Snowshoeing season is coming and I am trying to get ready for it, first, I need the snow, I am waiting for it to get colder and snow sometime. I can start snowshoeing when there is 4 inches on the Skyline. I have to get a few things first too, gaiters, trekking poles, and a winterized Camelbak. The gaiters are Outdoor Research Crocodile gaiters and they are 70 bucks, I can get some cheaper ones but after reading all the product reviews, the Crocodiles are the best ones suitable for my activity and conditions. They are used for deep snow and mountaineering also. I want to make sure I get some really good gaiters because I don't want to buy a crappy pair and ending up buying another pair. The picture of the gaiters I am looking at is the first small picture. The second picture are the trekking poles especially for snowshoeing and they are telescoping poles, you can make them smaller for climbing uphill and longer for descending. Then a Camelbak Zoid, it is a four season Camelbak, good for the winter too so it doesn't freeze. The things I already have are the Redfeather snowshoes. They are really good and suitable for my weight, they are 30 inches and that is the size for people at 200 pounds. I used them a few times on some other winters and they are really good, I like them a lot, you can't run on them because they are just hiking snowshoes. That is what I want to do on them anyway because places where I want to go(Fairview Skyline, Pioneer Trail) are all hills and fun to hike on. Good views too. I have really good shoes though. They are Sypder winter hiking shoes, perfect for snowshoeing(with gaiters on), they feel like regular shoes but they can go in the snow, I bought them last year for the framing job I had for the winter and I used them in the deep snow in the -24 degree temperature and my toes were warm and toasty. They are not bulky like winter boots, but they are really warm. They will be very comfortable to hike in. They are designed for snowshoeing and winter hiking.
With the winter coming up, the bike season is coming to an end, and I have to find other things to do to stay in shape, I tried cross country skiing once and didn't like it then I tried snowshoeing and really liked it so this is the exercise I want to do. Snowshoeing uses the same muscles as biking and it should keep my biking muscles strong for the next bike season. I am planning to snowshoe every Saturday and maybe in the middle of the week too if I can. At least once a week will do as long as I ride the stationary trainer(roller) once a week too. Snowshoe as much as I can so I can stay in shape and take my mind off of cycling to be refreshed for spring. Snowshoe on!
