Snowshoeing

Robin and I purchased snowshoes a few weeks ago; she has LL Bean and I have Atlas. I had never snowshoed before so I was excited to try it out. A few days before we had actually set out to snowshoe it had rained, so the snow had a crust top layer which made snowshoeing very difficult on the lake. After 10 minutes of struggling we decide to trek through the woods behind our apartment where the rain hadn’t touched the snow as much. I was surprised at how easy it was for a beginner to trek through fresh snow. We navigated around bushes, trees and shrubs and found many little hunting trails created from rabbits and fox; one trail led to a hole in the snow that led down to an overturned tree stump, unfortunately nothing came out to see what the noise was about.

A few weeks later we headed out to the Bangor Trails which connect with the Orono Board walk, Robin and I spend a lot of time out there walking and biking so we thought it would also be an excellent place to snowshoe. Many people were out skiing and snowshoeing; we made our own trail in a secluded portion of the sanctuary which was very fun- the snow had at least a foot of fresh powder on top of the crust. Trekking in powder is much easier and enjoyable. The time of day was roughly 3PM; the sun was starting its decent, casting neat shadows through the forest. Robin and I continued through the woods where we came across a path made by Deer, we followed it to where we found an area that they had used for bedding and continued on until we found a bog, we stood around playing with our cameras for a bit taking in the sounds and scent of a calm cool forest.

A week later we headed back to the Bangor Forest, expect this time we trekked on the Orono Board Walk side. We walked around for a couple of miles and exploring trails. Our Sigg bottles finally made their first snow adventure today as well. We enjoy snowshoeing, not as much as hiking or kayaking but it is fun and allows us to get outside and experience Winter a bit.

January has had several beautiful snow storms, the kind that snows all night leaving a soft, fluffy covering over everything. On our way to work one morning, the snow had just stopped falling and the skies cleared and the sun came out as it was starting to rise, I decided I had to stop and take some photos- it was one of those moments that only happen once or twice a winter.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 1st, 2009 at 5:07 pm.