Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Snowshoeing Adventures. Part 2.
Greetings everyone! It’s great to be back with all of you again! And a special greeting to all my new readers and followers! I’m aiming for that number 50 in followers and it’s not far away. I’m really quite excited about that so please help me out by telling others all about this blog! If you want. Or not. That’s okay.
We got some more snow last night. Not a lot. About 6 inches or so. It made everything so white. And cold looking. Except it wasn’t cold. It was really quite mild, 32F actually. This has been a rather odd start to January which is normally such a cold month. I’m not complaining though. Cold and I do not get along too well anymore. Sigh. The birds were very busy today.
And Mama (deer) came by for a visit as did Fuzzy (another deer). I think the critters around here prefer summer. Like me. Okay. I know what you are waiting for, so let’s get started.
I wasn’t really sure what to do so I brushed the snow off a rock and sat down so I could look over the situation. I figured the only way off this ledge would be to climb up. But that granite was so nice and smooth, except for some lichen growing on it. Hmm. While I was sitting some chickadees came along from the valley below. A couple stopped for a bit and searched the broken trees beside me for any insects that may be hidden in the bark. The off they flew up to the top of the cliff so effortlessly. Hmm. However, the way they went up I noticed a small twig sticking out of the snow. And a little beyond that a small balsam was also barely showing itself through the snow. Hmm. If they were anchored strongly enough I might be able to pull myself up. Problem. The first one was just too high for me to reach even with the help of my snowshoe. I looked at the broken trees. Just might work. I put one up against the rock, checked the branches to make sure they were strong enough to hold me, then started to climb. I figured I just might be able to reach that first twig. I was almost there when, SNAP! That broken tree broke again. And I tumbled down and nearly went over the edge of that ledge! I mean, it was close. Too close. I rolled away slowly. Unfortunately I hurt my knee, opposite leg to my twisted ankle, which was now throbbing quite badly. I just had to get out of there quickly. No one knew where I was. And it was now windy which made it feel even colder. Hmm.
Well, I looked at the other broken tree. Why not? What choice do I have? It didn’t seem as solid as the last one and the branches were smaller, but it’s the only way to reach that twig. I was hoping that twig was actually bigger than it looked. Right. With the tree in place I started to climb again. Rats. Still couldn’t reach that twig. So I reached up with my snowshoe and tried brushing away the snow. It was working. And that twig had some little branches on it. That was good. Now if I could just hook my snowshoe on there. Did it! Except it wouldn’t stay on. Sigh. Now what? I stood right on the top of that broken tree, hoping that it wouldn’t move, and I could just reach that little shrub. I took my mitt off and grabbed that shrub tightly with my bare hand and pulled. Amazingly it held and soon I had my other hand on the little balsam tree. By pulling and sticking my feet into the snow I managed to get up to the next level which was just a small ledge not much bigger than me. I sat in the snow to rest a bit. My knee and ankle were quite swollen by now and the pain was getting worse.
There was a large pine at the top not far from me and while I was looking at it a hairy woodpecker flew by and landed on the tree. He looked down at me and called loudly.
Maybe trying to encourage me? It wasn’t so steep now as I struggled through the snow finally making it to the top. I sat at the base of that big pine. The chickadees were still around singing their name so cheerfully.
I still had a long walk back. There was no way I could use my snowshoes now so I had to push my way through snow that was nearly waist deep at times. I headed in the direction of one of my old snowshoe trails. Walking would be easier then. Those trails get hard after a bit and it’s like walking on a sidewalk. It was 3:30 pm when I finally found the trail. It took nearly an hour from there to get back, normally it wouldn’t have taken that long but I had to walk rather slowly. And the wind was very cold. But I did get to see a beautiful sunset across the lake as I was walking back. Sigh.
I do miss snowshoeing. Even though I did some stupid things at times. Sigh. There will be more crazy times coming up over the next month or two so stick around for some fun. Enjoy your week and God bless!
Steve and Muffin and critters.
Snowshoeing In January.
Greetings on this very beautiful January day! Hard to believe it’s the same month as it was 3 days ago. I mean, going from -24F on Tuesday all the way up to 35F yesterday, and almost as warm today, is really quite hard to believe. Now, it’s not hard to believe cold weather for the first week of January around here, but mild, melting temps are just not a common thing. It does happen. Rarely. So I was outside for a bit yesterday and today enjoying the sunshine and the fact I didn’t need to wear gloves while taking pics of my little feathered friends.
Unfortunately that nasty shrike showed up, scaring the little birds into hiding, and oddly the blue jays were nowhere in sight. The shrike was too high in the tree for me to scare him away. And those little birds were not going to move until the shrike left. One poor little nuthatch was on the suet feeder at the time but was on the side away from the shrike. He was motionless however, until he noticed the other birds starting to fly around again.
I used to enjoy snowshoeing at one time, when my health was still good. I found it a very nice way to enjoy the solitude of the winter forest. But it is best to do with someone else, like most outdoor activities. Just in case. Problems can arise that we just do not anticipate and if alone, that can be dangerous. Didn’t stop me however. No one else shared my enthusiasm for snowshoeing. Or hiking. Or canoeing. Or most any other outdoor activity. So I usually was off by myself enjoying the winter beauty of the boreal forest. One year in January, not as cold a year as my last trek I talked about. But there was a lot of snow that year, almost 3 feet of snow on the ground. Great for snowshoes. This day as I started out it was -15F, so not bad at all. And I was dressed warmly. That was a good thing as it turned out.
But as usual I didn’t tell anyone where I was going or how long I would be away. Something that definitely should be done when going out alone. It was really beautiful. The sun was shining brilliantly through the pines. And it was quiet. The only noise was me. Periodically I would stop and listen. Nothing. Just quiet. No sign of life at all. Except at one spot a squirrel was sitting at the base of a large pine eating a pinecone. He paid no attention to me when I stopped to watch. Those cones are rock hard but he had no trouble biting it open to extract the small seeds inside. Unfortunately I didn’t bring any food with me or I would have shared some with him. I was heading off to an area I hadn’t been before. It was simply breathtaking looking off into the trees, the sun’s rays shining through and glistening on the snow. After a bit I turned back toward a more familiar area as there was a small cliff along a valley and I wanted to go down to the valley and then swing back to another trail I had made a week before. Even with snowshoes it was hard going at times and I was starting to get a bit tired when I arrived at the cliff edge.
I was wondering if I should turn and head back or go down to the valley below. It was a new part of this cliff area but there was a nice easy sloped way down to a ledge about 30 or so feet down the cliff. So off I went. About half way down this ‘slope’ I heard some cracking sounds and then…WHUMP! I fell the last 20 feet. My nice slope was actually two dead trees that had fallen against the cliff edge many years before and had been so covered with that deep snow that I couldn’t see any of the small branches that would have given it away. And one of my snowshoes got tangled in the trees twisting my ankle rather badly. I figured that ankle would be terribly swollen before I got back home. Sigh.
So now what? There was no way back up. And it was at least 20 feet down to the next level. And who knows what might be hidden under that deep snow. So I figured jumping down was not a good option. Besides, that ankle was hurting quite badly, jumping would likely make things worse. It was 1 pm when I left, it was now 2:30, so I still had a bit more than 2 hours of daylight.
Sorry, you’ll have to wait until Monday for the rest of that story. I hope you all enjoy your weekend and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
Steve`s Country 