After a three-year wait, I was finally able to use my new (three years old but never used) snowshoes at Valley Forge (VF) National Historic Park this morning. I bought them in December 2010, after three real winters with lots of snow. I hoped to use them every winter to walk at VF. As I learned today, that was a fantastic thought, a great idea, even if it was drastically diminished by three years of uncooperative weather.

Often discussed, never before seen, I present: my snowshoes

I’ve made such a big deal of this on Facebook of late, I was worried about how bad I’d look if something interfered with my plans to snowshoe today. Believe it or not, those worries were increased this morning when the boots I planned to wear started breaking apart as soon as I put them on. I should have taken photos, but the plastic “casing” around the foot was literally crumbling off as I moved about my living room. Thank goodness it happened in my living room – it might have been a real problem once at the park. They were Columbia Bugabootoo boots, not worn more than five times but at least ten years old. Their performance (or lack thereof) is not what I would expect from a Columbia product but on the bright side there’s more room in my closet now. And thank goodness I have a purchasing problem where I buy things I don’t necessarily need at the time. Thus I pulled another pair of sturdy snow boots out of my closet. Bought not for necessity but for the cool color (purple), bought around the same time as the snowshoes and not worn until yesterday for shoveling, they worked perfectly.

Heading out for the walk to Valley Forge in all my clothing layers

The next worry was that I wouldn’t figure out how to attach the snowshoes or walk in them. I read the instructions on the box and then watched an LL Bean video and was able to attach the snowshoes. Another worry down. Once at the park, I attached them and was walking in less than a minute. It really was that easy and I didn’t even  look ridiculous. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway since I had the park to myself!

FYI, the LL Bean expert made three simple points in the video: walk a bit wider than normal to avoid banging the snowshoes into each other, and when going up or down a hill, make deliberate use of the crampons to maintain a grip and avoid a tumble in the snow or ice.

Worries gone, and actually out snowshoeing, I can’t explain the exhilaration I felt. It was finally getting to snowshoe after a three-year wait; the calming effect of being alone in nature; the feel of finally having a snow “sport” to participate in; the discovery of new paths at the park; the beauty of the winter scenes and the unmarred snow; the feeling of muscle burn in recently neglected muscles. It was many things, all fantastic!

The experience was not without its lessons.

The wisdom of wearing layers in winter weather was reinforced. Thankfully I had followed this sage advice and was able to remove one when I got too hot. Yes, temps were in the low 20’s and I was too hot; no one who knows me should be surprised. As I discovered when I returned home, I was so hot I sweated through every piece of clothing I had on. Gross.

This is my first layer and the picture makes it look as though I have a fake nose on; I do not

My first layer seen without the look of a fake nose

Second layer – ski overalls, which get only slightly more use than the snowshoes have, and then only for shoveling

Second and a half layer, a fleece on top of the ski overalls

I went out with my iPhone, the perfect multi-tasker for listening to music, taking pictures and posting on social media. Alas my perfect multi-tasker doesn’t work so well in colder temps. A fully charged battery makes no difference. Lesson learned: take my small digital point and shoot if desiring to take pictures throughout the entire walk on ‘shoes. I missed several great shots I wanted to take at times when my 4S was on the fritz. I brought it back from the dead several times but needless to say it was a minor annoyance in another wise perfect experience.

And to make a point, I didn’t miss the music when my phone was on the fritz. The music of nature was sufficient and soothing: the crunch of snow shoes on crusted snow, the birds chirping in the trees (yes, there were birds; they don’t all migrate south, apparently); the wind whistling in the trees… you get the idea.

Trying to take a full-length self-pic proved to be difficult while at the park. (I really don’t like the word “selfie” and neither do a lot of other people; I offer “self-pic” instead.) I managed a shot back inside my apartment building, in front of the full length mirror in the lobby, but I would have preferred such a shot outside. It was not to be.

Snowshoes on

A final lesson learned today: ensure you turn around in time to get back before you run out of steam. I was in danger here today and almost knocked myself over by not walking wide enough in the last quarter-mile before I finished. Again, I almost knocked myself over but didn’t; looking like a fool averted although I would have been the first to laugh in any case. I will say that it was an unplowed road with some vehicle tracks and not much snow, so I’m sure that contributed but I was definitely muscle weary after nearly two hours on the ‘shoes.

Two hours later, happy as a clam with my first snowshoeing experience

Happy day, wonderful experience. I highly recommend the purchase of snowshoes. And I will be praying for cold temps and snow every Friday evening, once the workers are home – I don’t want to cause anyone difficulties for my own pleasure – so that I can snowshoe every weekend this winter. I remain a hopeful girl!