WIND!

We had a long 3-day weekend this past weekend to celebrate Alan's birthday, but Friday turned out to be too bitterly cold to do anything outdoors. With temps in the low single digits and wind chills of below zero, we ended up playing games with Charlie's toys inside, eating good food and taking naps.

By Saturday morning, the temps had risen to the high teens, so we ventured out to snowshoe the frozen marshy areas around the Mosinee Flowage and explore some areas that we didn't have a chance to check out with the kayaks last summer.

The wind was pretty strong and snow was beginning to fall, so the conditions were still not awesome, but we got a couple of miles of snowshoeing in and Charlie had a great time exploring the shoreline with us. We didn't find any great treasures, but we'll definitely be back to explore more in our kayaks when the water thaws!

I was really wanting to get some good miles of hiking in this weekend, so Charlie and I headed out to Big Eau Pleine Reservoir on Sunday in hopes of enjoying some quiet trail time. As soon as I stepped out of the car though, I realized there would be no "quiet" time today. The winds were fiercely howling across the lake and the trees were groaning as limbs waved and rubbed together. The roar of the wind was almost deafening! And little "snow tornadoes" were zipping through the open fields.

But, since we were already there, I figured we'd make the best of it and see how long we could last. Luckily the temps were in the low 30's, so even with the wind chill, it was pretty decent.

We romped around on our favorite peninsula for a bit until the wind was just too much and then headed back. Unfortunately I'm one of those people who absolutely *hates* wind. It's just so annoying!

VIDEO (Insane Wind! Sound on for full effect):

As we followed the trail back to the parking area, I realized that our footprints were completely erased in just 45 minutes! The wind had blown snow into our tracks and they were nowhere to be found. Crazy.

Kind of makes me wonder if this is a prelude to "March coming in like a lion?" I sure hope so... we're ready for spring!