Photos by Bill Hazelton, commentary by Emily Windle:
Our first snowshoe hike of the season was Nov 15. Twelve hardy Coureurs de Bois hikers showed up. We went over the need to stretch leg muscles after snowshoeing. Even just walking with boots in deeper snow is more strenuous than hiking on the ground. It was cold Thursday but it did not take too long before we were removing tuques and outer layers due to the exertion. That is another reason to dress in layers and to keep hydrated.
Our club had received a request from a member of the Penokean Hills Field Naturalists to pack down the Red Trail at Sheriff Creek Sanctuary. So, that is where we went .
Four of us had packed our snowshoes. They were the lucky ones at the front of the group! The other 8 hikers walked in our tracks. We proceeded through the Red Trail from the parking lot towards the old townsite. We packed down parts of the Yellow Trail, as well. . Someone else in snowshoes had stomped down parts of the Yellow Trail and Red Trail along the causeway back to the parking lot.
Along the way there were the usual squirrel and mouse tracks . An added treat was seeing otter tracks on the ice on the big pond. Good thing they can swim. The ice is still thin.
