Snowshoeing Fun Continues!

Greetings on this very cold Friday!  It is cold.  Very cold.  It started on Wednesday and it’s going to stick around for a while, with a brief, minor break for a couple days, then back to frigid.  This is good weather to stay home, inside, with a fire crackling in the fireplace (or wood stove), and enjoying a nice cup of hot COFFEE!  Sigh.  Well, I can do that, minus the crackling fire.  Not quite the same though.  This kind of weather really brings on that terrible Cabin Fever!  Unfortunately once hit with that it becomes hard to do things.  Energy is gone.  Motivation is gone.  But, fortunately there is still lots of COFFEE!  Sigh.

Poor Birds

Those little birds, outside in that cold, flying back and forth from shrub to feeder, all day long.  They never quit.  Never give up.  Never stop.  Except periodically to find a snow free spot to sit right down on their feet to warm them a bit.  Especially the little nuthatches and pine siskins.  The chickadees don’t seem to mind as much.

  Of course, their little feet are covered when they peck open and eat their sunflower seeds.  It’s quite amazing to watch.  How do they keep their feet covered, hold that sunflower seed with those covered feet, and still peck it open?  Occasionally they drop the seed and swoop down, grabbing it in mid air, then back up to their spot on a branch.  They all have their own favorite spot to use all day. 

Snowshoeing again

I looked down that hill, having decided to try skiing down on my snowshoes, and off I went.  Not bad, I thought.  It was going good, until…it happened.  Naturally.  My one snowshoe hit an old tree stump that was covered with snow.  I went flying.  Literally.  Right off the ground, or snow really.  I landed face down and slid for quite a distance, plowing through that deep snow.  I finally came to a stop, completely covered under that snow.  It was a little difficult getting myself out of there since the snow all around was so soft and deep.

Breathing again

  First I cleared the snow from around my face so I could breathe.  Then, with some twisting and digging, I managed to get myself up on my hands and knees.  I had my snowshoes strapped on tight, but one still came off anyway, not sure how that happened as the strap didn’t break.  That snowshoe was still up the hill where it hit that tree stump.  The boot which was on that foot was also gone…under the snow somewhere.  My foot was getting cold.  And wet.  I took off the other snowshoe and tried standing up.  Twisted that same ankle as last time.  Sigh.  Also hurt my shoulder and neck.  But I had to find that boot.  I struggled back up the hill to my snowshoe, the strap was still done up nice and tight.  Amazing.  Couldn’t see my boot anywhere.  Obviously buried in the snow somewhere.  I made my way back down, very slowly, digging through the snow.  Aha, found it!

Barefoot Steve

  By this time my sock was quite wet and my foot was very cold. I shook the snow out of my boot, then took my sock off and put my foot back in the boot quickly.  My foot would stay warmer without the wet sock.  The point where I stopped sliding was nearly at the bottom of the hill so decided it would be easier to go down.  Which I did.  From there I could see that by heading north I would come to a place where the hill was not so steep.  Easier to get back up and back to my old trail.  With my ankle so sore I could not use the snowshoes so off I went walking through the snow.  It wasn’t so bad…at first.  Then the snow got very deep.  Waist deep.  But it was really the only way to go.  It took a long time just to get past that area and into some nice spruce trees.  The snow was not so deep there so walking was much easier.  Good thing.  My ankle was in bad shape already.  And my neck seemed to be getting worse too.  Finally it was not even possible to turn my head.  Sigh.  By the time I reached the easier slope to the hill it was starting to get late.  When I finally got to the top I could see my old trail off in the distance through a nice area of pine trees.  No undergrowth here but it was still hard walking through the snow. 

Almost home

It was starting to get dark when I arrived at my trail, but at least it was nice easy walking from that point on.  It was completely dark by the time I made it back, quite exhausted, and very sore.  But no broken bones, which was good.  And it was a beautiful walk.  At least at the start!  But little mishaps like these didn’t stop me from going out again and again.

It was nice to be back home, drinking some hot chocolate, and listening to the crackling fire, which I could do at that time.  Now I just dream about it.  Sigh.

Muffin

Before I forget and say good bye, Muffin has written a new post, so please feel free to check it out.  There is a change to the name of her page as well, she didn’t like the COFFEE idea, since she doesn’t like COFFEE.  Sigh.  Our ‘about us’ and ‘contact’ pages have also been updated, after all it’s a new year and that means new changes.  And more coming.  I hope your weekend is warmer than mine, enjoy and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2019 Steve McLeod