by Jess Evans
December 3, 2018
So far this winter has produced more snow in Colorado than last winter. This means that the traditional training methods of running and biking are a little more difficult – unless you do most of your training in a gym. Of course, there are abundant opportunities to downhill ski and crosscountry ski here., but another training method I plan to engage in this winter is snowshoeing.
Since returning to Colorado, I have discovered the joy of snowshoeing. There is so much public land in Colorado with trails and roads, that it is easy to get to those places and get lost (figuratively) in the valleys and hillsides of the mountains in neck deep snow. It seems like I am the only person in the world, except for all the snowshoe, snowmobile, and ski tracks all around me. Snowshoeing is also a great exercise that takes different muscle groups and some coordination. I have done my fair share of tripping over my own shoes. Luckily, as I said, there is no one in sight to see me tumble in the snow head first.
Yet another fun aspect of snowshoeing are the numerous animal tracks in the snow. It is fun to guess what else has traveled along my route. Rabbits are easy to ID. Some dog like tracks may be coyote or fox. Raccoon tracks are among the fray. I have followed moose tracks in the snow with the hope I did not catch up to one. Then there will be tracks that cause me to stop and ponder. When I see tracks that appear and then disappear after only 4 feet, I guess this to be a bird, perhaps a hawk or
owl landing to grab a morsel and then leaping into the air again. Another puzzling animal track is one that was large and sunk deep into the snow. While most animals (including myself with my nifty snowshoes), stay on top of the deep snow, this large animal did not. Perhaps they were bear tracks or mountain lion? The tracks were not clear enough for me to decipher, so I looked around cautiously in the hopes I did not see something large looking at me. Whatever was out there in the woods, I was happy to be getting excellent exercise, enjoying the outdoors, and engaging in some nature observation while making tracks of my own.
Enjoy your winter training!
