|

A walk in the snow

A layer of mist hovers over the snow behind the house.
A layer of mist hovers over the snow behind the house.

Well, now that Winter has finally arrived, we thought it might be fun to tromp through the snow and get some exercise. I dusted off the snowshoes (literally) and we set off for a little hike out of our back yard. As we began our trek, I noticed an awesome mist hovering over the snow, and since we hadn’t left the yard yet, we turned back to get my camera.

We were walking in snow that had not been disturbed, so it was quite soft and difficult, even with snowshoes. In fact, in the hour that we were out, we only managed to travel about .3 miles. Nonetheless, we had fun, and the dogs certainly enjoyed themselves. Greta loves the snow. It’s quite possibly her favorite thing all year round. When the snow accumulates, she become giddy like a puppy. She also likes to pretend she’s a wild dog by sticking her face into the snow as if to hunt mice running around beneath. Shadow also enjoys the snow. While she doesn’t quite act like a puppy, her favorite thing to do is roll around in it. It’s the first thing she’ll do, especially when we encounter summer snow patches in the high elevation.

Shadow shows off her beard of snow.
Shadow shows off her beard of snow.
Wild dogs, such as coyotes and foxes, are able to hunt even when the snow is six feet deep. Greta likes to pretend she is a wild dog.
Wild dogs, such as coyotes and foxes, are able to hunt even when the snow is six feet deep. Greta likes to pretend she is a wild dog.

By the end of our little walk, the sun had set and the mist had accumulated at the bottom of our neighbor’s field making a really neat scene. See some more photos from our walk below. Tomorrow, I think I’ll take the snowshoes out and explore some of the forest trails nearby.

The mist on the snow had accumulated at the bottom of our neighbor's field.
The mist on the snow had accumulated at the bottom of our neighbor’s field.

Similar Posts

  • |

    Fourth of July

    For many years, I have spent my Fourth of July basking in the part of America that I enjoy the most: its wild and natural beauty. It started in 2011 when I explored the Hobo Cedar Grove for the first time. Then again in 2013 when I hiked Grandmother Mountain. In 2015, I spent the fourth in the Seven Devils with friends. This year, I returned to Grandmother Mountain for what may be my last visit to one of my favorite peaks in the vicinity of Moscow.

  • Hiking Deary

    View from Potato Hill, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. I’ve now been in Idaho for almost three weeks and I’m starting to get settled into my new home. Later I will post about the property and the abundant wildlife that make our place so special. But today, I write about a local hiking opportunity just over a mile down the road in the town of Deary. I have a theory that all cities and towns have an overlook, a spot from which you can stand and look down upon the population center. Sometimes these overlooks are only a few feet…

  • Aurora

    Once again, the skies lit up with the dancing inferno of the northern lights. The sun has been fairly active the past two months, but this is the first I’ve both been aware of and had a clear sky to see. All of the aurora events I’ve photographed have been special, and each one is different. This one happened to be the strongest storm when the K-index reached 7. It was so bright, I could make out the red band with the naked eye once my vision adjusted to the darkness. The storm peaked here a little after 11:30 pm…

  • Winter Hike to Jerry Johnson Hot Springs

    Last weekend, I reported on a snowshoe hike along the Potlatch River and alluded to a second snowshoe adventure the same weekend. In fact, we had planned a little excursion out along Rt. 12 to Jerry Johnson hot springs. It turned out that the hot springs are still popular in winter, at least enough so that the one-mile trail was packed down such that we didn’t need snowshoes after all. So, for the second time this season, a snowshoe hike simply became a winter hike. While we were all looking forward to snowshoeing in, the real goal was to soak…

  • Grandmother Mountain

    Looking West on Grandmother Mountain, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. This weekend, Erin and I set out for our first hike together in Idaho and we made our first summit together on Grandmother Mountain. The hike to Grandmother Mountain begins high up in the St. Joe National Forest 12 miles out of Clarkia. The entire hike is above 5500 feet, which was a neat considering all of our hiking in the East (so far) was under 5500 feet.* Grandmother Mountain is an easy two-mile one-way along a high sub-alpine ridge with forest mixed with meadow. The summit stands at 6369…

  • Eagle Cap Wilderness, Labor Day Weekend

    A year ago this weekend, I set foot in Oregon for the first time and explored one of its most beautiful and least advertised mountain ranges. Last year, we only got a preview of the Eagle Cap Wilderness in the Wallowa Mountains, only able to stay one night. So this year, I arranged the backpacking trip for Labor Day Weekend, which let us spend 3 nights in the wild and explore more of the area. I rarely return to the same place for a second trip as there is so much around to explore, but then, there is the trade-off….