More on flotation

The snowshoes arrived, and so did lots more snow in the mountains, so yesterday we went up to Kings Canyon National Park to see whether we had a winner or not. The road was clear, the sky was clear enough, and we got to Grant Grove with no hassles.

It took a bit of figuring out, but the snowshoes went on as designed, and we were off. We walked out into the meadow behind the restaurant onto several feet of pristine snow. The big shoes sank into the snow maybe 3 inches and worked as advertised. The binding is articulated so you use as normal a walking motion as one would expect with life rafts on your feet. My wife and I both sank into the snow about the same distance and neither of us had any trouble to speak of. The built-in crampons kept us from sliding when going up or down hills and balance was no problem.

We walked across the meadow and into the campground on the other side. I was noticing that this activity used some leg muscles that are different from my usual activities. Then we came across a snowshoe trail broken by others and found out why it's nice to go in groups. We had been breaking trail all the way across the meadow, and that is a lot more work than following a broken trail.

We quit after an hour, figuring it was best not to overdo on our first foray. It was a successful excursion. Now we are planning the next, longer trek. More snow is predicted this week. I plan to float across the top. You can see more photos at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=196550&id=656665475&l=b80217909b

Flotation

We go cross-country skiing two or three times a year, usually up in one of the national parks. It is a beautiful way to see a beautiful place and get some exercise while we are at it. The problem is that we never took lessons, so our abilities peaked about the second time we went 35 years ago.

Going up or on the flat is fine, but coming down can be scary. On steep or icy downhills I pretty much aim for something soft and plan to crash there. As I’ve gotten older all this crashing became less and less enchanting. Getting untangled and ready to go again after you fall gets harder. So we decided it might be a good idea to try snowshoeing instead. You get to go places and see things you couldn’t otherwise and get some exercise, just like skiing, without all the crashing.

Renting snowshoes to try them out was an eye-opening experience. Getting the right ones for my wife was no problem, and they worked well for her. I, on the other hand, am the size of a typical NFL offensive lineman. She needs a 21” x 8” shoe while I need a 36” x 10” one, and that wouldn’t be enough in deep powder. Our first foray was on several feet of fresh snow with much smaller rented shoes. While I didn’t sink all the way to my crotch, pulling the shoe out made it similar in effort.

Finding big snowshoes in February is tough. The few pair that stores get are gone by then and no one rents them. Looking online one finds few models that get big enough, and some of them have bindings that fit “up to a man’s size 13 boot.” I have a pair of 14s and a pair of 15s. It began to look as though the snow would melt before I had a chance to try snowshoeing with the proper equipment.

My wife persevered through the various local and online shops. We found a local shoe with the same binding as its bigger cousin and tried my most compact boots in it. Success! So now we knew we could order the right size shoe in that brand. Even that turned out to be a problem, but we found a pair and they are on their way. They were even priced at end of season closeout prices with free shipping.

Soon we will be able to try mushing through the woods. What a lot of trouble for what should be a peaceful experience! Now if they just made silent plug-in snowmobiles all would be perfect.