Monday, December 19, 2016

A Walk in the Woods

The sun was out, and the fresh snow was beckoning.  With at least two feet of fresh snow on the ground, I dug out my oldest snowshoes, the largest ones, and headed for a walk in the woods on the farm next door.

These are my original snowshoes, purchased at the locally famous Ellwood Epps Sporting Goods store on the highway heading north to Algonquin Park about 50 years ago.  I first used lampwick harness, then leather harness, which wore out several years ago, so the harness is new, but the snowshoes themselves have stood the test of time well.  Nowadays I only use these ones for deep fresh snow, where they work great!

I headed into the woods following the old tractor trail, the first part through very young Sugar Maples casting long narrow shadows.

As I entered the more mature woods, the fallen trunk of this big old maple had crashed almost to the ground now, after being hung up at one end for two years after it originally fell.

All around me the woods was white, lots of snow caught in trees or stuck to the western side of the tree trunks.

Hard to imagine a nicer winter walk than this.

With the sun only two days from the winter solstice, it was very low in the sky casting long shadows, even at 3 p.m.  And the dried rustling beech leaves will be there all winter.


It's amazing how snow manages to collect in big lumps on the branches.


Underneath this long lump in the snow is my spring Trillium log;  I always stop here for a picture or two in mid-May when the Trillium are in bloom.

Like this....

The tractor trail peters out, but the neighbours who own the farm have done a little wee bit of clearing branches to allow for easy walking through the woods.

And out to the edge of the field, where you have to cross an old stone fencerow.  This is the half-way point of the loop, and I'd taken 30 minutes.  I'm  wondering how much of that was stopping for pictures, and how much was breaking the new trail through the snow.  That always takes a little longer.  I'll take you through the second half tomorrow.

 Winter solstice is almost here!  And the days will start getting shorter.  The sun reaches its lowest ebb on Wed. morning here, about 5.45 a.m..  That's only 34 hours away, and then the days will start getting longer!  Yeh!



15 comments:

  1. I applaud your embrace of the snow.

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  2. Good for you to put the snowshoes on and get out for a good walk. When you get used to snowshoes You prefer them with any depth of snow.

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  3. Nice snowshoes!! I may buy a pair if we get much more snow! What lovely photos! :)

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  4. Beautiful, then I realise that as our days have long hours of sunshine now, and it is shining so far to the south, early morning shadows showing in different places to a few weeks ago, then just a few more days, and again it will shine later and go down earlier. Those snow shoes, fantastic.

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  5. Nice winter scenes. The skiers will be happy to see all the snow.

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  6. Very Christmassy! Nothing but lots of grey and dismal weather here for the last few days, though the sun is shining through this morning.

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  7. The photos are amazing and it's like we're right there in the wintry woods with you! I love a snow walk in the woods and when the sun is shining it just sparkles. I tried big snowshoes like you'rs once, but found them awkward (of course I was probably a young kid then), and have always just walked and fallen through the snow instead. Great workout!
    Wendy

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  8. Hello, love the snowy images. It was a lovely walk with you. The green shot is beautiful. Happy Tuesday. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

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  9. It's so lovely. My snowshoes don't look anything like these. We don't have heavy deep snow very often, so it's just as well to use mine. Love the pictures. :-)

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  10. Again Postcard quality pictures.
    You are truly getting a workout just walking with the use of those Snowshoes.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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  11. What a beautiful winters day! I like your snowshoes, and I'm sure they are just perfect for all that deep powder snow you have.

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  12. Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful!!!
    I tried snow shoes last year and just couldn't get the hang of it. I'd take one step and fall face down in the snow. : )
    Too bad I couldn't pop over and have you show me how it's done. : )

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