I had my snowpants in there-d/t the weekend weather I didnt' want to get stranded on my way home from work and not be prepared. So I debated-do I wait for several hours for him to come home or do I get on a pair of winter tights and go? I put on the tights and went. I realize what gaitors are now and the need to get them. I had a blast but my feet were wet from all the show that got packed into them. I didn't notice it really until I came home and started undressing. My boots are drying now. I went out xc skiing later, and without being on any packed trails, it was rough skiing d/t the icy coating that was on top of the snow. I enjoyed my ss outing today compared to the skiing. Lisa, I would love to take pics, I am tecnilogically challenged. I don't have a digital and if I took regular pics I have no way to scan them to download them. I keep thinking one of these days my nephew will have to help me teach me all this stuff.

BleeckerSt_Girl

12-18-2007, 03:02 PM

Good for you Shelly! :p

Wow, you went snowshoeing AND x-country skiiing in the same day?? :eek:

Yes, gaiters are really pretty essential when snowshoeing I have come to realize. I can't imagine what I would do without my gaiters protecting me from the knees down! I would get pretty wet and frozen. :(
I've gone SS a couple times now without my waterproof snowpants, with just double winter tights instead. That seems to be enough protection for average conditions as long as I have wool knee socks and my gaiters on.
I found that when layering two pairs of tights, it's best to put the smooth tights on the outside. The fuzzy/wooly tights get snow stuck on them that doesn't want to brush off, whereas the smooth ones you can just brush the snow off.

shootingstar

12-24-2007, 07:03 AM

We are in a mountain ski resort area right now vacationing. Did my first day of snowshoeing this year..and found at higher altitudes I really needed to acclimatize. But really lovely going through protected trails amongst soaring trees dripping with lush snow. With mountain panoramic views along the way over the edge.

I wear a pair of outer semi-water resistant pants over 2 pairs of tights. Plus the gaiters.

Our hotel lodge rm. is only 10 ft. away from a steep slope parallel where I just saw a snowboarder fly by..at 8:00 am.

We're doing more snowshoeing in about 2 hrs. after I fill myself with abit more breakfast.

We've been snowshoeing for the last 4 years, every winter.

BleeckerSt_Girl

12-28-2007, 10:56 AM

Heads up on a pretty good sale I came upon....
I just bought an extra pair of snowshoes so that visiting friends or daughter might be able to show with me sometime. I found these at a VERY good price of $85:
http://www.ems.com/catalog/product_detail_square.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442590315&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302886393&bmUID=1198791586080
Shipping is additional, was around $12 for me.
This Tubbs Venture model for mixed terrain is usually $120-150. It's just one small step down from my Tubbs Odyssey shoes- the difference being my Odysseys have steel crampons and these Venture ones have aluminum crampons (which will wear a bit quicker) But that's fine because these won't get nearly as much use as mine and they are cheaper. Both have pretty good crampons for steep slopes, and I can vouch for them being easy to get in and out of.
My next step is to find an equally good deal on a men's size 30 equivalent so my 6 ft. DH could go, or my one daughter's heavier partner.

I found out about some snowshoeing outings in Jan and Feb right in our area, organized by our local Land Conservancy organization. One outing is a "Full Moon nighttime snowshoe trek.... woo-HOOOO!! I just hope there is enough snow on the ground for that date.

Crankin

12-28-2007, 11:39 AM

Sometimes I am not sure when to go snow shoeing or when to just hike... for example, Wednesday we went out on a rolling trail that is about 4 miles round trip. There is a hill climb of about 300 feet that adds another mile, but we skipped that part. I thought the conditions would be icy and not great and I was right. Both my husband and I felt like our snow shoes were lead weights on our feet and we were slogging up the little rollers. We should have just hiked.
Today we went on a different trail, and decided just to wear our hiking shoes. I have only been ons this trail twice, on my mtb and once walking, but not in the winter. The further we got into the woods, the more we began sinking into the snow. It made for some slow hiking and we only did 3 miles, stopping to eat lunch on a nice rock.
It has rained a bit over the snow pack and the conditions are hard to judge. Tonight it is supposed to rain hard, through tomorrow, so this will probably be my last snow shoe or x country ski for awhile...

BleeckerSt_Girl

12-30-2007, 11:21 AM

3-8" snow in our forecast tonight.....ooooohhhhh, snowshoe time tomorrow perhaps! :p Hope the weather forecasters are not wrong (again).

surgtech1956

12-30-2007, 01:02 PM

Friday we were suppose to get 5" of snow, so we were all set to go snowshoeing Saturday morning. We barely got
3", big disappointment not enough snow. Its suppose to snow Tuesday and Wednesday - we'll see. Anyways, we decided next weekend we will either snowshoe or cross country ski.

Crankin

12-30-2007, 02:34 PM

Lisa, we have the same forecast as you, plus more expected Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday. It's looking good!

BleeckerSt_Girl

12-31-2007, 05:52 AM

OMGosh- we got about 10" of heavy snow. There's a break now and we are shoveling and cleaning off the cars, etc.

Will start some blackeyed peas in the crockpot and then head out to snowshoe for a while.

But.....we are now supposed to get ANOTHER 5-7" tomorrow!!! :eek::eek:

Major snowshoeing in my schedule if I can manage to run away from the snow shovel.

Ironically, I bought a second pair of snowshoes on sale last week, and they still have not arrived! :mad::(:( Otherwise DH could go out with me maybe.

BleeckerSt_Girl

01-01-2008, 12:16 PM

Well we got another 2- 3"- enough to have some nice fresh powder on top.

Another couple spent the night and we 4 went hiking and shoeing in a nearby land conservation preserve ths morning after breakfast. DH just walked with his big winter boots, I snowshoed. It was snowing. We had fun! I mentioned to DH that maybe I should get him some shoes as well, and he (finally) seemed interested...probably since our friends brought had their shoes too. So....I think I can now go ahead get a larger men's pair to have on hand for him (or handy for other male friends who visit as well).
It is so much fun to shoe with others. :p I am used to going alone. But I like doing both!
Here's one quick photo from this morning, New Year's Day..... :p
5111

Lifesgreat

01-03-2008, 10:16 AM

I went snowshoeing this morning at Sundance Resort (http://www.sundanceresort.com). I have a pass and live just a few minutes away. It was a beautiful sunny/partly cloudy day and the trail wove through the trees. Some of the trail is alongside a groomed xc ski trail and it was fun to see the skiers go by. It was hillier than I thought it would be so I had the opportunity :rolleyes: to stop often and admire the trees and mountain views. I only had about an hour, but it was a fun, beautful outing.

short cut sally

01-03-2008, 01:38 PM

I was able to go shoeing the past 2 days, despite the 15degree weather and wind. I didn't care, I wanted to get out of the house. We didn't get as much snow as Lisa, the fields are bare but along the hedgerows and some of the flatter areas, I was able to find some good snow to walk on. I hear it might snow again tomorrow. I will be at work so I hope it snows all weekend so monday when I'm off I can get outside. Now that I have a reason to be out side, I pray for snow:cool: Lisa, all that snow and that night shoeing sounds like so much fun. Will it be on a lit trail or will you have to wear a head light type of thing? Either way, enjoy.

BleeckerSt_Girl

01-03-2008, 01:44 PM

It's much more work for me to snowshoe for 2 miles than to fitness walk for 5 miles. Snowshoeing really gets my heart going and my lungs a workout. :)

Too cold for me to do either today- at 0 degrees F. :eek:

I finally ordered some Tubbs Wilderness snowshoes for my DH. After much online price comparing, I found this site to have some pretty good prices:
http://www.thewildernessexperience.com/servlet/StoreFront
folks might want to check it when shopping around.

BleeckerSt_Girl

01-03-2008, 01:58 PM

I was able to go shoeing the past 2 days, despite the 15degree weather and wind. I didn't care, I wanted to get out of the house.

Whoa, that's BRAVE!!! :eek: Braver than me. I'll go walking the streets on my fitness walks at 10 degrees, but not shoeing into the forest or fields. Yikes.

Now that I have a reason to be out side, I pray for snow:cool: Lisa, all that snow and that night shoeing sounds like so much fun. Will it be on a lit trail or will you have to wear a head light type of thing? Either way, enjoy.

Yes I feel the same way- between my walks and my "shoe-ings" I now have a reason to get out in the winter and actually enjoy it! I spent my life avoiding the outside in the cold and snow. Better to start late than never! :p

Our local Land Conservancy org is planning several snowshoe outings in Jan/feb. One of them in Feb is supposed to be a nighttime "Full Moon Snowshoe Trek" in a nearby preserve of rolling fields and huge pond. If there isn't too much cloud cover that night, there should be plenty of moonlight to shoe by. I'll bring a little flashlight in my pocket just in case, but I'm sure we'll be asked to not use any lights. The preserve has many open rolling fields with no trails needed, so we won't be tripping over rocks and roots in a forest or anything like that.
I've never done such a thing before, and so I'm a bit scared but I'm hoping the weather and snow situation will cooperate for it. I have no idea how many people might go to something like that- I would think maybe only a handful. Last year there wasn't any snow on the ground at the scheduled times, and they had to cancel their snowshoe events. :(
We'll see this year, so far so good....
We still have about 5" on the ground now, but it's awfully wet heavy crusted snow, and the temps are very cold at the moment. Sat and & Sunday look to get warmer up in the 30's. I might go into the woods then to check things out again. :)

Lifesgreat

01-03-2008, 03:18 PM

Re: snow in upstate NY

My mom grew up on Oswego and would tell us kiddos about how high the snow would get with the storms coming off the lake. I grew up in Central CA and we were like "yeah right, Mom". I never imagined it snowing that much. I know better now. ;)

AuntieK

01-04-2008, 01:19 PM

BleeckerSt_Girl

01-04-2008, 02:02 PM

Oh you lucky gals, being able to get together! :p Be sure to take a few pictures and post them here!

Lifesgreat- I don't live as far "upstate" as you might think- more like central NY state. In NYC, anything more than 2 hours north is called "upstate". :rolleyes: ;) We don't get nearly as much snow here as Oswego or Buffalo, for example. But I'm ever hopeful for more.... :o The next few days however will be above freezing and no chance of snow. Who knows, I might even be able to get a bike ride in if the roads are dry! :eek:

Lifesgreat

01-04-2008, 03:37 PM

Lifesgreat,
Call me next time you plan to go. I also have a Sundance pass. I've been up to the Nordic Center several times this year xc skiing, and I have wanted to try snowshoeing, too. I'd be good for me to go with a seasoned veteran of s-shoe. Plus, I always have fun hanging out with you! :D

Like I am a seasoned veteran :o

I would love to have you come, but as you know, I will need to stop often to admire the scenery (and catch my breath).

Crankin

01-05-2008, 02:25 PM

Jolt

01-05-2008, 06:11 PM

Did my third snow shoe of the season. It was 40 degrees out and very nice. We went to the Stow Town forest, where I've done a bit of mountain biking, walking, and cross country skiing. We weren't sure if we should just hike, but we brought the snow shoes and decided to use them. The further we got into the woods, the snow became more powdery. There were more people than I've ever seen before using snow shoes. A few were skiing, but it's really not the greatest place to ski; they plow a path, but it's not groomed. Anyway, we found trails I've never been on, one being a hill with about 500 ft. of climbing. My endurance is definitely not great since the fibromylagia started, but I managed to slog up. I haven't really stopped exercising, despite everything going on with my health, but I have not been doing as much really hard stuff.
Still, it was great. We only ended up doing 2.2 miles in 50 minutes, but it was a pretty tough work out.
It's supposed to be 60 on Tuesday! I will be riding my Voodoo commuter bike, since the roads are just a mess of sand, salt, and melting snow.

I guess it was just a snowshoeing kind of day around here--I snowshoed today too (first time ever)! There's a wildlife sanctuary/park here in Worcester that has quite a few trails, and occasionally I go there to run. Today I decided to go there, and figured I'd bring my snowshoes and do that if there was still enough snow on the trails. It was fairly packed down but I decided to snowshoe anyway, just to start getting a feel for it. It was fun and I'm looking forward to the next big storm so I can hopefully get out in fresher snow. It was easier than I thought it might be, with the exception of going downhill in a controlled fashion (I ended up doing what felt like a duck-walk that was about to turn into a run--not exactly graceful, but it worked)! As for the supposed 60-degree weather coming on Tuesday, that is officially just ridiculous for this time of year!! Sorry to hear about your health problems and hope you feel better.

Crankin

01-06-2008, 06:35 AM

It is actually easier for me to run downhill on snow shoes than to run down just in hiking boots. I just push that foot forward and get the crampon to dig into the snow. You never fall that way.
The duck walk feeling is normal. You eventually get used to walking with your feet a little further apart than normal. Just remember to do some extra stretching of the hips and It band afterwards!

BleeckerSt_Girl

01-06-2008, 09:31 AM

Jolt- congratulations on your first shoe-in!!! :p :) Snowshoeing is easier than I thought it would be too, in terms of figuring out what to do. But it's also harder than my biking and fitness walking in terms of giving me a good cardio workout. If there's fresh deep powder and hilly trails and you're the first person to break the snow, then snowshoeing is hard work! If you're walking over someone's previous trail, no matter how small their prints are, it's immediately way easier.

Robyn,
I have read that when going downhill on snowshoes one should put weight down onto the heel of your foot so that your heel crampons can dig in and so that your foot will plant down level instead of tilted toe downwards. Feels odd at first to put your trust in that heel to stop you from sliding, but I'm finding that it works well for me so far in deep snow going downhill facing forward.
Have you found this heel down technique to be good in your own descents?

No new snow around here for the next few days...we're having a major warm spell. I'll have to be patient.

I find that I don't need to do much in the way of keeping my feet apart while shoeing- only have to do it a tiny bit when walking straight- but I wonder if perhaps that's because of my women-specific tapered Tubbs shoes. They are supposed to be tapered to suit a woman's gait more and supposedly prevent one from stepping on one's own shoes and tripping. Can't figure out if it's just my naturally wide hips, or my women's specific snowshoes that are helping me with that. :rolleyes:

One funny thing is that if i am standing still gazing at the beautiful scenery (code phrase for "desperately trying to catch my breath"), and then decide to turn around and walk in a different direction, I have to consciously remind myself that I am on snowshoes. If I don't remind myself every time before I turn and move, I tend to just step right on my other shoe while turning and almost fall flat on my face. :p:p:D:rolleyes: Too funny.

Crankin

01-06-2008, 10:50 AM

BleeckerSt_Girl

01-06-2008, 11:53 AM

Lisa,
I have women-specific snow shoes, too (Atlas). I don't do much of the duck walk, either, but it does take getting used to at first. Mine don't have heel crampons, so that's why I use the technique I described. I guess they weren't meant for the super rugged terrain, but I've never had an issue. I ran down a pretty steep mountain in the White Mountains last winter, and as you know, I'm a downhill weenie!

Oh, that's different if you don't have heel crampons then!- makes sense for your shoes. I'm impressed that you ran down a steep hill with no heel crampons! You sure you weren't "snowboarding"? :p ;)

Here's a fairly good snowshoe resource website I came across:
http://www.esnowshoes.com/index.php
their "snowshoeing 101" articles links look like some interesting reading:
http://www.esnowshoes.com/snowshoeing_101_main.php

Alex

01-06-2008, 12:51 PM

DH and I went snowshoeing up the Mill Creek Canyon Road today. The canyon is a bit south and east of Salt Lake City and the road is closed about 5 miles up. There are always a lot of cross-country skiers and snowshoers on the road. As we were on our way up the road, a huge, HUGE, bull moose appeared around a bend in the road. At that point, he was far enough away that my first thought was, "Oh, I wish I brought my camera." Then, as he continued walking down the road in our direction, my thoughts turned to, "Oh, I wish we brought our bear spray."

DH suggested we get off the road, but the snow was so deep that he sunk in almost to his knees, even with snowshoes on. We then retreated down the canyon road. However, as we started down the road, the moose picked up speed and started chasing us. DH said, "Get behind a tree!" (DH has done mountain ultramarathons, so he had read a book a while ago about what to do when you see a moose, a cougar (which he encountered in this same canyon a couple of summers ago), etc.) Unfortunately, we had to cross the road to get to the trees as all we had on our side of the road were saplings and such. We booked across the road, but I couldn't quite make it to the trees, so I held my breath and stood still as the moose ran by me, oh say 15 feet away. :eek: He continued right past me, and ran right by the tree that DH was hiding behind. We saw the moose stop further down the road and, if there was a thought bubble above his head, it would have said, "HUH?" We stayed out of his line of sight and then he went into the woods. I wish I had my heart rate monitor on just to see how hard my heart was beating!

I honestly can't say that I'll go snowshoeing up Mill Creek Canyon again!

Right before we saw the moose, I was saying that we should have brought our dog with us, as he would have enjoyed the exercise. I'm so glad he wasn't with us. I just did some Internet research and, apparently, moose will charge and chase dogs, especially if the dog is barking. I am 100% certain that my dog would have barked at the moose. Yikes!

We told the people coming down the canyon road what we had seen, so that they could be prepared. It was truly the most frightening thing I have experienced in a very long time!

Alex

Jolt

01-06-2008, 05:02 PM

BleeckerSt_Girl

01-06-2008, 07:29 PM

Alex- that's an amazing and scary story!!! I get scared even when I look at a stuffed moose in a museum.....they're so BIG!!! :eek::eek::eek:

Crankin

01-07-2008, 04:03 AM

I think I would have peed in my pants and fainted if I was being chased by a moose! A couple of years ago we were hiking in our neighborhood conservation trails when I heard a weird animal noise. There have been black bear sightings in Concord, mostly in the early morning, so I think this must have been on my mind, even though it was almost dusk. I ran like h*** back to the car.
Lisa, you can be assured I was not snowboarding! I used my poles to run down that mountain and it helped. It also might have been that the ascent was really steep in a very short time and I was struggling. I was happy to get down.
It's 8 AM and already 40 out!!

BleeckerSt_Girl

01-07-2008, 07:10 AM

Lisa, you can be assured I was not snowboarding! I used my poles to run down that mountain and it helped. It also might have been that the ascent was really steep in a very short time and I was struggling.

Impressive!

It's 8 AM and already 40 out!!

Yes, it's 11am and 40 degrees here too! If it weren't supposed to rain I would be on my bike! :mad: Definitely tomorrow though....

EDIT: This afternoon the sun came out and i DID in fact go for a 13 mile bike ride- it was so warm and lovely! My first bike ride of the year.

roadie gal

01-07-2008, 11:56 AM

Moose are scary critters! I'm glad you're OK.

We got about 3 new feet of snow at this altitude (LOTS more higher up). In order to walk the dogs this morning I had to put on my BIG snowshoes - the ones I used to wear when I weighed 20 pounds more and carried a heavy pack - in order to just walk the dogs in the morning. Of course, those smart dogs made ME break trail. Even with the big shoes I was sinking to my knees. We were only out for an hour. I'm exhausted now!

Alex

01-07-2008, 08:43 PM

Now that I've completed all my internet research about moose attacks (shouldn't have done THAT right before bed :eek::eek:), I thought I should report on the rest of Sunday's snowshoe adventure. I LOVE my new Redfeather Strider snowshoes. They are perfect and light and a very pretty blue. :) Previously, I rented the Denali Ascents and I really needed to widen my stance with those. With the Striders, I can walk almost normally.

At certain points, it was snowing and blowing so hard that our tracks disappeared almost as soon as we made them. Amazing!

Alex

Alex

01-07-2008, 08:48 PM

Robyn,

If I thought there was a bear, I'd have set a new land speed record!

Lisa,

Glad you had a great ride!

Roadie Gal,

If we didn't shovel pathways in the backyard for our dogs, they would need snowshoes, too!

Alex

Jolt

01-14-2008, 05:37 PM

BleeckerSt_Girl

01-15-2008, 12:11 PM

We got another decent snowstorm last night/this morning (probably about 8 or 10 inches here; I didn't measure so that's a guesstimate) so I decided to snowshoe this afternoon at the same place I did last time. I was surprised and rather disappointed to find already a well-broken trail (boy does this place get a lot of traffic!), but once I reached the brook crossing I noticed that the trail beyond it had not been broken. This is probably because said brook crossing was a little tricky given the recent thaw and resulting lack of thick ice--it was a matter of carefully stepping/jumping from rock to rock. Once I got across, the shoeing became more of a workout which is what I was looking for. I also felt like less of a klutz this time!

Oooohh, you are lucky to get such a nice snow! 8'10" is great because it's enough to do some great snowshoeing for a few days, but not so much that you have to spend your day shoveling endlessly instead of enjoying the snow.

What kind of snowshoes do you have?

We only got about 4" the night before last- not enough to shoe. :( I even had a shoeing date set up with a girlfriend and with DH, too. I think Western Mass got lots more snow than we did, just to the east of us.

Got all these brand spanking new snowshoes just hanging here waiting....can't wait to go out with DH, and him shoeing for the first time too! :)

Jolt

01-15-2008, 04:39 PM

Oooohh, you are lucky to get such a nice snow! 8'10" is great because it's enough to do some great snowshoeing for a few days, but not so much that you have to spend your day shoveling endlessly instead of enjoying the snow.

What kind of snowshoes do you have?

We only got about 4" the night before last- not enough to shoe. :( I even had a shoeing date set up with a girlfriend and with DH, too. I think Western Mass got lots more snow than we did, just to the east of us.

Got all these brand spanking new snowshoes just hanging here waiting....can't wait to go out with DH, and him shoeing for the first time too! :)

I have Yukon Charlie's snowshoes--nothing fancy. I have the women's 8X25 inch size; I could have gone with the smaller size but figured the bigger ones would be better on group hikes when we each take a turn breaking trail for everyone else!

Lifesgreat

01-15-2008, 06:13 PM

AuntieK, a friend and I snowshoed at Sundance Resort today. There is FEET of snow on the ground with a packed trail winding through the woods. AK and friend are in much better shape than I am so they went awhile longer than I did. A storm passed through but it didn't really snow, the wind just BLEW! I had a great time. I would attach pictures, but I don't know how to reduce the picture file size. I need to put that on my "to do" list.

Crankin

01-16-2008, 08:52 AM

Yesterday I went out on the trail that leads from my street to the local conservation land. It had been walked on, but not with snowshoes. So the snow was still deep and soft. However, I took a wrong turn and realized I was heading up a climb, so I turned onto what I thought was the trail, but somehow it was a loop and I ended up at the start. OK, I went back and figured out my mistake. It was really nice, but the last storm had knocked down several trees and there were branches bending over, touching the ground. I could see the trail markers, but it was hard to see the trail! Near the intersection of the neighborhood trail and the main one, it got very tight and I felt like I was bushwacking. However, I made it and went up to the town line in Acton, near Stoneymeade. I didn't walk all the way to the end of the trail there, but I ran around in the horse pasture, in the fresh, untouched snow. That was fun. On the way back, I didn't have any trouble finding my way, but I decided to climb up what is called the "ski slope" in my neighborhood. This is a trail that ends up in a vacant lot about two houses down the street from me. I thought I would avoid a longer walk up the street, carrying my snow shoes. Oye! The town maps say this is a 35% grade. I have climbed up it once before, in hiking shoes when it was kind of icy. Let's just say my upper body was almost parallel to the ground. I didn't have poles, which would have helped. But, I made it. I thought I felt OK until this morning when I went x country skiing. My muscles were not happy and I was really off the whole time. I fell down a hill that I always easily go down and then, on the way back, I went over a rough patch on the trail, when I knew I should have gone out of the tracks. My ski hit a rock and I fell on my knee. Now I'm sitting here with an ice pack and I am about to sit in a hot tub.
But it feels good to feel good enough to do this stuff...

AuntieK

01-16-2008, 02:53 PM

I had a lot of fun snowshoeing with Lifesgreat! We're tentatively planning another trip next week. Here's a pic of us all (LG, me, & Spinster).

5191

BleeckerSt_Girl

01-16-2008, 06:26 PM

Wow, what a lot of great snowshoeing posts to read and enjoy!! :p

Robyn- don't overdue it- take a rest day between hard workouts....but you probably know that already.. :o

Auntie K- are those Tubbs "Odyssey" women's snowshoes I spy on you?? If so, they are exactly the same as my shoes!! :) :D

We still have a lousy 2" of snow on the ground, and no decent snow predicted over the next fews days. :(

Crankin

01-17-2008, 02:27 AM

Yes, I should have rested yesterday, but it didn't look like there would be any other good days for me to go before my trip to Vermont next week. I am going to go to spin class tonight and use very light resistance. My knee isn't that bad today, just a little stiff. I will be working all day, so I won't have time to think about it.
It's going to be SO cold this weekend...

AuntieK

01-17-2008, 10:08 AM

Auntie K- are those Tubbs "Odyssey" women's snowshoes I spy on you?? If so, they are exactly the same as my shoes!! :) :D

Yes, I believe they are. At least I know they're Tubbs. I'll have to check on the "Odyssey" part next time I go (they are rentals). But, at least I'll know what to buy once it's time to invest. I do like them.

surgtech1956

01-26-2008, 09:17 AM

Finally enough snow to go snowshoeing this morning. It was about 20 degrees(F) and snowing lightly. I wore my nylon snowpants -lightly insulated, a polyester LS tee, a North Face fleece(fleece 100) top and a light waterproof/breathable jacket, my REI balaclava, my Goretex all leather hiking boots, wool socks and gaitors. We went about 3 miles on a slightly packed trail. I wasn't too warm, but I was tired that last mile. It was great. Tomorrow we're going cross country skiing.

Lifesgreat

01-26-2008, 10:24 AM

DH and I went up on the Squaw Peak road in Provo Canyon today. It is used by runners, snowmobilers, mountain bikers (yes in the snow) and xc skiers as well. The road is pretty packed down. It was sunny and I am guessing in the 20s. It is ALL uphill until the turnaround. I hate going uphill, but REALLY like going downhill. We saw some interesting sights:
1. Man running with his three chocolate labs. He was wearing a t-shirt, gloves, bike shorts, long gaiters and snowshoes.
2. A group of snowshoeing teenagers. DH commented they look like a big caterpillar. We discovered the reason for the "caterpillarness" was their being strung together through their side belt loops by a thin, black cord. There were two college age kids bringing up the rear, not hooked to them. If I were to guess, it was a group from a local group home or something.
3. An ATV coming up the snow packed road towing two older wood/metal runner sleds with adults my age (early 40s) on them. They were grinning away. I am guessing teenage son and daughter were letting Mom and Dad have a turn.
4. Snowmobilers-all were polite.
5. A herd of elk, but they went over the ridge before we got close.
6. A man running w/o snowshoes-now that would be a workout.

I still haven't taken the time to learn how to shrink pictures, so I won't post what I have.

Fun! Fun! Fun! Lots more snow predicted in the coming week!

Crankin

01-26-2008, 01:09 PM

After 3 days of pretty strenuous x country skiing, my husband and I decided to snow shoe on our last afternoon. We were at a place called the Highland Lodge, which has its own trails. This isn't actually in Craftsbury, where we had skied at the outdoor center the previous days. In the morning I had done my first black diamond ski trail (no falling!) and the conditions were excellent; packed powder. So the person at the lodge showed us how to access the trail, through someone's driveway. She said after a little ways, we would see an old snow shoe tacked to a tree and that was the start of the trail. Well, we saw the snow shoe and turned at the intersection of the trails. Up we went. The trail was narrow and beautiful, with snow covered pines and other trees. I could only look ahead, since there was a steep drop off on my left. It was challenging to say the least. Finally, we saw we were getting above the tree line and we ended up on an open field that looked familiar. We had skied UP this trail in the morning. My husband had his GPS watch on and was insisting we go right, but I knew we had to go left. I said if he didn't go that way, I was going to follow the snow shoe trail back the way we came! We started walking down the side of the ski trail, which was about 8 inches of powder. Hard to break trail here. I also realized how much we had climbed on our skies that morning as we started going down. As we got further down the trail nearer to the lodge, we saw a skier coming up, who confirmed that we were headed in the right direction. Then, we saw a sign with the name of the snow shoe trail we thought we had been on and it looked like it also headed back. After about a mile of slight uphill, the trail turned toward the lodge and started heading down. And lo and behold, we came to the intersection with the snow shoe and realized that we had been on a different and much more challenging climb. The GPS wasn't recording our mileage right (but it did work to get us back in the right direction), but I think it must have been about 4 miles, about 2,000 feet up.
It was really fun, but I have to get over my fear of being lost in the woods.

BleeckerSt_Girl

01-26-2008, 01:16 PM

Sniff sniff....still no snow here. :(

BUT....I did have a "snowshoe day" in that I went to a 3 hour snowshoe "class" at a local conservation land and two women spoke about different types of snowshoes, a little about SS (snowshoe) history, and then we all strung the webbing by hand on little 14" bent ash wood frame snowshoes. It was FUN to learn the interesting waffle weave pattern and the knots- it was sort of like caning a chair. :) We used nylon laces, but once you shellac them when you're done they look amazingly like old sinew ones. One shoe took the whole time up (it was somewhat complicated weaving) but I look forward to lacing up the other little shoe at home here and finishing them and then shellacking them. I want to put them up somewhere on the wall- they are too cute! I'll post a picture when they're all done.

The next conservation-sponsored SS event is not until Feb 19th, and that's an actual outing so everyone is really hoping for some snow cover on the ground by then. :o Then on Feb 21 is a nightime full moon excursion on conservation land- either snowshoeing or hiking if there is no snow. Cool. :cool:

I love hearing about everyone else's SS adventures! :p

surgtech1956

01-27-2008, 11:00 AM

How do you gals that wear glasses keep them from 'fogging' up? I think next time I am going to wear my contacts(don't wear them anymore, since my 'progressive lenses' - I gave up my contacts when my food starting getting too blurry););)

Crankin

01-27-2008, 11:58 AM

I wear contacts and sunglasses most of the time when I ski or snow shoe. There's stuff called Cat Cr*p (really) that you can buy at just about any sporting goods store that stops the fogging.

On a side note, why don't you just get reading glasses to wear over your contacts? That way, you don't have to have glasses on all of the time. I have a pair of progressives for the rare times I have my contacts out; I don't necessarily keep the prescription up to date, since I only wear them reading in bed.

BleeckerSt_Girl

01-27-2008, 12:43 PM

I wear my glasses all the time. When I'm out biking or snowshoeing I wear some sunglasses that go right over my eyeglasses. They are called "fitovers". They look like regular sunglasses, but i like the way they protect my glasses and also keep them insulated against fogging, pebbles, bugs, wind, etc.
I wear these:
http://www.eagleeyes.com/products/staclips/fitons.lasso

Wahine

01-27-2008, 01:38 PM

I was supposed to go to a friend's place today and learn to make naan. While the naan was rising we were supposed to go snowshoeing around her pear orchard.

But we got sooooooooooo much snow last night it was too dangerous to drive. That's saying a lot coming from me. So we ended up snowshoeing around our little town. That was pretty funny. We saw all kinds of cars literally buried, you couldn't see any actual car, just a big lump in the snow and 2 accidents from people trying to go someplace when they should have stayed home.

We had fun. But I'm going to have to pay an extra day on the snow shoe rental... I can't get them back into town.:eek:

Crankin

02-23-2008, 01:10 PM

We had about 8 inches of beautiful powder yesterday. I went snow shoeing today for the first time in a month. We went to some trails that are usually good only right after a storm and the conditions were perfect. It looked like a winter wonderland; some of trails had unbroken snow and it was work! We only did about 2.2 miles, but almost all of it was climbing; at least 2/3.
It's funny, I have been hiking, skiing, mountain biking, and snow showing in this place, but it looks different for each sport.
Of course, afterwards we went and had a nice big mocha latte (with skim milk)...

BleeckerSt_Girl

02-23-2008, 02:08 PM

Jolt

02-23-2008, 08:12 PM

I went snowshoeing today as well since we got a good snowfall yesterday (8-10 inches here). The trails were already pretty well packed down from everyone else having been there first, but it was still nice to get out.

Crankin

02-24-2008, 03:37 AM

I am now getting ready to go x country skiing; the snow is so nice that I got up at 6:30 on a Sunday!
Actually my friend has to be somewhere this afternoon, so we are going to the local x country ski area this morning. That way, I can get ready for work tomorrow in the afternoon :eek:. I thought I might be able to get in a quick snow shoe tomorrow afternoon, after work, before acupuncture, but alas, I have a English teacher meeting...

PAP103

02-26-2008, 09:28 AM

Here are some pictures from my snow shoe adventure at Ipswich Wildlife Sanctuary. We had a beautiful day and the birds were out feeding!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=ra3p0y9.ybd0vld&x=0&y=-cxmd0r

BleeckerSt_Girl

02-29-2008, 06:58 AM

Our weather forecast:

Hazardous Weather Outlook
Heavy Snow Warning

Today...Partly sunny this morning...then becoming mostly cloudy. Highs in the lower 20s. South winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight...Snow. Snow may be heavy at times after midnight. Snow accumulation of 5 to 10 inches. Near steady temperature in the lower 20s. Southeast winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph. Chance of snow near 100 percent.

Saturday...Snow in the morning...then snow likely in the afternoon. Total accumulation of 6 to 12 inches. Not as cool with highs in the mid 30s. South winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph...becoming west in the afternoon. Chance of snow 90 percent.

Saturday Night...Mostly cloudy in the evening...then becoming partly cloudy. A 30 percent chance of snow showers. Lows around 16. Northwest winds 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph.

Crankin

02-29-2008, 01:14 PM

Patty, those pictures look great. I have driven by that sanctuary, but I have never been there. Must put on my to do list.

Robyn

bambu101

03-02-2008, 02:04 PM

I finally went to the x-c ski place near us and rented snowshoes. It was such fun, and I will definitely be buying my own shoes for next year. I have gone x/c skiing for the last 30 years or so, but this is a great workout in a different sort of way- more of the quads involved with lifting the legs up.

I have to say that this whole thread inspired me to go out and try something that I have wanted to do for years! THANK YOU!!!!

We live on the edge of 12,000 acres of watershed property for the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, and there are miles of old logging trails to explore, with lots of hills and reservoir views. It is perfect for hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, amd maybe a mountain bike someday!

BleeckerSt_Girl

03-02-2008, 04:03 PM

....this is a great workout in a different sort of way- more of the quads involved with lifting the legs up.

I have to say that this whole thread inspired me to go out and try something that I have wanted to do for years! THANK YOU!!!!

Hey I'm so glad you enjoyed your first snowshoeing and that this thread inspired you! How great! :)

The hardest workout I ever got was a hike through a trail in the woods last year on my SS over a freshly fallen 12" fluffy snow. It was only about 3 miles but it wound uphill and downhill through the forest and each step I sunk about 8" down and OMG I thought I would die, my legs and quads were in agony....and this after cycling about 100 miles per week in hilly country all summer and fall! Monster workout. :eek: :D

We were supposed to get 4-8" this weekend....but yet again we got GYPPED and only got 2"....not enough to do diddly poop in.

Lucky I have my roller skating at the rink to fall back on.... ;)
(ooops...never say "roller skating" and "fall back on" in the same sentence! :eek: my tailbone shudders just thinking about it... :eek:)

short cut sally

03-04-2008, 06:58 AM

I was able to go SS last week finally. The snow here has been non-existant since early December. I had to walk along the edges in some places as the snow wasn't deep enough in some of the fields. One day I took my S-I-L out, who got SS last year and never used them. She had to stop at least 3 times before we reached the hill in my back yard, and probably 100 times before we reached 3/4 of the way up, needless to say, we turned around and I went out later by myself. Thursday my biking partner and I went out for her first time also. She trudged everywhere I went. Her son informed me her butt and calves were sore. I got out 3 times last week. I woke yesterday morning to snow, by the end of the day, there was grass. I did go for a bike ride though.

roadie gal

03-04-2008, 10:58 AM

We've had a taste of spring here this week. (We're all going to be bummed when it's winter again next week...) My SO and a friend, the dogs, and I went out for a 2 hour snowshoe yesterday. We were on a trail that had been hardpacked by snowmobiles. It was just lovely. We walked and chatted. The dogs played. What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon!

Miranda

09-24-2008, 05:22 PM

OK, I'm enjoying reading this thread, and seriously considering some ss gear:). I have a bit of buyer's remorse with my xc skiis I got last year, and also with my recent rink skates. I hate that:mad:.

Sooo, my question is, from what I read, it is "better" to have heavier duty snow shoes, vs lesser ones. It increases your terrain options. However...

How much flat snow do you need to not get hung up on the heavier ones? Like the bottom claw thingys (sorry, really techinical term I:rolleyes: know, or need the crampons, etc.).:confused:

I don't want it to be total overkill, but it's upsetting having wasted money for being "under-geared" even MORE so I think:(. That, I want to avoid a repeat of.

Thx!

BleeckerSt_Girl

09-24-2008, 07:03 PM

Miranda,
without knowing exactly the type of terrain you will be on, I will give you a 'short answer' based on my own experience.
Here is the Tubbs website, which clearly shows the various 'levels' of shoes.
http://www.tubbssnowshoes.com/products/womens_snowshoes.asp
I know the Tubbs shoes so I am using them to help explain the various levels of shoes.

I seriously doubt you will need either of the top two "back country" heavy duty shoes the Tubbs site shows. They are for treacherous mountainous shoeing or heavy backpacking on steep terrain.

As to the low level Sojourn shoes- they are the cheapest but are for flat recreational light duty shoeing. My girlfriend had them and did have some trouble slipping when we were going up and down trails through the woods. Also the fasteners and strap system is a bit cheesy.

I would recommend the two day hiking shoes shown. I have the Wilderness model for myself, and the slightly cheaper Venture model for guests. The wilderness has MUCH better buckles/straps system, and I would say spend the extra money to get the Wilderness over the Venture for ease of use getting in and out of them in the cold snow. They both have good crampons. I find the Wilderness to be a great rugged shoe that I can turn and maneuver in very well.

Unless you are over 180 pounds, get the 25" or 26" shoes- they are PLENTY long enough. The bigger ones are good for heavy people or big tall men, but they are harder to manuever and turn in because of their big size.

Once you pick the model and the size you want, you can compare prices online and get a decent deal. I got one pair through an Ebay dealer and was delighted with the quick service. You can get last year's models sometimes for less- find out the previous model name and level.

Don't bother with poles for the time being...i never used mine after the first time, and I go through hilly woods a lot. Leg gators are a great investment however- they totally keep the snow from getting into your boots or from freezing your calves or ankles.

How much snow do you need? Well it doesn't really matter much whether you are wearing light duty or heavy duty snowshoes....you still will need at least 6" of snow to snowshoe effectively. Any less than that and there's not much point to snowshoeing- better to just wear boots.

I do think that snowshoes might come in handy during a big blizzard (hey I remember those!) and for fun use, they are a relatively cheap sports equipment investment compared to other recreations. And they last a long time without tuneups. ;)

Hope this is helpful...

Miranda

09-25-2008, 02:53 AM

Unless you are over 180 pounds, get the 25" or 26" shoes- they are PLENTY long enough. The bigger ones are good for heavy people or big tall men, but they are harder to manuever and turn in because of their big size.
...Hope this is helpful...

Thx BSG for answering that! It was very helpful:). My only pondering thought now is what size to order. Weight wise, on the skinnest days I'm between 115-120#. Recently more like 120-125# and holding. Last winter, I was approaching the 130# mark, but went back down to stay in the 120#s (5'5" tall, btw). I will weight myself with the boots I have now, and clothing layers, but I think I would still be in the smaller shoe range for Tubbs chart of 80-150#.

HOWEVER, the next size, what you have, is 120-200#s. Those would work too obviously. But, I wondered which would be the lesser of the evils: 1) longer shoe = harder to move in, but better snow float; or 2) shorter shoe = less to move around, but I might sink in the snow more. :confused:

Crankin

09-25-2008, 03:30 AM

I was actually happy to see this thread! Not that the cycling season is over, but it's getting there...
I would get the shorter snow shoes, if I was on the edge between 2 sizes. But that's only because i would trip over my feet on the longer ones.

MrsB

09-25-2008, 04:39 AM

Oh Im not ready for winter in Maine. There saying that we are suposed to have an extremely cold and snowy winter. I really love it until about February and then Im ready for some warm days. Guess I should start digging out all the winter stuff soon. When I bought my snowshoes a few years back I bought the shortest for my height/weight and ended up buying another longer pair for deeper snow. Last year I had my eye on those MSR Lightning snowshoes from LL bean. DH gave me a nice gift card to LL Bean but they were all sold out by the time I got there so I ended up with new X-country skis which was ok cuz I take the dogs out and they pull me along. Looking forward to hearing about everyones winter expeditions.

BleeckerSt_Girl

09-25-2008, 05:06 AM

Thx BSG for answering that! It was very helpful:). My only pondering thought now is what size to order. Weight wise, on the skinnest days I'm between 115-120#. Recently more like 120-125# and holding. Last winter, I was approaching the 130# mark, but went back down to stay in the 120#s (5'5" tall, btw). I will weight myself with the boots I have now, and clothing layers, but I think I would still be in the smaller shoe range for Tubbs chart of 80-150#.

HOWEVER, the next size, what you have, is 120-200#s. Those would work too obviously. But, I wondered which would be the lesser of the evils: 1) longer shoe = harder to move in, but better snow float; or 2) shorter shoe = less to move around, but I might sink in the snow more. :confused:

If you were much shorter than me, I'd say get the smaller shoes since your legs would be shorter too. But you and I are the same height (Crankin is several inches shorter), and for that reason I'd say get the same size I have....25". I find they are perfect size (not too giant, not too small), and it's surprising how even with snowshoes on you will sink several inches into fresh snow before they 'take'. Sinking in more makes it harder to walk (which is why it's so much easier to walk on someone's previous footsteps rather than breaking a fresh trail).
If you get smaller ones you will sink into the snow further. You'll be glad for that bit of extra flotation I think, and your legs are long enough to be able to stride and turn nicely in the 25"'ers- my humble opinion.

Miranda

09-25-2008, 06:37 AM

Thx ladies to those of you that posted about to my questions about sizing:). I'm 5'5" tall, but long torsed and short legs. Probably a 29" inseam. I'm forever in heels in pants as my torso is too long for the petite size hips-to-crotch, but my legs are too short for the regular pants. My mom needed to grow my legs 2-3" longer in the womb with the rest of me:rolleyes:.

There are some hilly trails (not CO mts/hills, midwest=flat, except going into MI, then more incline) I can do that would probably be groomed at parks. So the crampons would be used to not slide down. Most places to just "go out the front door" to shoe w/o further travel would be ungroomed deeper powder. Nature preserves, parks, corn fields (we have a lot of those in the midwest:p). It sounds like the larger shoe w/more float would be best for the powder.

OK, on buyer's remorse, here's what happened with my xc ski purchase. I ended up getting traditional nordic for groomed trails. I never really made it to the groomed trails. Everytime we had a nice snow, I had time to go out to the powder deeper drifted places like I mentioned above. DH would just crack up laughing, "omg:eek:, M! you are going to try and ski in 'that' with your trail ski?! wahaha...". :(

So, I could have really benefitted from buying skis more geared towards backcountry use. This year I have found where some groomed trails are suppose to be due to mtb there, and will take my nordics out more. But, I kinda wish I had the more agressive pair. Suppose it's like bikes... different things suited for different purposes:o. I would think the Tubbs Wilderness ss is somewhat like riding a cyclecross bike... it does a little bit of everything.

Crankin

09-25-2008, 08:49 AM

BleeckerSt_Girl

09-25-2008, 07:33 PM

Miranda

09-27-2008, 08:15 AM

Well, my opinion was just based on my observation, not technical knowledge. I have a pretty hard time stomping through powder with my short legs, but I look at it as a good work out. We don't get that much fresh powder here...
I know what you mean about the skis. I bought new ones 3 years ago. I told the guy I wanted the newer, shorter ones. My first pair were bought in 1991 and were really basic. Well, both my husband and I ended up getting ones that are probably the longest new x country skis around! We really had nothing to compare them to, until our friends got new ones. I thought REI would be honest, but I guess we just didn't know enough, as opposed to when we buy bike stuff. I just don't ski enough to get another pair so soon. Some of this is weather related, of course, since the amount of snow we get is extremely variable. My husband really doesn't like skiing that much and I think the skis have something to do with it.

Crankin... I can not tell you what a tainted :mad: shopper I have become with some of my shop experiences (bikes, ski, etc.). One rep says one thing, next person something else, another visit back to rep #1 has a diff story... BLEAH!!! I spend a lot of time "geeking-it-out" here on 'da interwebz because I just don't trust the real life help. How sad is that:(? I have some more blab about skis I'm going to do in one of those threads, but I feel your pain about the sizing. The only way I ended up with what I'm pretty sure is the right size for me from my live shop was with the help of my TE cyber pals. The type of ski I bought, nordic vs bc, was more a use forecasting mishap on my part. The Midwest doesn't get snow like CO. Thus gear use is hit or miss... so, a gal really doesn't want her purchase to be the wrong thing PLUS used intermittently. FWIW, my Mayberry shop does take some trade ins for used stuff re-sale... maybe your DH could trade in his skis for something else? It does make it really hard to determine if you like the activitiy when you are sorting out if it's the gear that sux... or the sport itself.

EDIT: One other fleeting thought... I wonder if a cheaper route would be to just get a shorter ski and mount the bindings you already own on it? That way you don't have to invest in a whole new outfit of gear, just part of it. But, I don't really know much about ski stuff:o. I do know for sure that we have TE girls here on the board that have that experience:).

Miranda

09-27-2008, 08:47 AM

Miranda-
By the way you can see a picture of me here, (I'm 5' 5" and 140 lbs) wearing my 25" Tubbs Wilderness shoes:
Tubbs25" (http://forums.teamestrogen.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5111&d=1199222087)

I think you can clearly see there that the shoes are not too big for me. Hope that helps....

Thx BSG:)! That's a great pic of you... looks like your ss are a blast. The angle you are holding your foot up in the pic helps. I was wondering where the length went on the shoe. Meaning... like did your foot go in the center, towards the back, etc. Crankin's point was sticking in my head on that one. I thought... if the majority of the shoe length is in the front, then with my short legs for my height, it just might be enough to trip me up in eternal ss selection misery. With the length being towards the back it just might give me the extra float. I tried to pile on the stuff I might be wearing to ss and re-weighed myself. I was in the mid 130-ish. I know this doesn't sound very epic :rolleyes:, but one of the main reasons I want the ss for is my dog. My yellow lab I had to get put down this summer, but I have a new black one. I loved hiking with my dog. And labs love to run and play outside with their people. I just want to be able to take my doggie out to our woodsy park trails, desolete winter midwest corn fields etc., to play and take in winter beauty. A humble goal:o... but mine it is. I appreciate your help in the process.

Crankin

12-20-2008, 12:52 PM

I went snow shoeing today! Nothing special; went out on the neighborhood trail in a foot of fresh powder. No one else had been on the trail and it was great. Just before it intersects with another trail, we saw some skiers and we decided to try a newly cut trail. It traversed up the hill, until meeting another trail that ends up almost across the street from our house! We didn't go far, but I would say we did about 250 feet (at least) of climbing in maybe two miles. I had climbed up the other trail that goes straight up the hill last winter and I would say that it's at least a 25% grade. What we did today is not quite as steep, but it was pretty challenging. What's really cool is that you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere and you're right across the street from my house.

beccaB

12-20-2008, 01:39 PM

This is a good but old thread to rejuvinate! DH and I went snowshoeing yesterday on a 2.5 mile hilly trail. I was exhausted! What a workout! I felt like I had done 30 miles on a bike. We got dumped on yesterday, but sometimes there isn't enough base to make it worth putting on snowshoes. We have to drive somewhere to do it, but it was worth it. This was after shoveling the driveway, so I get to eat more today!

BleeckerSt_Girl

12-20-2008, 02:25 PM

Since we had to cancel our weekend travel plans due to the two snowstorms (friday 8" and sunday perhaps 6" more?), I am going to try to get in a snowshoe trek of a couple of miles or so tomorrow after shoveling out.
I have found snowshoeing to be way more concentrated exertion than most bikes rides I do. Shoeing 2 miles is way more tiring to me than biking 30 miles!

Hoping to see a few snowshoeing photos soon..... :)

shootingstar

12-21-2008, 11:28 AM

Snowshoeing is possible in the local mountains here at home. This photo was taken a few years ago, when we were snowshoeing on Grouse Mountain which is a local ski, snowboard and snowshoe area. We can see this mountain plus some other mountains from our home in the city below.

Down below is the City of Vancouver. Grouse Mountain is accessible by a short muncipal bus ride, less than 1/2 hr. after going over Lion's Gate Bridge from Vancouver.

Guess right now it's snowy up there now.
We will be taking a snowhoeing vacation in Jasper, Alberta for this Christmas holidays.

sgtiger

12-22-2008, 01:11 PM

Dusted off the old snowshoes today and started for a walk in my neighborhood. Heehee, I never thought I'd need my snowshoes at this elevation. Anyhow after I got warmed up (and the body stopped complaining), I felt like running. So much fun!:D It reminds me of the feeling of running barefoot on the beach - the only other time that I really enjoy running. I wish I'd taken Dh's snowshoes though. His tapers abit in the back so that it makes it so much easier to run. Maybe he won't notice if we swap gear?!!;)

BleeckerSt_Girl

12-24-2008, 07:51 AM

Here are a couple of pix from the 10-person shoe trek I did with the Land/Nature Conservancy organization yesterday. High winds the day before had blown most of the deep fluffy snow of the tree branches, but there was about a foot on the ground everywhere.
Unfortunately, their camera ran out of battery power just before we climbed the big hill to the gorgeous panoramic view of the valley. But better a couple of pix than none!
(I am the one in the red hat, red jacket, black pants, and bright yellow backpack)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3230/3133503674_26601f25f3.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3295/3133504778_9d12dfcbe9.jpg

Biciclista

12-24-2008, 11:16 AM

ha, that was me today, only without the snowshoes! nice photos.

Stay warm!

Grog

12-24-2008, 01:07 PM

I just snowshoe'ed my way to a store I had to visit about 2 km from home. What an adventure! This snow is nonsense.

Sorry, no photo. There is so much snow falling that I don't think we could have seen anything on the pic anyway!

bambu101

12-25-2008, 03:54 AM

I used my new Crescent Moon snowshoes on Tuesday for the first time. It was great fun, and a really tough workout. I always thought cross-country skiing was good exercise, but I think snowshoeing is harder because you don't get to glide like you do while skiing. I used poles since I was in deep snow and rough trails, and that helped with balance.

Lots of tree damage from the big ice storm a couple of weeks ago, but it was great to get out in the woods.

Jolt

01-01-2009, 10:12 AM

Finally got out snowshoeing (first time this season) this morning at the local wildlife sanctuary. Unfortunately most of the trails had already been broken so it wasn't quite the challenge I was hoping for but was still a nice hour of exercise and felt good to get outside. It was pretty cold (mid teens) but I was comfortable in all my layers. Didn't see anyone else crazy enough to be out there though. I noticed it seems to work the hip/buttock muscles quite a bit which should be a good thing for me given my recent bout of IT band syndrome. Maybe I'll go again tomorrow or Saturday.

Drtgirl

01-01-2009, 06:02 PM

Almost 2' of fresh powder...what a great workout!

http://www.ericandkaryn.com/showshoe.jpg

Di bear

01-01-2009, 06:30 PM

I started the year off right with a snowshoe journey. I also took a little walk, yesterday, and got some awesome pictures along Lake Superior.

http://www.moronacity.com/blog/images/2009/January/New_Years_Eve_Lake_Superior-2008_1.jpg

http://www.moronacity.com/blog/images/2009/January/New_Years_Eve_Lake_Superior-2008_3.jpg

http://www.moronacity.com/blog/images/2009/January/New_Years_Eve_Copper_Harbor-2008.jpg

Drtgirl

01-01-2009, 06:44 PM

Awesome photos DiBear! I can't believe I grew up in Michigan and only made it to the UP once.

Di bear

01-01-2009, 06:56 PM

Thanks, Drtgirl!

Life circumstances brought me here, and I am very grateful. I live in Heaven. :) It's truly amazing how little most Michiganders know about the Upper Peninsula, but we're not complaining. ;)

beccaB

01-02-2009, 06:47 AM

I live in the southern part of the mitten, but a lot of high school kids around here end up attending Northern Michigan university. I've been to the southern part of the UP. I would like to camp in the northwestern corner of the UP this coming summer, as long as gas prices stay down. It really is a long way from here. My dream vacation would be to leave from here and go north, and the take highway 2 all the way to Montana. That would add at least a day's travel time to a western vacation I'm hoping to do someday. We have been to some of the state parks along highway 2, and even that is more desolate than anything I've ever seen!

BleeckerSt_Girl

01-02-2009, 07:22 PM

What wonderful photos from everyone! Such beautiful places.

Over here we just have to wait for another 6" snowfall or so before I can do any more shoeing. With only a few inches left on the ground now and pretty well trampled down, it's back to fitness walking for now. :rolleyes:

DebW

01-03-2009, 02:37 AM

Just gave my 5 year old "nephew" his first pair of snowshoes, the MSR Denali Tykers. The two of us went snowshoeing in his back yard. There was only 2" of snow, so snowshoes weren't necessary, but they were usable. Probably good conditions for his first time. We had running races. His 2 year old brother said that I ran slowly.

3for3

01-04-2009, 12:26 PM

Hi everyone!

Well, after Christmas, we are all geared up to play in our new home - the land of the ice and snow.....UTAH. I got some snowshoes for my hubby (MSR's) for Christmas, and my sister gave me REI gift money for Christmas to put towards snowshoes. YAY! Anyhow, just got mine yesterday....Went with the Tubbs Sojourn (Yeah, the MSR's are WAY nice, but I just felt there was no way I needed to spend more than twice the money.) I had been reading this thread a little bit and I was concerned about crampon quality, but we won't be doing any hardcore back-country stuff. And thankfully there was a guy there who really seemed to know what he was talking about and said that if we're planning on doing 3-5 days of snowshoeing a week then it's worth the extra money, but otherwise these would serve me well. SO....I hope I made the right choice. Next weekend we are going to try our hand at it. We will have company in from out of town who have never snowshoed either. Our choices of terrain are: groomed trails at the Olympic cross-country skiing venue (which we would have to pay for. We hear there nice, but PAYING just to WALK somewhere? We're not sure about that), romping around the hills around our house that are mostly snowed over mountain bike trails, or heading into American Fork Canyon for some hiking trials (which would be ungroomed, but we've hiked some of those in the summer so we know the area a little.) There's a fair amount of elevation increase on those. My husband will have our three year old daughter in the hiking backpack. I made sure I got the snowshoes with really good crampons and traction for him to avoid worrying about slippage. Advice on where to start for first timers? And do you typically wear your snowpants when snowshoeing? I will be wearing my Merrell Winterlude 6 boots, but do not have gators yet. Would snow pants help a little more with keeping dry or will they be too hot? Hope these aren't silly questions. Thanks for any tips!

shootingstar

01-04-2009, 04:20 PM

Since you have a child, it makes sense to go on flatter terrain..certainly any trail amongst snow-draped trees would be a magic like thing for a child (and it still is for this adult :)). Also you would be protected from alot of wind whipping around vs. a huge open flat field.

I don't wear snowpants when we've snowshoed in the mountains here in British Columbia. I just wear water repellant pants that I use for cycling over long underwear and tights. But gaiters are very helpful to keep you dry when kicking up the snow from the upswing of snowshoes at the back of your feet as you walk..in particularily powdery deep snow. I've noticed being a shorter person in deep snow, for some reason, the snow just swings higher behind me... For adult, if you know how you would dress for xcountry skiing, that would be an helpful guide plus gaiters for snowshoeing could be useful starting point.

Sounds like any child at that age would benefit from at least snowpants...wouldn't want to stop him from making a snow angel lying down in the snow, before/after snowshoeing. :)

This would be in temperatures that we've done at 10 degrees F below freezing as the lowest we've done, in the coastal and interior mountains here.

We have snowshoed in some quieter areas...going into Revelstoke National Park in the Rockies...is ...very quiet...hardly anyone there between Christmas and New Years. So one should have some warm layers if something should happen..which can in mountain areas with sudden weather changes and one is out for a 15 kms. snowshoeing up the mountainsides in that park.

But everyone is different here.

Crankin

01-11-2009, 11:38 AM

Went for my second snow shoe of the season today at Flag Hill conservation area in Boxborough/Stow. We weren't the first out on the trail, because there were ski tracks, but definitely the second. There was about 5-6 inches of powder that felt a lot deeper for some reason. We had a surprise at the beginning; a new trail was cut that went up the side of the hill at the beginning and then met back with the original trail about 1/2 of a mile up. So a good warm up because after just a little bit of flat then you start up the hill, which is about a 350 foot climb in about a mile or less before you loop around and come back down. I love snow shoeing in fresh snow! When we got to the bottom of the hill, we continued just a bit on the flat trail and then turned around. My guess is we did about 3 miles, maybe a little bit more. We were out for about an hour. Did see the x country skier who made the tracks; she was flying on terrain that is definitely not groomed...
Then we headed for the coffee place to have mocha lattes.

BleeckerSt_Girl

01-11-2009, 02:08 PM

Hi Robyn!
We went snowshoeing today too!
DH got to use his new snowshoes for the very first time, and the first time we've ever gone shoeing together. :p We went on a snowshoe hike with a small group from the Land Conservancy here, on protected land. There may be photos up later this week from them, but I did take a couple of cute pix this morning in our backyard while DH was trying out the shoes.
The second picture was when he pretended to be Frankenstein. :D
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3393/3188732801_3629f5bd78.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3323/3189577376_ed376267af.jpg

Crankin

01-12-2009, 03:50 AM

Excellent pictures, Lisa! I didn't take any yesterday. On the way home from the coffee place, my tooth started hurting. It went away, but now it's feeling weird again. I am going to try and ignore this, since I am going to get my butt out of the door and go x country skiing this morning. I have an appointment for a cleaning later this week anyway, so it will wait until then.
The weather looks brutal for the rest of the week. A high of 10 F on Friday :eek:, the night I have to go into Boston for theatre.

short cut sally

01-15-2009, 12:27 PM

Up til this past week I had shoed only 5 times. Terrain wasn't anything to write home about..Too little snow in spots d/t the wind, and kinda icy in spots. This past week we got snow almost everyday and it actually stayed put. I spent the past 4 days off doing nothing but shoeing. My hamstring muscles are a little tender and tight but it was so refreshing to be outside....did I mention average temp was 5 degrees????

BleeckerSt_Girl

01-15-2009, 12:57 PM

Ok ShellyJ- I am impressed. That's a lot of cold shoeing to do!! :eek: Snowshoeing is an incredible leg workout.

They put up a few photos of our modest shoe trek on conservancy land last week, here are a few of our little group:

DH had the idea of bringing 2 folding chairs so we could put our shoes on in style- brilliant! :D....
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3317/3198620187_77399062e5.jpg

DH and me on the right here:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3359/3199468024_23253c9da9.jpg

DH alone in the middle, and me behind him, apparently causing a traffic jam(!):
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3259/3198640497_c3568654d9.jpg

Me waving, in back of DH:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3392/3199503030_ac6c0811cf.jpg

The littlest shoe-er (who did a somewhat shortened hike):
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3405/3198621405_956e78b9b8.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3439/3199487302_804eb3343a.jpg

Into the woods:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3310/3199492838_d181794d69.jpg

short cut sally

01-15-2009, 03:30 PM

Bleeker St-- nice pictures!!
Actually, dressed properly with correct clothing, the temp. wasn't bad. There wasn't harsh winds when I went so it really made it enjoyable. You probably had comparible temps too didn't you???

Crankin

01-15-2009, 05:29 PM

I can't believe you brought folding chairs! You mean you haven't perfected the art of sliding your heavy hiking boot into the shoe and doing whatever straps you have with heavily gloved hands, when it's 10 degrees out, while standing on one foot?

BleeckerSt_Girl

01-15-2009, 05:36 PM

You probably had comparible temps too didn't you???
I think it was 20 when we went out, and no wind. Big difference from what you did!

I can't believe you brought folding chairs! You mean you haven't perfected the art of sliding your heavy hiking boot into the shoe and doing whatever straps you have with heavily gloved hands, when it's 10 degrees out, while standing on one foot?

Yeah we have, but we were lazy. :D

DebW

01-19-2009, 03:32 AM

I snowshoed in the Berkshires yesterday. Nasty drive in the morning, but overall a very nice day for a hike. I did about 7 miles on the Appalachian Trail, up and down hills, checking out ice storm damage. Sawed through some smaller limbs and saplings blocking the trail, walked over or through others. A giant birch tree fell just in front of one of our shelters, narrowly avoiding smashing the picnic table. Lots of work for our maintainers in the spring. I hiked alone in 20F temps with about 4-6" of fresh snow.

Jolt

01-19-2009, 11:49 AM

I didn't get out yesterday right after the snow fell, because I was working, so today I snowshoed for 1.5 hours on local conservation land. I was breaking trail through the fresh snow for a fair amount of that time so it was a good workout. I will probably go again tomorrow and do the trails I didn't do today.

short cut sally

01-21-2009, 02:41 AM

I've shoed the past 2 days. Monday went with a friend from work whom I met at her Dad's house and all 3 of us went out. Cherie and I have the aluminum packed trail kinda shoes, her dad has the old fashioned wooden kind. They are almost tall as him, all webbing, lightweight, no crampons. I think I will stick to what I have even if I sink in the open snow. Her Dad was getting tangled in all the brush or any debris but did great in the open field areas.
Tues. Cherie met me at my parents house, my Dad made trails for us to x-c ski. His version of flat trails are not my version. Way too many hills and I value my life-I'm not that good at x-c skiing. So after a couple of miles of skiing, we put our shoes on and finished all the hills. I hadn't been on my parents property in over 20 years, and it was fun, and beautiful, and quite the workout. And, Mom had coffee and fresh warm oatmeal cookies waiting for us..so much for weightloss but oh so good...;)

beccaB

01-22-2009, 05:19 AM

BleeckerSt_Girl

01-22-2009, 05:49 AM

Becca-
Yes a friend of mine shoed in very big old fashioned heavy wooden shoes with me last year, and she wound up in pain and told me she hurt terribly for days afterwards. She also wore tall Sorrel boots that did not bend at the ankle well.

Perhaps your husband needs smaller shoes that are lightweight aluminum and also waterproof winter boots that don't go up the leg, and then wear warm wool ski knee socks and gaiters to keep the snow out. Good mobility helps keep you from straining muscles. Definitely avoid the hills for now if you go with him.

The Tubbs website allows you to calculate what size shoe you need based on your total weight with gear. Handy.

roadie gal

01-22-2009, 09:44 AM

My husband is having a groin type injury he thinks might be related to our snowshoe jaunts. We've backed off somewhat. He doesn't want to be injured for bike season, but I have a real itch to do more snowshoeing, and don't know anyone else nearby who does it. We don't always get enough snow,so I want to be able to take advantage of what we are getting so far this winter. I think we will try poles for him and a lighter pair of shoes(he was wearing boots) and maybe a new pair of snowshoes if we can afford it. He is using a pair that was origionally meant for carrying a pack.
Does anyone else have any suggestions? We might also try less hilly trails.

Definitely use poles. They make a big difference with how much energy you use to pull your leg up. I don't know if that makes sense, but it works.

If you feel that his boots weigh too much, try a pair of sneakers with overboots (like NEOS) over them. It really cuts down on the weight and you can wear any shoes that you like, so you get a good fit. If you're wearing shoes that don't fit well your foot will slide around, messing up your stride.

Are you doing a lot of traversing hillsides? If you are, your snowshoes may be sliding sideways. This will make you use muscles differently than you're used to and will contribute to groin strains. I would suggest some snowshoes with an aggressive heel crampon (as well as the toe crampon) or some shoes with a serrated side, like the MSR brand. MSRs tend to be a bit heavy, and a bit pricey, but they are the best at controlling sideslip.

If you want a lighter snowshoe there are a bunch out there. I can personally recommend the Northern Lites. Once again, they're a bit pricier than a lot of the others but they are unbelievably light yet very sturdy. I bought a pair a few years ago when I was thinking about snowshoe racing. (Luckily, my 20 year old Tubbs had just given up the ghost and had to be replaced anyway.)

Just for grins, some handy websites:
MSR's website: http://www.msrgear.com/snowshoes/flat.asp
Northern Lites website: http://www.northernlites.com/
NEOS website: http://www.overshoe.com/recreational/

SadieKate

01-22-2009, 09:50 AM

Definitely use poles. They make a big difference with how much energy you use to pull your leg up. I don't know if that makes sense, but it works.

Are you doing a lot of traversing hillsides? If you are, your snowshoes may be sliding sideways. This will make you use muscles differently than you're used to and will contribute to groin strains. I would suggest some snowshoes with an aggressive heel crampon (as well as the toe crampon) or some shoes with a serrated side, like the MSR brand. MSRs tend to be a bit heavy, and a bit pricey, but they are the best at controlling sideslip.

In hilly areas, definitely use poles and appropriate crampons.

And avoid traversing when you can. Snowshoe perpendicular to the fall line; ski parallel to it. Traversing in snowshoes on steep slopes can be hazardous to your health. With poles you can glissade on the tail of your shoes down some pretty steep slopes.

beccaB

01-22-2009, 05:02 PM

I don't think our hills are very steep. It's rolling glacial formed hills, not mountains. I also wondered about what's better-new un-walked on snow, or someone's previously walked trail. I think we started out aggressively without working up to a goal, but like I said, we don't always get the right kind of snow. We're going to REI, and I think maybe he could try a waterproof trail running type shoe with gaiters. He never buys anything for himself, so I'm not sure if I can talk him into a new pair of snowshoes or not.

solobiker

01-22-2009, 05:49 PM

We have done a lot of snowshoeing here in the Mountians with a lot of elevation gain. I think a smaller lightweight shoe would do wonders. Both DH and myself have logged a lot of miles without pain or injury. I think we have Atlas shoes which I really liked. As for which trails, Depending upon how much snow you have sometimes it is easier to make your own tracks as the ones that have already been made may be uneven and cause you to have to always adjust your gait pattern. Kind of hard for me to explain. We don't use our shoes too much anymore, we prefer to ski where we go...granted sometimes it is survival skiing:eek: We have gone on some pretty tight trails..My skills have definately improved.:D

Crankin

01-23-2009, 04:02 AM

We also have Atlas shoes, very light weight, with just a crampon on the toe. I have gone up and down some pretty steep grades with them and never had any problems. I wear winter hiking shoes from REI. They are fairly heavy shoes, mid cut, but the snow shoes feel sturdy with them. I would never wear my snow shoes with my trail runners; they are just not as sturdy (plus, mine are not waterproof).
I like snow shoeing better when the snow is deep and I am breaking trail. I have worn them other times when it might have been better to be wearing Yak Tracks and it wasn't fun, let alone necessary to be wearing them.
On the other hand, give me a nice groomed trail when I x country ski!

beccaB

01-23-2009, 05:13 AM

Thankyou everyone for the advice. As is usual for us, we forged ahead with this endeavor before finding out anything we needed to know, and then made adjustments along the way. I agree with the fact that trail runners might not have the stability.Maybe he could benefit from a Merrell type light hiking shoe. When I bought him the snowshoes he has, the sales person sold him a pair that was meant for carrying a pack. That's probably too much weight, but I would not have known better at that time. I don't know if he will let me talk him into another pair of snowshoes. He has a total aversion on spending money on himself. Unless it's to buy endangered farm equipment, to keep it from ending up at the scrapyard! He's a one-man histirical preservation society!

Crankin

01-23-2009, 12:03 PM

I went snow shoeing this afternoon, right from the trails off of my street. It was 38 and gorgeous and it was hard for me not to ride. But, I made my decision this morning when I was driving around town and saw just how much snow is still in the road shoulders, along with ice and sand. I thought that in 8 weeks I can ride all of the time, but the season for snow sports around here will be at an end.

Zen

01-23-2009, 04:22 PM

Hey!
At first I thought that was my photo from yesterday :o
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb14/zencentury/DSC_0025.jpg

I went more for details, though.

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb14/zencentury/DSC_0015.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb14/zencentury/DSC_0040.jpgYou know that's some cold water.

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb14/zencentury/DSC_0014.jpg

Crankin

01-24-2009, 05:08 AM

Yes, our scenery looks quite similar.
Last night I had to go do the refreshments after services at my synagogue. I was talking to a woman who I haven't seen for years, who lives at the end of the trail, on the other side of the pasture picture. I told her I had moved close to where she lives a couple of years ago and I had snow shoed up near her house that afternoon. She said, "You hiked alone.. I would be too afraid. It's four miles? I never knew that went up by your street!"
Oy. We are talking about suburbia here. I doubt there are any perverts running around the woods waiting for me. They would have to be in good shape to get up the 25% grade to get back to my house.

short cut sally

01-29-2009, 03:26 PM

My dad made trails for us to adventure on since my last post. When I got to my parent's, dad had already left so mom said, your father made new trails for you but be on the lookout, he buried the snowmobile somewheres. She had no idea where or the details. I found the spot, he nose dived it into a ditch, had to walk almost a mile back home, get the farm tractor and pull himself out (he's 83) then towed the snowmobile home. I saw him later that day, thanked him for the new trails and mentioned where "someone" got buried..he chuckled. Then asked if I went on this one trail, which I hadn't. Apparently, he was making a trail thru a swampy area, thought he was going thru the marsh grass, when he ran up and over a beaver dam, almost tipping the snowmobile over and throwing him off...I hope he doesn't hurt himself at my expense..he said he had fun making the trails though...

Crankin

02-15-2009, 01:06 PM

Today we snow shoed at Northfield Mountain, where we x country skied last week.
The conditions didn't look optimum for skiing, although, in retrospect, I think it would have been OK.
All I can say is that this was the hardest snow shoe I have done. We took the most challenging route to the summit, about 1100 feet elevation. There is a lookout tower overlooking a reservoir, with picnic tables, so we ate there. There were 2 places with steep ledges, coming after long steeper climbs. I just lose my endurance on these long climbs, but I made it. After awhile, we thought we were at the summit, but we weren't. It did flatten out though for the last half a mile.
It was about 39 and sunny and I had my jacket and ear covering off, although they went back on at lunch and stayed on, going down. We took another trail back, which while downhill, was not as steep. It was fun, but very challenging. I now have a huge blister on my left heel :mad:. We stopped for coffee and pie on the way back at the same antique place/restaurant as last week. This time we saw the guy that used to be my son's coach when he was racing. Weird, because it's in the middle of nowhere.
When we get more snow, I want to go back and ski to the summit. This place has green trails that go up and down to the top! I'll probably try the blue ones, though.
Lisa, if you read this, this would be a place we could meet. I don't think it would be too long of a drive for you. It's about 10 miles west of the exit we used to get off of Rt. 2 for U Mass. The place is 2 miles off of Rt. 2.