Cooking, Travel and just Other Stuff

You have to understand. I come from a line of very crafty people. My sister paints, one niece can knit anything out of a ball of yarn...oh and she paints and wood carves and makes jewelery. The other niece designs things and then sews them and then my great niece...well we will just call her insanely crafty. They all have blogs where they show all of their wonderful things they do. So, that brings me here. I decided I wanted a blog too, but what to write about. I'm not insanely crafty, can't paint, don't wood carve, tried knitting-didn't work....hummm, what do I do? Well, I like to cook and travel and eat, so I thought maybe we can start there. My blog will be about recipes I've made, places I go and restaurants I eat at with a few other things thrown in along the way. I've also heard that writing is good for you brain, so I figure-as I'm getting older now-this could be a good thing. So anyway, if you find my rantings worth commenting over, I'd love to hear from you. If I post a recipe you like, please let me know, other wise you can keep your opinions to yourself. This, after all, is my blog to make myself feel better, to try and compete with my family, because I don't do anything crafty.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Stepping out....in Snowshoes!

For about two years Brent and I have been saying we wanted to go try snow shoeing. Neither one of us are skiers. We tried, but the pain wasn't worth the fun. The wonderful thing about snow shoeing is that if you can walk, you can snowshoe.
We decided to go on the spur of the moment, but we really felt like for our first time that we needed some instruction and guidance. I did some quick research and found a company called Tahoe Adventure Company. They do lots of different outdoor activities in the Tahoe area. I called them to see if they had availability for yesterday and after she made a couple of phone calls, called us back with a guide for our hike.
Kerry was our guide. He has been with the company for several years and is quite knowledgeable on the area. Kerry is friendly, easy to talk to and we found our day with him to be very pleasant. When we arrived at our meeting location, which was the base area for the hike, he had our snowshoes laid out and ready for us to put on. After some instruction on how to put them on, how to walk in them, how to use the poles and how not to walk backwards, we were off. Our hike was going to be a round trip of 4 miles to Pole Creek.
The weather yesterday up on the summit in Truckee was picture perfect as you can see. Temperature was about 50 degrees. When you snowshoe it is advisable to take a nice, sturdy backpack with you. You need to be able to carry water and snacks. You also need to have a place to put the clothes you start stripping off your body as the hike goes along, otherwise you are going to leave a trail of clothes. Dressing in layers is very important. Chili skins, wool socks, fleece pants, fleece over shirt, gloves and a fleece jacket are all on your body when you leave the base area. By the time we got back I had taken everything off of my upper body but the fleece over shirt. I'm sure if it had been colder that could have been different but at least if you dress in layers you have options.
Making sure you take plenty of water and snacks to eat along the way is important. You can get dehydrated if you don't drink enough water. Anyone can snowshoe, but if you are going for a very long hike it can be pretty strenuous.
One of the really nice things about going with the Tahoe Adventure Company was that when we got to our destination of Pole Creek, Kerry sat us up a wonderful picnic lunch. He had yummy sandwiches, chips, oranges, cookies, hot chocolate and hot apple cider. I don't know if lunch was really, really good or if I was just so hungry from the hike. Either way it was wonderful.

We sat and enjoyed our lunch for about 30 minutes and then started the trip back down. The trip took a little over 4 hours. Great exercise. The scenery was spectacular. Bluest sky I have seen in a long time. We definitely want to do this again before the season is over.
Pole Creek













Does the sky get any bluer?

If you would like to give snowshoeing a try I highly recommend it. It's a great way to enjoy the snow without the fear of falling while zooming down a mountain. It's also a great way to enjoy the the peacefulness of the the beauty God surrounds us with. The snow has it's own quiet that is amazing to sit and listen to. Happy Trekking.

If you would like to go a snowshoe adventure with Kerry, he can be booked through:
http://tahoeadventurecompany.com
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5 comments:

  1. Norma's NonsenseFebruary 13, 2011 at 2:40 PM

    What a fun day! You picked a great day to do this. Great pictures; gives a great idea of how much fun this would be. Glad you finally tried it. I think maybe it is something that I could do. Good blog.

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  2. CorinneaFebruary 13, 2011 at 8:28 PM

    How fun! I've always wanted to try snowshoeing... Glad you had a fun day!

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  3. Joan's Good LifeFebruary 14, 2011 at 5:38 AM

    Hi, I'm friends with your multi-talented family, sort of. ;-) Anyhow, your snowshoeing day looked and sounded like a ton of fun. I think I'll look and see if there is anything like that around where I live. That's how much fun you made it sound!

    I also enjoy cooking and eating so I am looking forward to posts on food too! ;-)

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  4. JessicaFebruary 14, 2011 at 6:25 AM

    That looks like so much fun! It's great that you got out and tried something new! I miss snow!

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  5. sherie leeFebruary 15, 2011 at 7:27 AM

    This is definetly on the list of things to do next winter, it looks like so much fun!

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