Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Winter Feet!

I snagged a set of MSR Denali snowshoes online with some Christmas money. I’ve been slowly building my winter arsenal of equipment so that the seasons won’t see me indoors as much. I’ve been riding all year long for several years now, but hiking/camping hasn’t been happening much in the snow. I’ve pretty much got what I need now for that to happen, and with a move back to the north coming very quickly, I decided to be ready with some winter kicks. Plus I’m having fun with them while during my last few days in UT too. I went up to Mueller Park again the other day, and left the trail for a climb up one of the many scenic ridges. I ended up on top one of the minor peaks in the area, and had a blast. I’m sure gonna miss having Mueller as a back yard all year. I am however, anticipating having the Superior Hiking Trail relatively close by. I still have a goal to finish that trail off at some point. I have a ways to go yet. Anyhow, enjoy some more pics of fun in Mueller Park:

Ridgeline I climbed up is in the lower left of this shot (it's not a maintained trail, but the gap in the brush makes it appear that way):














Shadow and prints of a happy climber:











My trekking pole basking near a rainball (like a rainbow, but in ball form- it just barely shows up in the right side of the picture). I hiked through some freezing mist at the base of a cloud layer high on the ridge, and the sun made the rainball.










The bottom of the Denali's: toothy!









My toasty Soloman boots go well with these shoes, being rated down to -40F...Bring it on Winter!









The Denali's have optional flotation tails which can be mounted and removed as neccesary as snow conditions change. Packed snow calls for the standard shoe itself, and deep snow with a heavy pack is conquered by attaching the tails for more surface area. Sweet.







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