Snowshoeing

 
I’ve taken up snowshoeing. Its hard to get the exercise you need when you don’t drive. The gym is a logistical nightmare unless it is very close to where you work or you live. Making a trip to the gym adds significantly to your trip times if the gym is out of the way, making it impossible to get there regularly and support a workout routine. The trick is finding things you can do with others. I don’t have to drive, I get a wonderful day or two out of the city, I get to take pictures, enjoy a wonderful activity, and get to spend some time with my wife. Its a total win!!!!
Snowshoeing isn’t that hard actually there is generally a track, you have poles and you follow a guide through the woods. It works out very well and is very much like guided skiing. The downside is falling in. Don’t loose your balance its very difficult to dig yourself out of a meter or so of snow and get back on your feet.
The other downside is getting lost. Recently my wife and I took a colleague of mine out snowshoeing. We found a short little trail for the colleague to check it out and see if they liked it before we went to a longer trail. The trail was a loop and was only 2km long. We figured no big deal the weather was good and the journey wouldn’t be long so we left all of our survival gear, food, extra cloths, maps behind.
Never and I will repeat for clarity never leave this gear behind in the summer or winter when your in the wilderness.
We started our journey and started climbing, being my only third time out on snowshoes and my first time out on snowshoes big enough to keep me from sinking in the snow, I was working hard. But all was good and the three of us were having a blast, the trail was well marked and the people we encountered reinforced that we were on the right path. About forty five minutes go buy and we see the trail take a dive through the forest. Literally the trail dove down the hill, was covered in ice where we couldn’t walk down in our boots or on our snowshoes. Some others came by and told us no problem just keep going, we were having so much fun we did. The trail markers stopped but the snowshoeing was a blast. Everyone we encountered told us just keep going it loops. So we kept going. Then we started getting tired and thirsty and were getting concerned about where we were. We continued on and encountered some others that said this is a great place to turn around but if you take the first path you come to going back it will loop around and you won’t have to go down the icy slope. We followed the directions and ended up over eight kilometers from where we started, eight kilometers by road. Over the mountain we had probably don’t at least that much likely more. It was three and a half hours later we were exhausted, scared, and lost. The sun was going down and we were cold, my wife and my colleague were showing the first signs of exposure, “they were GRUMPY”.
I tend to have this lucky streak when the chips are down and the chips were down. My second phone call was going to be to the search and rescue folks to get us out. I’m embarrassed to say the landmark we found was the sewage treatment plant. We ended up with the shit and we were in total shit. My first call was to the hotel where we parked the car, the events coordinator figured out where we were. Had us walk to the highway which wasn’t far away. Walking to the highway was option three walk to the highway and hitchhike back to the car. The events coordinator came out and picked us up. I’m totally sure she thought us mad for being so happy to see her.
Regardless of the unfortunate adventure which reminded me in a very direct way, I haven’t been so scared in a while, to be prepared no matter how small the journey. This will not be the last time you’ll find me on snowshoes.
Highly recommended!!!