Snowshoeing.."If you can walk, you can showshoe"

That's what I'd heard - "If you can walk, you can showshoe". I figured they were lying and it had to be harder. I envisioned a bowlegged waddle. But what I found was that todays modern snowshoes aren't like that at all. They're lightweight, maneuverible and don't require any huge amount of technical skill. What I also found out, is while it's not extremely technical in nature, it can be exceedingly physically exhausting!

Nicole and I went up to Big Bear Lake, California to check out the course for the upcoming Snowshoe The Bear snowshoe race. We got our snowshoes from Equada Outfitters - an awesome mountain shop in Big Bear. I'm actually making them a website at www.EquadaOutfitters.com but it's not done yet.

Anyway, we got Kahtoola snowshoes, which are a pretty slick system. You just step into them, almost like a ski binding. You can wear your trail running shoes and you put on a hard soled neoprene over-bootie.

Unfortunately my left was a bit loose and started rubbing a bit early into our trek. By mile 2 my left heel was pretty sore. At mile 3 I pulled off my shoe and sock to find a big flap of skin where the 50-cent piece size blister had long since popped. I was prepared with my pack full of adventure racing supplies, so I had a fist-aid kit with duct tape in it. I put a bandage with duct tape over it and it immediately felt better.

But, by mile 4-5 I could tell it had come off and was rubbing badly on the decent. Add to that my right heel was beginning to develop hot spots and it was tough. We were out for 3 1/2 hours total. Much longer than we'd anticipated and it was much harder than we'd thought it would be.

I think it had to do with several factors. First - we were at 7000 - 9000 feet altitude the entire time. Second, the snowshoes we had are made for a light snowfall to pack, not necessarily powder. They had around 2 feet of powder the week before. So as our shoes would break the surface of the snow we'd sink 6-8 inches or so. Not bad, but then you have to lift your foot/shoe all the way out of the hole and drive it forward. It's a killer workout. We had water and some gels, but ultimately, not enough of either for nearly 4 hours of tough work.

But, we made it back fine. Nicole was such a trooper for what was an extremely tough outing. I'm glad she didn't have any issues with her feet or being cold. I had brought gloves and outer shells and beanies. It seemed pointless when we left, but after you begin to sweat and get up over 8000 feet it gets cold quick and by our return we were both fully dressed in all the attire I'd brought.

It reminded me what I already knew (but it's good to be reminded) - you can't mess around in the backwoods in winter. You have to be prepared for anything. If we'd gotten lost or hurt and were not prepared we'd be popsicles by morning. Just 4 days prior an elderly man had gone hiking in this same area. They got a call from his cellphone saying he was lost and then nothing more. They got all that snow after the call and now they're really just trying to recover his body - knowing that without supplies he has no chance of survival out there.

I always carry the essentials into the backwoods - even mountain biking, anywhere even slightly remote. Anyway, I got off topic...sorry.

Here's a picture of my left heel today (2 days after the venture).

I'd love to say it looks worse than it really is - but it actually smarts pretty good. I learned a few things. My feet sweat terribly with this amount of exertion. I need good quality sweat wicking socks - two layers and probably a second set in my pack.

As my feet got wet from the sweat they started not only chafing, but also started to get cold. By the end my toes were pretty solidly numb. Too much longer and I could easily have gotten a bit of frost-nip, if not frost-bite.

I also learned to take more water and more food, and even another under layer shirt per person.

Overall a great trip and something I've long wanted to do. I shot quite a bit of helmet cam video, but the camera was slanted at an angle and it almost makes me dizzy to watch it. So I made a short video with only a tiny bit of Nicole actually snowshoeing, but I thought I'd share it with you anyway. Here you go: