Willie Marsh Hike

I signed up with the local hospital to join a snow shoe hike for this morning. The hospital organizes lots of events through the month to encourage people to be more active. This hike was led by a certified NYS guide and about 12 - 15 women showed up for the hike. I wonder why no men were there? Anyway, it seemed that most of them knew each other from previously held walks and hikes. The weather today was warm and the snow pack so thin that in places we were down to bare ground but the hike was great. We did a circle loop around the marsh. Local boy scouts had built some pretty long bridges over 3 parts of the marsh and put up a viewing platform at the edge of the marsh. Overall, a nice beginner hike. I think I might include it in my list of possible hikes for my 4H club this spring or summer.

As for last week's lessons learned, I dressed appropriately today. Wicking tee shirt, soft shell jacket, hiking pants, gaiters, glove inserts. Since this was a very easy hike, I hardly broke a sweat. I had a fleece hat, 2nd pair of gloves and a fleece jacket with me for "just in case".

I also went ahead and bought a book from Backpacking magazine on cold weather hiking. I started reading it already and it's just chock full of great info. I also got a book on hiking light but that's another topic for another day.