Forecast: 100% Chance of Snow-Shoeing

Tuesday during the day we got seven inches of new powder by dark with another 6-10 inches predicted overnight. As we readied for bed, I told Ann excitedly there was zero percent chance that her gym would be open in the morning and 100% chance of our snowshoeing.

When we awoke in the morning, even before I got out of bed to look out the window, I read that schools had been cancelled for the day for the first time in a very, very long time. Out here in ski country, school just doesn't get cancelled for snow, so we must have got quite a bit. One glance out the window would confirm it: a winter wonderland!

Post coffee and after shoveling the sidewalk and driveway, I went into to the garage to retrieve our gear, gear that I had staged some weeks ago, pulling it out of its summer storage location in anticipation of our first big snowfall which in this dry El Niño year had so far eluded us. Then we went upstairs and started pulling on our layers for going out and doing active work at 23F with bluebird skies.

Base layers, check

Top layers, check
Sunglasses, check
Snow boots, check

Gaiters, check
Gloves, check
Snowshoes, check
Camera, check
Spare battery, oops!

Because this was our first time ever showshoeing, it took a few extra minutes to put our snowshoes on, having to become acclimated to the operation of the bindings. Naturally, we have different brands of snowshoes with very different bindings. We were all set to start snowshoeing last winter, but I broke my foot and had to have surgery, eliminating any outdoor activity for several months.

We set off down the gravel COID Road along the South Reach of the Deschutes River, the first snowshoers of the day. The only tracks on the trail were from a couple of cross country skiers, one of whom was our next door neighbor Mike whom we met as he was returning from his ski. How awesome is it to be the first person to leave tracks in the snow?

Red Osier Dogwood

Bluebird Skies!

Doug Fir

Ponderosa Pine

Scouler's Willow

Sadly, my chronic back pain has been acting up recently and shoveling all this snow has really exacerbated my condition. Two miles down the trail was about all the abuse it could take, despite the gorgeous surroundings. The pain and a very dead camera battery saw us turning around and heading back to the house. I staggered back probably five minutes after Ann got back.

Naturally, I didn't take all the pictures that I wanted as I underestimated the effect of 23F temperatures on my camera battery. Naturally, I walked out of the house forgetting to pick up the spare battery off the counter on the way out the door. Even warming the battery in an interior pocket did not help.

Also, probably as a result of my using gloves, I managed to get the camera into a weird bracketing mode that shot three photos and merged them into one HDR version, using up precious camera battery in so doing. I did not discover this until more than an hour into our walk. That's my single biggest beef with my Sony digital camera: my big hands find it so, so easy to inadvertently change the camera settings without any warning at all.

With apologies to MasterCard, making the first tracks in 15 inches of fresh powder: Priceless!