Snowshoe at "rare"

Snowshoer

What a wonderful day and group. Eighteen keen people showed up at rare Charitable Research Reserve headquarters (43.383812, -80.385038) on Saturday February 08, 2014 to snowshoe. The group consisted of Grand Valley Trails Association members and other rare Charitable Research Reserve supporters. After a car shuttle to Springbank Farm , North House located at at 681 Blair Road, Cambridge (43.379680, -80.352706), we started the revised snowshoe hike that had been pre-hiked the day before by Jan and Jamie. On Friday helpful staff at rare Charitable Research Reserve advised us not to tackle the Grand Allée behind Langdon Hall since the snow was exceptionally deep.

We have been waiting a few winters for a good supply of snow like we had on this day. Yes, it was cold but the sun was out and there was not much wind. This was an opportunity for some folks to try out new snowshoes. It was a relatively short walk (3 km) yet the snow depth probably made it feel longer for those who do not snowshoe regularly.

Off to a Good Start!

rare Snowshoe 2014

Snack and Quiz Time

This spot is near the Hogsback (43.374017,-80.354918 - click here to see the "tree" in this Google Maps satellite image). Here we had some hot drinks and snacks while Jan quizzed folks on Olympic trivia. Three people won triangular, wind guards made from red fleece with white maple leaves (one can see an example in the group picture).

rare Snowshoe 2014

GPS Track of Snowshoe in Google Maps

 

Thanks & Donation

Thanks to rare staff for its excellent job of advertising this event. And thanks to all those in this group who donated generously to rare. The rare Charitable Research Reserve is very worthy of our donations.

Other Suggested Snowshoe Routes

1) If conditions permit, do a much longer snowshoe walk at "rare" > details here
2) Petersburg Regional Forest: a good year-round spot & highly recommended after a good snowfall > details here
3) The Lions Trail:

GPS Tracks for Download

HELP: If clicking on the links does not provide a download option, try RIGHT clicking the link (especially the .gpx file) and then choose "Save Links As" (or equivalent) from the drop-down menu. Pick a download location (e.g. desktop) for the file.

RareSnowshoe.gpx OR RareSnowshoe.kml