Monday, January 25, 2010

got mama out...





Well, this is a RARE event at the Walters. Getting Pam out on a trail....IN THE WINTER! I can barely get her on a trail in the summer let alone when it's cold. But, this was her idea. About a week ago she saw an ad in the local newspaper letting folks know that the Bremer County Conservation Board was putting on a free snow shoeing day at Cedar Bend near Waverly Ia. Free for all adults with a limit of 20 participants. So, a day or two later I called their office and we got in. The gal I spoke to said there wasn't much interest yet. We were a bit worried come Saturday afternoon when it was still raining cats and dogs, worried that there wouldn't be any snow left. We were glad to see there was still plenty of snow upon our arrival. We were surprised to see a full parking lot when we pulled up. There were more than 20 sets of snow shoes and it was a good thing since there were more than 20 people there. The guide split us up into two groups. Pam and I were in the second group. As you can see by the pictures we were outfitted with some vintage style bamboo shoes. I was a bit reluctant and not really sure how much fun it was going to be with these old fragile looking shoes. To my surprise the construction felt pretty good. A little sloppy with the rubber clamping system but seemed to hold secure enough. We headed out and before long Pam and I were flying through the doubletrack trails. By the time we hit the singletrack we had already caught the first group. Pam's effort was quite a surprise to me. Really, it was pretty impressive. That is until the blister started to form on her heel. She has a sweet pair of snow boots but they are slip-ons which were a little bit of a problem for her. But, she suffered though it. We ended the day with about three miles of hiking which laster about an hour. Good times for sure. We dropped off the gear with the crew and headed for the Fainting Goat. They serve some of the best boneless buffalo chicken wings you can get around here.

So, I suggest you all try this sometime if you haven't already cause it's a hoot! Really good workout too. I normally can't ride these trails with my bike in the winter so it was nice to experience them by foot.

Thanks for joining me Pam!

Captain

3 comments:

john said...

Much better - snow shoeing with the partner rather than getting mad at the TV.
I know folks who don't even own a TV anymore - I wish that was me, but you know, I'd just pick up another ugly habit ugly habit ugly habit ugly habit ugly habit ugly habit ugly habit ugly habit........................ you get the point. Man I need to shut this thing off.
John

Captain Bob said...

Yeah, I hear ya. The tv sucks me in more often this winter than ever before.

bluecolnago said...

those are the type of shoes i learned on. if you can imagine big rubber army boots with cloth bindings.... oh yeah!

good stuff.