Embracing Winter....

There are 73 days until spring.  I am already ready for spring.  The snow can melt, the daffodils and tulips can begin popping up any day now... but in the meantime... I do have a goal for myself for the winter... to embrace it.  In an effort to do that I bought myself snow shoes.  I bought them without having spent time snowshoeing, trying to have a little 'faith' that it would be something I would enjoy.  

We have had a couple of snowstorms and there has been plenty of snow.  I have been waiting to try my snowshoes until I got some new boots, boots that I thought would be better than the other winter boots I bought last year.  Ironically, they were waiting for me on my doorstep when I returned from today's adventure!  This last week was freezing cold.  REALLY freezing cold.  I managed to get my 30 minutes of activity in every day, but the weather did deter me from walking outside.  (By the way, today was day 45!!)   I had told myself that if the temperatures came up this weekend that I would give the snowshoes a try.  I debated about whether or not I wanted to go solo or with someone.  A few of my friends have offered to go with me and I am sure it would be fun to go with someone, but I am such a novice that I didn't want to slow people down...  So I decided to go solo.  

I got a later start than anticipated as I slept in and also had a hard time figuring out where I wanted to go.  But... I eventually got ready to go.  I went to a place whose gates closed at 4:00 and I didn't arrive until about 2:00.  I took my camera with me.  I think that if I have an opportunity to take some pictures it would be a way to help motivate me to be outside in the cold.  And combining my camera with snow, and in this case the ocean, and snowshoes, proved to be a lot of fun.  Yes, me, winter, something fun, outside... the possibilities are endless!!!  

So here is a shot of my feet in my snowshoes for the first time... (There is a similar picture at the end of the trip... and you may notice a couple of differences.... )  

The place that I decided to go is an island.  The trail goes around the island and there has already been a lot of traffic on the trails, so they were very packed down... truth is, the snowshoes were not needed to access the trails, but there were a few places where I went a bit off trail and got to experience a variety of terrain... 

This was a great first adventure because it was along the shore of the ocean... the calm ocean.  (in a bay) 

The light was very pretty.  The sun was lowering in the sky and the trees provided a lot of shadows...

I liked the bark on this tree... texture...

One of the things I don't like about winter is the lack of leaves, the lack of green and other colors on the branches... but there are beautiful things to see... without the leaves, there are details that can be seen, which are hidden by the leaves...

There were places where the snow was covered with shells of pine cones... I think the squirrels have been busy! 

In such a peaceful place, this was an odd sight: a fire hydrant.  

Looking out at one of the forts in Casco Bay...

A breakwater... 

I walked out onto the breakwater a bit and looked over the sides.. and in the side covered by shadow, there was this ice formation that was beautiful... 

There is beauty in winter... but if you remind me that I said that.. I may deny it! 

The rocks along the shore had some interesting colors...

At one point I took the snowshoes off, to descend some of the stairs to take some pics of the rocks.. and when I put my snowshoes back on... I put them on opposite feet... with the buckles on the inside of my feet... and it made it so much easier to adjust things... One would think I would have known that... but... the snowshoes don't seem to have a right foot and a left... Ha ha... trial and error!!! 

I thought it was pretty cool to be snowshoeing with seagulls... whenever I think of winter activities, the ocean has never been a part of the picture... I like that I can be active in the winter by the water... and once I feel like the ponds on which I kayak are solid enough... I think I will be snowshoeing on them! 

There were a few of these swings along the trail.  

As I got to this point and realized the sun was getting lower I panicked a bit... I realized that It was 3:09, that the gates for this island close at 4:00 ... and at this point...pun intended, I id not know if I should keep going forward or backtrack to make sure I would get out on time... I tried to factor in the time it took for me to take pictures.. and decided I would go back the way I came... and try to pick up the pace and try not to take pictures... which was hard! 

As you can see... I didn't do so well with the no more taking pictures piece! 

So I tried to go a bit faster... and definitely worked up a sweat...there were also some inclines... which helped with getting a workout. 

On my way back I came across this couple.  They were quite elderly... the woman, on the left, was healthier than the man she was with... they would go a few steps, take a break, and go a few more.  At one point they stopped and hugged as he leaned on her for a rest... it was beautiful and sad...all at the same time... She seemed knowledgeable about snowshoeing and offered me some tips as I shared it was my first adventure.  She suggested I move my foot further forward, and it seemed to help.  Trial and error.... trial and error... I did find I stopped several times to adjust the snowshoes... I do think that the other boots will be better because of their tread and shape... we'll see... even with the annoyance of readjusting, I enjoyed it. 

There was part of the trail that was open, into a field and I did get to break some trail... which I liked.. it was definitely more of a workout, but I enjoyed how it felt.  

A happy snowshoe-er!  (Must also note that the bomber hat is AWESOME!!  Thanks Santa & Mrs. Clause!) 

On the right feet... I think! 

I am excited about snowshoeing.  I think that it is going to be a good way to be active and a way for me to get to some beautiful places this winter that would not otherwise be accessible.  I hope we have some more snow... (WHAT?? Who said that??)  so that the lakes get frozen and create more places for me to explore.  I also hope that we have mild days so that it is not bitter.  I think it will also create another way to spend time with people!  

YAY!  Snowshoeing!  Something new!!!