Sat, Dec 19 2009 - Chickakoo Snowshoe (View Original Event Details)
|  |
Winter Wonderland
We learned a lot about snowshoes and snowshoeing today. Eight people made it out of the city through the atrocious road conditions, and got to Chickakoo for our hike.
We had perfect weather - just below freezing and a couple of inches of fresh, loose powder to snowshoe on. For many of our members, this was their first experience with snowshoes, and it took a few minutes to get the straps and buckles figured out before we could get going, then we were on our way. We took our time at the beginning and stopped many times to make minor adjustments, but after a while we got all the bugs worked out and established a steady pace.
We started with a few easy loops to warm up, then decided to tackle the 'advanced' circuit. It was a glorious winter morning, and the mood was excited and positive after losing the previous weekends' hikes to heavy snow and extreme temperatures. The trails were groomed, but had enough new snow to be challenging in spots. There are some great hills at Chickakoo, but we weren't rushing so it wasn't too bad. The pace was slower; in snowshoes, when you have to stop, you have to stop, so we got a few breaks whenever a strap let go or a snowshoe slipped.
We also found out a few new things about snowshoes. First, getting up and down hills that had been slippery in wet, warmer weather turned out to be a lot easier! The pace was slower than a usual dryland hike, though; we did about 10 km in two hours and twenty minutes, instead of our usual two hours.
The Denalis rented out by MEC proved to be rugged and reliable, and were easily adjustable for different loads and conditions. A pair of new Atlas ones were found to splash huge amounts of snow up the owner's backside, but turned out to be very comfortable for walking, especially in deep snow. An old reliable pair of Tubbs glided smoothly over the snow and didn't flick snow up, and because of their tubular design were, like the Atlas, very light. The plastic Denalis also stayed on the ground, and people using them stayed dry except when they fell over (Oh. That was just Peter)
Got some great photos (look forward to seeing them all)and had a great time. As usual, good company, good conversation and some pretty good exercise!
Thanks for coming. See you all next time!
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Mark G at photos@edmontonoutdoorclub.com. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to thirty of your favourites (only) for a day event, or up to sixty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.