On New Year’s Day I went on my second snowshoe hike – and I loved it!
You may recall that the start to the year was a bright, sunny day, and up in the Hockley Valley, there was definitely enough snow to hike the trail with snowshoes. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was much improved in hiking with these oversized shoes on my feet, particularly as it had easily been a couple of decades since my first snowshoe hike. That first time, my neighbours had not only invited me to join them on the Bruce Trail, hiking up Innis Lake Road, but they’d also loaned me some snowshoes.
That first snowshoe hike, however, had captured my interest enough that the following Christmas snowshoes were waiting for me under the tree (thanks, mum!). For some reason, though, the only trails they saw until this year were the ones I made trekking around my parents’ backyard.
This morning I was lucky enough that a break in my schedule coincided with the arrival of some fresh snow, and I took my snowshoes out on another hike to explore the trail south of Coolihans Side Road. While it was nice to be out enjoying the trail in solitude, I thought the experience would also have been fun as part of a group hike.
Fortunately, this is something I can experience, since Bruce Trail Clubs along the Escarpment offer snowshoe hikes when weather permits. We have a snowshoe hike coming up on February 18th at a place where you can rent snowshoes, so why not give it a try?
A couple of weeks ago, some of you were excited to hear that we’re getting an early spring. Me? I’m really excited that the forecast continues to predict more snow so that I can go out and get a couple more snowshoe hikes in this year. Snowshoeing is another great way to enjoy the Bruce Trail in winter!
Photo Credit: Heidi Bischof
Great story Heidi! Please keep them coming!