Snow Shoeing

At the end of December, I signed up to win a pair of Redfeather snowshoes on a Discover Wisconsin Facebook promotion. Part of the entry requirement was re-posting the picture of the snowshoes on your Facebook page. A few days later, a box arrived at my house with the exact pair of snowshoes in it.

I couldn't figure out if I'd won them or if someone had bought them for me. It was a complete mystery.

So being the sleuth that I am, I called and emailed Redfeather to find out the story behind the delivery. As it turns out, my sweet sister bought them for me but wanted me to "think" I had won them. Pretty cool. And super generous of her!

I have never been snow-shoeing before but was really curious to give it a try. And this past week we got a record snowstorm... 9 inches of snow! So yesterday I had the perfect opportunity to try out my new gift.

Charlie and I hit the trails at Big Eau Pleine County Park along with my neighbor-friend who sometimes babysits Charlie. No one else had been on the trails yet and the snow was really deep. But amazingly, the snow shoes just glided right through the powdery layers.

I couldn't believe how easy and fun it was! Charlie, of course, made her own trail... hopping and diving in zig-zagging lines. We both wondered if she would figure out to walk in our trail and save herself some effort, which eventually she did.

I could tell she was getting pretty exerted in the deep snow (almost as high as she was!), but she was having a blast and refused to stop. Her pace eventually slowed a little on our way back and she fell in line behind us, using our already-blazed trail.

I'm so grateful for this gift from my sister and to have a new mode of hiking in the winter when the snow becomes too deep. This will definitely broaden our outdoor capabilities for the rest of the season!

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