The first thing to be addressed as we prepared for our hike this afternoon, was what equipment is appropriate for a spring snowshoe? We enjoyed plus temperatures most of this past week, with a considerable amount of rain yesterday. It has been practically perfect maple syrup weather with warm days and nights still below zero. While we have had a considerable amount of melt (which we - ok mostly Micheal - have been sucking up with a shop vac at our basement door) the lake is still fully covered, but likely getting quite soft. The snow is now unstable and even with snowshoes did not reliably hold our weight last week. We had to put Lucy back in the house as we were concerned she might break a leg sinking so far into the heavy snow as she was bounding around trying to follow us.
We decided that it would be fastest to cut across the creek and Gren & Beth's property to connect with the road. There is open water at the creek - has been all winter.
Ringo managed to trot right off the edge of the ice last weekend and took a polar bear dip.
This led to the decision that the best gear for this spring stomp would be hip waders and snowshoes.
You may not be able to tell from this photo, but Michael is sporting a very striking pair of neoprene bibbed waders provided by his mom. I am not sure she expected them to be used with snowshoes but there were no contra-indications mentioned in the user manual.
After losing a snowshoe in the creek (me) - fortunately it was stuck on a rock and did not float away - we managed to slog across Gren & Beth's, sinking up to our knees on several occasions and giggling (mostly me, and not so much Michael) all the way to the road. Fortunately James and his brother were up a couple of weeks ago for some snowmobiling, so the going was much better on the snowmobile track along the road.
Once we got to the bottom of the hill, we took our formal measurement.
I did my best to ensure my feet were on the gravel. The depth of the current snow on Sonia and Andre's driveway is - wait for it.....
66cm or 26 inches.
If we have plus temperatures consistently throughout the month of April and no additional snow beyond the 2-3cm we received today, maybe we will see bare ground in Haliburton county, and our road in particular, by the May long weekend.
Trust us, we wish it would happen sooner too!
We will keep you posted with updates as there are meaningful (and measurable) changes in the conditions.
We are looking forward to seeing you all when it is actually spring here. We need to find a date for our annual meeting - give some thought to your late May and June calendars and let me know what might work for you.
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