We had a spectacular hike tonight in the snow! Temperatures are finally above freezing, and 9 degrees felt like a heat wave! Everyone was happily surprised that snowshoeing in the woods means no wind and even single digit temperatures are comfortable when you are moving!
We discussed the buoyancy that snowshoes provide on our feet. We also discussed that sometimes the traction the snowshoes provide is even more helpful!
We also discussed how to use zippered vents that some of us have in our coats and snow pants to make sure we don't sweat when we hike in winter temperatures. In the absence of vents, simply unzipping your coat a bit will give you similar results. Sweating during winter hikes is not a good thing! Sweat makes you get cold later, so monitoring body temperature is important when hiking in the snow! Equally important is zipping things back up if you feel like you are getting chilly--BEFORE you are actually cold.
Kids were happily surprised how light it seemed at night when they turned off their headlamps... the snow reflecting the faint light of the moon through the clouds made it relatively easy to see. I has happy so many of them were willing to hike most of the way back to our vehicles without their headlamps!
We discussed the buoyancy that snowshoes provide on our feet. We also discussed that sometimes the traction the snowshoes provide is even more helpful!
We also discussed how to use zippered vents that some of us have in our coats and snow pants to make sure we don't sweat when we hike in winter temperatures. In the absence of vents, simply unzipping your coat a bit will give you similar results. Sweating during winter hikes is not a good thing! Sweat makes you get cold later, so monitoring body temperature is important when hiking in the snow! Equally important is zipping things back up if you feel like you are getting chilly--BEFORE you are actually cold.
Kids were happily surprised how light it seemed at night when they turned off their headlamps... the snow reflecting the faint light of the moon through the clouds made it relatively easy to see. I has happy so many of them were willing to hike most of the way back to our vehicles without their headlamps!