First time on Snowshoes
This was my first attempt at snowshoeing. Nuria asked me if I would be interested in going and since I have missed hiking I said yes.
One exit past Hyak, there is a snow park. This exit is only open in the winter. Nuria, Jill, and I started from the parking and decided to go east. Nuria had been there the previous day and had gone west to the Keechelus Dam. With no maps or GPS we followed the cross country ski trail to see where it went.
Snowshoeing is fairly different than hiking. You have to learn to take bigger steps and keep your feet wider apart. I fell four times in the three hours we were out. The last time I fell forward and could not get my feet under me again to get up for a couple minutes. It was kind of like swimming in syrup to get up. My poles went down too far to use for support. It was kind of an interesting trick to get up.
Jill fell two times but both were just stumbles and easy to get up from. Nuria did not fall at all. In fact, my third fall happened while chasing her to knock her down. Don't worry my good reader, Nuria will fall next week and I will be there to take a picture of it. Mark my words.
Round trip was between three and three and a half miles of fairly flat terrain. Everyone had a good time. We should be able to do this through March and I am looking forward to it. I bought a book on snow shoe trails in Washington and will be putting up more soon.
Here are some pictures from the trip:
