I like looking down from high places. To do so is exhilarating, provides lovely views, and makes me feel like I am on top of the world….as long as it’s not too high. But no worries about snowshoeing too high … Continue reading
Hulda Crooks put on her 25-pound backpack and headed out in the early morning to climb Mt. Whitney, a mountain reaching 14,505 feet (4421 m). She had climbed it 23 times before. According to reports, Hulda also claimed many other … Continue reading
Bases were loaded. One more kick into the outfield and their team could gain some home runs. Excitement mounted as a young woman slammed a large beach-ball with her snowshoe, landing it beyond 2nd base and into centerfield. Two players … Continue reading
“Putting on my snowshoes for the first time each winter is like a rebirth. Having done so before many times, the experience still seems new and fresh. I had that feeling again today as I headed out on my … Continue reading
While sitting on chairs around an old wooden table, a warm wood fire slowly burned in a stove, and a gas lantern lit up the small cabin room as two friends and I discussed our snowshoe hiking plans for the … Continue reading
“Okay, everyone line up,” I began by saying to the class. “We are going to play follow the leader with a twist. The first one in line chooses an animal. You are then to walk like that animal.” Fifteen grade … Continue reading
What was the northernmost part of our country a million plus years ago during the Ice Age? Well, mega ice sheets covered the landscape and a third of earth’s land was impacted. But, let’s look at Wisconsin specifically (obviously … Continue reading
On a moonlit evening with 14 college students, I parked the university van at a trailhead where we put on our snowshoes and began our somewhat challenging hike up Rib Mountain toward the summit. This was just one of several … Continue reading
What’s a Yooper? From The Associated Press caption, dated May 19, 2014, reads, “Da ‘Yoopers’ added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary celebrating residents of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.” Yes, in April that year, Merriam-Webster added: “Yooper noun: a native or resident of … Continue reading
Eighteen college students and I were scheduled to take our winter snowshoeing and snow camping fieldtrip in northern Wisconsin on an early December weekday. It was over an hour drive to our destination.
I carefully watched the weather report several … Continue reading
In 2013, Wisconsin’s 134 cheese plants produced 2,842,456,000 pounds of cheese, accounting for 25.5 percent of the total U.S. cheese production (according to a 2014 Dairy Data report, Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics Service and Wisconsin Department of Agriculture). This must be … Continue reading
Devil’s Lake lies in one of Wisconsin’s most scenic and treasured state parks. Its trails take hikers and snowshoers up on quartzite rock bluffs 500 feet above a scenic 360-acre spring fed glacial lake, and through the forested Baraboo Hills.… Continue reading
For several years, I led college students on a weekend winter camping adventure annually as part of a backpacking and camping course that I taught at a Wisconsin university. On one such occasion, we hiked to our campsite on bare … Continue reading
A magic hat is what turned Frosty into a real walking and talking snowman. As written by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins, the lyrics go like this:
“There must have been some magic in that old silk hat they found. … Continue reading
Our plastic sleds and backpacks were loaded for what seemed to be a three-week trip rather than the actual three-day trip we had planned. Bungee cords held duffle bags and coolers in place as six friends and I prepared for … Continue reading
It was a cold and snowy January in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on the eve of my 13th birthday back in the 1960s. Five of us Boy Scouts experienced winter camping for the very first time. We packed in … Continue reading
A far away snowshoeing adventure is always exciting. It also takes planning, time and money when a trip involves distance and an overnight stay. But if you live where there is snow, finding a snowshoeing location close to home can … Continue reading
At 6 a.m. my alarm goes off. I hit the snooze control for just five more minutes of rest. The darn thing goes off again. I’m up, my eyes are half-open and my body moves at a slow pace….picking up … Continue reading
Kids, teens, young adults, and parents all seem to enjoy the “what’s in my pack” game. I relay a fictitious story and ask the audience what should be in my pack. Then, I slowly pull out the essential accessories. … Continue reading
Have you ever wondered why we snowshoe? While in psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud may have said something to the snowshoe enthusiast like, “Due to a possible repression of your early fixation manifestations, you resolved your subconscious conflicts by simply taking up … Continue reading
Moses stretched out his hand and the Red Sea parted. I assume he held his wooden staff in the other hand. Note, that he did not have dual hiking poles…just a single staff.
When I snowshoe, I do not part … Continue reading
Over many years of snowshoeing, I humbly learned lots of lessons through experience. A few years ago while on a short adventure out west, I learned that snow and snowshoeing is different there than in the Great Lakes region of … Continue reading
“When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. The … Continue reading
Knowing the past and living in the present always leaves us wondering about the future. Knowing about the history of snowshoeing, and being actively involved in the sport today, activates the imagination to wonder what snowshoeing would be like in … Continue reading
Gearing up for the season by a downhill skier implies that they not only have to get out their skis, poles, boots, goggles, special clothing and ski rack for their car, but they also have to purchase their season ski … Continue reading
It was dawn, about 6 AM when I awoke to the bellowing call of a loon. I am used to waking up at that time automatically with or without an alarm clock… since it has been the time I wake … Continue reading
I do not do high adventure. I am more of a low adventure kind of guy doing snowshoeing, hiking, backpacking, quiet-water canoeing and camping whereby my feet are close to the ground or I’m gliding on gentle waters.
I see … Continue reading
In my outdoor journal for March 14, 2012, I wrote, “The thermometer read 77 degrees on our way home from work. This is highly unusual weather.” I continued, “The snow is gone. The weather report said we are 12.3 inches … Continue reading
My great, great grandmother on my father’s side of the family was Angelique Beaudoin (pronounced bo-d’uah). She was referred to as a “metis”, meaning that her parents were of mixed races. Her father was French Canadian and her mother was … Continue reading
Clement C. Moore expressed it poetically in The Night before Christmas when he wrote, “The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow gave the luster of midday to objects below.” I think of this passage just about every time … Continue reading
I have lived in Wisconsin for nearly 30 years. But Escanaba, located in Northern Michigan is my home town. I grew up there and left the state at age 22 to attend graduate school. Northern Michigan sits above the Mackinac … Continue reading
Snowshoeing participation increased by 11.4 percent from 2009 to 2010, according to Outdoor Foundation’s “Outdoor Recreation Participation Topline Report 2011.” Backpacking participation also had an increase of 9.2 percent. Both categories showed significant increases compared to several other outdoor recreation … Continue reading
I discovered an interesting book published in 2007 on sex and camping by Michelle Waitzman titled “Sex in a Tent: a Wild Couple’s Guide to Getting Naughty in Nature.” The book informs couples how to plan backcountry trips, as well … Continue reading
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