Snowshoeing to Superior

Last weekend, we decided to take advantage of our beautiful, winter wonderland (which has since been destroyed by freezing rain courtesy of 21st century, climate-changed induced weather patterns!!) and go for an early morning snowshoeing adventure.  Wolf Ridge is about four miles inland from Lake Superior, and portions of the 275-mile Superior Hiking Trail go through our site.  I've never personally hiked from Wolf Ridge to the waterfront - this seemed like a great chance to do that.

The Superior Hiking Trail: great for hiking in the summer and showshoeing in the winter.

Snowshoes are kind of a culturally significant mode of transportation in our region because of their heavy usage by the Ojibwe.  Snowshoes, as it turns out, were invented simultaneously be many different ancient cultures that had to deal with walking around in the deep snow.  The basic principal behind snowshoes it that they increase the surface area of your foot so your body weight is being spread out, thus causing you not to sink as deeply into the snow when walking.  When I take students snowshoeing, they are often disappointed to discover that you do still sink into the snow.  However, when I have them walk around with one snowshoe on and one off, they can observe the big difference the snowshoes actually make.

It's hard work, though.  For our hike, we spent about three hours on snowshoes, and that alone took us over two hours.  We started by crossing Wolf Lake, the ice of which is past twelve inches thick by now.  (I had some students out on Wolf Lake this week and we got to listen to the booming of the ice, one of my favorite winter sounds).  Snowshoes slow you down, and your movements have to be much more deliberate.  Sometimes, as I watch a large group of people snowshoe across an open area, like Wolf Lake, I amuse myself by imagining that I'm observing a zombie attack.

Naturalists snowshoeing across Wolf Lake.

We use pretty modern snowshoes, made of metal and plastic.  Over the years, many different styles of snowshoes have been utilized and designed.  The Ojibwe used wood from black ash trees because of its general flexibility.  The wood was easily bent into the snowshoe-shape.  The webbing is made from woven moose rawhide, which is quite flexible before dried.  The presences of holes in snowshoes is important, as it allows snow to fall through the shoe.

A pair of Ojibwe-style snowshoes (image from: www.canadianoutdoorequipment.com)

After bushwhacking through a couple of cedar groves, we reached the Superior Hiking Trail overlook, a destination we often take students in snowshoeing classes.  From here, we can enjoy a great view of Lake Superior, pointing out the Apostle Islands on the other side of the lake and Palisade Head to the south.  At this point, we were exploring new territory for me, following the trail to the south.  It was a good hike, with a couple of incredibly steep climbs (this is part of section 13 of the SHT, which is known for its steep bluffs).  It was a relatively quiet morning as far as wildlife sightings, but we walked through some beautiful patches of cedar, aspen, and birch trees.

Enjoying the Superior Overlook.

Eventually, we reached highway 1, at which point we removed our snowshoes and walked the remaining mile along the road.  It was a steep final descent to Crystal Cove, the secluded Lake Superior beach-front at the intersection of Highways 1 and 61.  This was my first time to Crystal Cove in the winter, and it was pretty cool to see the snow and the waves coming together.  We made a small fire and enjoyed a snack.

Crystal Cove on a cloudy, winter day.

How we managed to get ten naturalists, their bags and snowshoes back home in a single vehicle is a whole other story.