Snowshoeing!!!

My sister (Britney) has been talking about going snowshoeing this winter, just to try something new, and last saturday we made that happen. I was excited because I had gone once before, and really enjoyed it. I was also incredibly nervous because that one time I was in Young Women's and in much better shape than I am now. But I decided to do it, 'cause I thought it might be fun, and heard it was a great workout. Word on the street is you burn 1,000 calories every hour. I was pretty confident I was going to suffer, but have fun and burn calories in the process so I was on board.

Turned out all three came to pass, but to higher extremes than I thought. I had an absolute blast, got the best workout of my life, and was more exhausted than I thought I would be. The weird thing was that it was easier physically than I thought it was going to be, but it was being out of breath that got me. I thought it was going to be pretty flat with a slight upgrade, but most of it was a pretty good upgrade, and a good portion I had to really dig in the spikes on my toes to get good leverage to get up the hill. So, while I felt a great burn in my calves, and could tell that my entire body was getting a great workout it was huffing up the hills in the cold air that really slowed me down.

The greatest part for me (treehugger alert) was the scenery. It was gorgeous!! Up in the fresh mountain air with nature and the fluffy snow all around, it was very quiet and peaceful. Although it was cold to start out with, I ended up sweating up a storm (TMI?). I brought my camelback and drained the entire thing. I started out all bundled up, but started taking off layers and didn't even need my gloves until the way down. I definitely want to do this again, and would one day like my own pair of snowshoes so I wouldn't have to rent each time. And if anyone is looking for a great full body workout, I highly recommend it!

I stole a bunch of pics from Britney and Jeff, so you can enjoy the beautiful scenery as well!

Huffing up the hill

The trail- very peaceful looking

Bringing up the rear.

A beastly hill to get up, and it felt like it was never going to end, 'cause it just kept going! Coming down was hard too 'cause I kept slipping, so I just sat down and slid on my butt all the way down. It was lots o' fun.


Jeff jumping across the creek. Or, for our southern friends "crick". I wish I could be that cool. I had to inch to the very edge and very carefully make my merry way across. I would also like to point out that the sides are pretty steep on each side, although it doesn't look like it from this angle . . .

So it's a good thing we can look at it from this angle as well, right?

In conclusion, ladies and gentleman; it was very fun, very exhausting and very worth $8.99 rental fee, and a saturday afternoon.