Last weekend, I finally tried out the snowshoes!
I didn’t trapse around too much. We just headed out to our land. Jason attempted to burn some brush (fail), so I took the opportunity to try my new gear.
My snowshoes weren’t the only new gear I was using. I donned my new snow pants, Omni-Heat gloves, Vasque Breeze hiking boots, and Columbia Triple Trail Shell that I’m testing out for CampingGearTV.com. I’m like glow-in-the-dark in that thing! No losing me in the woods.
So what were some of my thoughts after my inaugural snowshoe outing?
- I was a little surprised at first that I sunk into the snow. I thought something was wrong, but it wasn’t. Snowshoes just distribute your weight over a larger area so your foot doesn’t sink as much into the snow. This is called flotation.
- I quickly experienced both how much easier it is to walk in the snow with snowshoes and what a good workout snowshoeing will be. It was so nice not to have my foot sink into a hole with every step.
- Your foot sinks more in the powdery snow, less in the more compact, iced-over snow.
- My shoes came with poles, but we forgot to put the powder baskets on the ends before leaving the house. Just FYI – There is no point in using the poles without the powder baskets. They just sink in the snow.
- It is going to be really fun hitting a real trail in my snowshoes. It was a little uneventful walking around our small clearing, but it was an excellent way to get used to the shoes.
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