Snowshoeing

[anakiwa]

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]

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]

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]

A good girlfriend of mine phoned this morning to see if i wanted to go snowshoeing.... 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! 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 )

[annie]

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. 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]

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]

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~

[PAP103]

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....