We woke up early and prepared for our day. We ate our breakfast and threw our snowshoes into the back seat of the truck. We were going to try out a new trail for snowshoeing today. You could feel the excitement in the air as we chatted about our upcoming hike. We had done some research on the snowshoe trails in the area. Google is an amazing thing when you need information.

Our first thoughts were to take an easy trail like East Bluff Trail Loop which is 2.701 miles. We also thought about Kettle View and Meadow Trails Loop which is an easy 3 mile walk. However, we decided that we were going to look at the moderate skill trails. Since we just started to snowshoe last year we felt very confident that a moderate trail would challenge us, but not leave us at total exhaustion.

The three trails that peaked our interest were the Pike Lake Trail for 2 miles, the Nordic Trail for 3.7 miles and the Peninsula State Park Trail for 4.10 miles. We have had good experience with the upkeep of the trails that we have been on and were leaning towards the Peninsula State Park Trail, but after much consideration decided that since this was our first trail of the moderate range we would go for the Nordic Trail. Not really sure what the deciding factor was other than the name. It made me feel like a brave warrior cutting my trail through the unknown territory. I know that may sound silly, but creativity is a wonderful gift that I like to embellish to add to my snowshoeing adventure.

We arrived at the trail by 9:00 a.m. and quickly snapped on our snowshoes and clothing. We have learned that one of the most important parts of snowshoeing (aside from the snowshoes themselves) is proper dressing. I have learned to focus on keeping my core warm, because it does not take long to warm up and I prefer not to carry all that extra clothes with me during the rest of my walk. Now I dress for my daily adventure and found that since my blood starts to pump with my newfound love for this sport I no longer need to dress like I am heading to the artic pole.

I never thought that I would enjoy winter like I do now. I feel so alive as my family and I hit the open trail. The sights are breathtaking and communing with nature adds to that good all day feeling that surrounds up during our morning walk.

We were tired and content when we arrived home later that afternoon. A day on the trails not only gave us a good workout, but also some much needed family time. Life gets so busy with work and life that sometimes you just have to put that all on pause and go for a walk on the Nordic Trail.