Snowshoeing

Like we mentioned in last week’s blog, we finally received enough snow to pull out the winter outdoor activity gear.  For our family that means nordic skis and snowshoes.  Both are great activities and allow you to get out and enjoy the winter weather and until a couple of years ago, nordic skiing was the only activity I partook in.  A few years ago my wife bought me a pair of snowshoes so that I could venture out into the woods with her on those cold snowy mornings.

So last Sunday morning, we pulled out the warm weather gear, strapped our boots to our snowshoes and off we went to our favorite city park, Ritter Farm.  This park is a multi-use park, where residents, can walk their dogs, nordic ski and even snowmobile.  It features some great trails and even hidden within the park, an outdoor archery range.  We frequent this park quite a bit throughout the year as our dog loves to get out and just sniff and pull us through the various trails.

If you have never tried snowshoeing, I highly recommend it.  It has grown in popularity over the last few years and I know many of the state and county parks in Minnesota, offer rentals.  The price for these rentals is quite reasonable and is a great way to get out and give it a whirl before you invest in your own pair.

The other great thing about snowshoeing, it is a great way to get out and exert some energy during the winter months.  Both my wife and I prefer to be a tad bit chilly while doing this activity vs. walking on a treadmill or running around in circles on a track.

Back to our Sunday adventure.  We started off from the car with our snowshoes and the first thing both of us noticed was how tramped down the snow was already.  We may had just recently received 10 inches of snow, but with temps hovering around the freezing mark, that snow was beginning to disappear right before our eyes.  We headed off into the woods in hopes of the snow being a bit better for our hike.  Well after about 15 minutes, we noticed that much of the trail had already been worn down to the dirt below the snow.  My wife attempted to walk on the side of the trail to get more of the snowshoe experience, but even that was not the greatest.

We finished the 1.5 mile trail in the woods and decided to head out across the field to shed hunt.  Yes we had both heard out son mention it was too early to be shed hunting, but we were looking for an adventure.  After a couple of minutes of crossing the field, I thought to myself that this was the reason I love to snowshoe.  The snow had not been tramped down and with our snowshoes, we were able to cross the meadow without sinking in the snow and explore around trees and shrubs for those elusive sheds.  What a blast we had.  This was what I had been looking for when we mentioned wanting to go snowshoeing.

We spent about 30 minutes hunting for shed and then finally admitted that our son was right, that was a painful thing to admit.  Even without finding any shed, and the snow being iffy, both my wife and I enjoyed our snowshoeing adventure.  It allowed us to get outdoors and take in all that winter had to offer.

Finally Snow…..

Finally, we got some snow in Minnesota. The last time we had any measurable snow was on December 30, 2015. It took another month and on February 9^th, we received 10 beautiful inches of the white stuff. We were too busy on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday to get out and enjoy, but then along came Saturday.

Saturday was pretty warm by Minnesota standards. I might be buying into the whole global warming thing because anytime we get any snow here; it warms up to the point of making all that snow disappears quickly. On Saturday, the temps were supposed to rise to 35 degrees, not good for those who want to get out and enjoy what mother nature sent us. Not to be deterred, we set out to do a little cross -country skiing. We went to a local park as they usually do a pretty good job of grooming those trails.

However, when it is going to be in the 30’s, it is hard to figure out what to wear to keep yourself warm, but also to keep yourself cool. On this particular day, I threw on a base layer leggings with a pair of running tights over the top of that. I pulled on my wool socks. On the top, I wore a long sleeve sweat wicking shirt topped with a nordic ski windbreaker. I always take along my buff to keep my neck warm, which can also be pulled up over my head if for some reason it is extremely cold out. Lastly, I threw on a headband to keep my ears warm and a pair of full-fingered bicycle gloves. This was just about perfect for skiing in the temps we had.

On Sunday, not to be outdone, we decided to pull out our snowshoes for a sunrise hike through the woods. Again, it was already in the 30’s at 6:30 a.m., so I did not want to overdress. The location of our hike was at a local park that is part woodland and part prairie. From previous experience, I know that back in the woods I usually have to drop a layer to avoid a complete sweat meltdown. When we hit the prairie area, I usually need more layers. For this type of activity, I dressed the same as Saturday’s ski day, but added an extra fleece jacket over the top of my windbreaker. I did need to remove the fleece back in the woods, but I was glad I had it on when we were tromping through the prairie area. Spent some time taking in the views and following the many deer trails looking for any antler sheds. It is still a little early in the season to find any sheds, but we decided to look around a bit since we were out there.

Hopefully if you live in the northern climate you do not let the weather deter you from enjoying the outdoors. It is all about layering your clothing to find out what you need to stay warm, or to stay cool, depending on your activity. So get out, strap on your skis, snowshoes, or just pull on a pair of boots and see all that winter has to offer you.

Minnesota Snow

Many of us that live in Minnesota try to “embrace” winter and get out and enjoy the snow. However, we are already into the 2^nd week of January and those of us living in southern Minnesota have seen very little snow. Winters like this drive people like me crazy. I need to be able to get outside and breath the fresh air, which sadly I have been unable to do. My cross-country skis have been sitting with fresh wax on them since Thanksgiving. My snowshoes are still sitting in the storage room waiting for some much-needed snow.

Last winter we had major amounts of snow. Almost every weekend from December through early March, you could find me at my favorite nature area, Ritter Farm Park, in Lakeville. This park is situated on a lake and consists of rolling prairie and deeply wooded areas. The park hosts many hiking and ski trails and on many mornings, I would go out to the park, strap on my snowshoes and hit the hiking trails. There is something so beautiful about the park at 7:00 a.m. I don’t know if it is the stillness of the winter morning or just the peacefulness of being the only people hiking along the trails. Along the trails I usually spot something interesting, such as a red-headed woodpecker knocking on a hollow tree or deer that I happened to startle as I walk along the trail. Last winter I came along something quite strange hanging from a tree. In one of the trees along the trail, a dead rabbit was stuck up about 20 feet dangling from a branch. My assumption was that a hawk or eagle caught the rabbit and something caused it to drop the rabbit at which time it became tangled in the tree branch. All winter long, we would walk that trail to see if anything had come along and decided to take that rabbit as an easy lunch. Food pickings must have been good last winter, because that rabbit was still swinging in the breeze on my last snowshoe hike of the season.

I know we will receive enough snow to get outside, but until we do I will just have to sit in my lounge chair and dream of being outdoors and “embracing” our Minnesota winter.