Snowshoeing with Allison

Ahhh, nothing like kicking off the New Year, getting all revved up with resolutions and a long to-do list filled with items that are sure to make 2009 my breakout year...only to be blind-sided by the luxury of a three-day holiday weekend. :)

Being a long weekend, several folks were Upstate at our place and Downey Farm for a Murder Mystery (more on that later) and during the weekend we enjoyed snow flurries that eventually amassed about five inches of snow. Allison and Tim stayed at our place and on Sunday afternoon just as we finished watching Retro-TV, Tim started heating up a loaf of Brooklyn's own lard bread (yes, from Mazolla's, bringing me back to my days of Italian food discovery in Carroll Gardens). That's when Allison and I decided we'd break out the snow-shoes to ward off the guilt of eating bread with such a name (it's also known as prosciutto bread) upon our return.

I had gotten John and myself a set of snow-shoes last Christmas, but we got frozen out for the season before we had a chance to use them. Since then, I had learned that the plot of land across the street was used by neighbors for things like cross-country skiing, hiking and hunting (in season). There is also a secret lake that I'm trying to get a handle on in terms of swim-ability (with a buddy of course!), so our goal was to get a closer look at the lake, without falling in.

This being our maiden snow-shoe voyage, we stumbled a bit, okay I fell in the snow, twice, getting the gear on...as Allison laughed, wishing she had a camera. (Luckily I was carrying it.)

So, off we stomped...

Above: Allison, clearly having the hang of it.

Really, snow-shoeing is about the easiest thing you can do (aside, I guess, from walking). It does keep you on top of the snow, so much so that I don't think we actually realized how deep the snow was and how much trudging we'd be doing if we were walking in it.

Above: Me, with my new hat - thanks (to the other) Alison!

Anyhoo, we tramped about the some 100 acres, wearing day-glo colors to avoid hunters, spotting one neighbor in the distance on skis and others on an adjacent piece of land snow-mobiling. We also saw a few duck and deer hunting blinds, as well as a shallow, but wide creek bed. That's when we got to this scary tree....

And just as we approached the tree the snow-mobilers began eyeing us (we think, with binoculars). So rather than trudge forward to the lake, we retreated, lard bread being the excuse for us wimping out.

After checking the area on Microsoft Live, I know that the next time I venture back there, I need to take a hard left at that spooky tree to get to the lake. But I'm nervous about "getting caught" and I'm scared of spooky trees (too much of that HR Puffinstuff-show as a kid) and the like so I'll stick to the nearby state park and do one of the 4-6 mile trails there.