Snowshoeing Offers an Easy Outdoors Escape

It was a tough weekend for outdoors activities in Duluth: rain took over on Saturday with warm temperatures and then snowy roads on Sunday made driving dangerous and caused events to get cancelled. I decided to stay away from my car on Sunday and instead tried out snowshoeing.

Although I love cross-country skiing, I’ve never gotten the allure of snowshoeing. “So, it’s like hiking but you have to wear these big metal things on your feet?” I’ve thought to myself, “and it’s really slow? What’s the point?”

Trying to be open-minded, I put my reservations aside and borrowed my housemate Ben’s snowshoes for a late morning outing. He briefly showed me how the straps worked and how not to fall over myself when maneuvering. Then I was out the door and down the street to an area known as Downer Park.

This city-owned property is on the east side of Duluth, located to the west of Jean Duluth Road, near the Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory. Luckily for me, I’m able to walk to the end of Livingston Avenue, where I live, and enter the park’s sizable network of trails that wind through woods and small fields.

My first experiences on snowshoes didn’t totally sell me on the experience. I took my first few steps off the packed-down trail and was dismayed to plunge a foot or so through the snow. I slogged on like this and only occasionally had moments where I felt like this was a sensical way to travel. For the most part though, I can’t remember a time when I’ve felt less graceful! This was punctuated by the two times when I couldn’t get my feet positioned correctly, fell into the snow, and struggled to get back up.

In between falling and clumsy snowshoeing, I was able to get a glimpse of a snowshoe hare darting through the woods and got up close to lots of small birds as I took a rest break with a thermos of green tea. I also saw spots where deer had tried to walk and instead plunged through the snow surface with small hooves.

Being able to explore Downer Park when it’s not hidden behind fully-leaved trees and underbrush was a treat. I was able to find the old gravel pit that had eluded me on earlier visits. Signs of treehouses were also abundant, having been built by children from the adjoining neighborhood. There were a couple of makeshift shooting ranges with paper targets tacked to old, big logs that reminded me why I like wearing a blaze orange jacket.

These artifacts that I came across would have been difficult to come across without the snowshoes I was wearing, so I was thankful. I’m not totally sold on them as a means of travel, and can’t wait until our new snow is groomed for cross-country skiing, but I will give them a try again.

If you’re interested in trying out snowshoeing, rent a pair of snowshoes from the RSOP Rental Center or check out one of these upcoming RSOP Outdoor Program trips: Full Moon Candle Light Ski and Snowshoe on Monday, February 1 and Snowshoe Jay Cooke State Park on Wednesday, February 10.