Here are some pics from our excursions…

This winter has seen some very cold temperatures; one is almost tempted to stay inside and seek refuge by the fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate. We have been on our snow shoes about a half dozen times this year. Three of those were longer trips where we explored local golf courses. The golf courses are great places to snow shoe. No one else is on them. Day usually involves making a batch of hot chocolate, filling the thermos bottles, grabbing a hardy breakfast and striking out to explore the wintery scape. Fred Mountjoy has joined Kathy & I for two of these jaunts, always an enjoyable outing. Our last trek was to Long Creek at Avonlea. The bluffs and terrain made for a great day of snowshoeing.

We spent a while treking down the creek and noticed some water just under the snow. We figured it was likely a thin layer of melt from the previous days warm temperatures. The weather was cold enough that we were not concerned about breaking through the ice at all…

…right!

Fred and Kathy made their way to shore and started to beat through the brush. Being that I was looking for an easier path I decided to walk along the shore. I proclaimed that “This is the easy and safe path” and proceeded to punctuate my sentence by breaking through the ice. Shit! The irony was very funny indeed and luckily only one foot went through as I still had a lot of weight on the shoreline. The day was particularily cold with a biting wind so I was a bit worried about my foot chilling.

Good ol’ wool socks to the rescue. Even though my foot was wet, my foot was warm. I was thankful also that I added a bit of Amaretto Liqueur to the hot chocolate that morning.

With snow shoeing and road hockey, I am learning to enjoy winter all over again. The right apparel, good friends, and an ocassional shot of amaretto… …and winter can be a wonderland. 🙂