Snowshoe Thrashing

I'm home hobbling around after a 9.5 mile snowshoe hike today up Mill Canyon (up American Fork Canyon near Tibble Fork Reservoir) with the Utah Velo Club. My friend DJ let me use an extra pair of his snowshoes while he tried out some snowshoes he modified to add a 3-pin binding so he could wear some cross country ski boots (they worked fine). It was COLD this morning at 7 AM (Stan said it was -5). I brought some old XC ski poles, but the baskets broke off after only a hundred yards, so I left them continued on with out them - since snowshoeing is like walking, it wasn't that bad to not have poles. We broke a LOT of trail in soft, powdery snow. I broke trail 4-5 times and it was a work out! But it was a beautiful winter day. We saw a moose up on the opposite hillside. Many of the 33 that started didn't have time to go all the way to the ridge overlooking Mill Peak, but 5 of us made it that far before turning around and heading back.

I would have taken more pictures, but the batteries in my digital camera gave out due to the cold. I'll have to get some lithium batteries (non-rechargeable) as they do much better in the cold.





Stan took this photo of us at the top of Mill Canyon (I'm 2nd from the left):



Stan has some more photos and a GPS track of our route.

I'm starting feel a bit better, but I'm wondering how sore I'll be tomorrow. But it felt good to get out and enjoy some winter outdoors.