Extreme Snowshoeing!!!

If you've never gone 'extreme snowshoeing', I highly recommend it! This afternoon my husband Rob and I joined Laureen Harper and some friends at Harrington Lake in the Gatineau Hills. Laureen is 'extreme outdoors woman' and loves to hike whenever she can with friends who share the same passion. Jackie, Christine, me, my husband Rob, Dan, Pierre and Laureen strapped on our snowshoes and off we went. It was wise to wear so many clothes....for the first five minutes. Climbing over fallen trees, ducking branches, and scrambling over giant Canadian shield rocks was such a great workout that jackets, hats, and gloves started coming off...left to dangle on out-stretched branches for easy retrieval on the way back. We ascended up a hill (we call them mountains in these parts, but if you're from the Rockies, these ain't no mountains), picturesque nonetheless. We followed snow-covered streams and waterfalls, trusting that there was enough of a snow pack over the rushing water. Which is why we brought men with us. Pierre and Dan didn't seem to mind the role of testing the fragility of the snow over the water, and often found it. The hard way. My husband Rob did too. I love a man who doesn't complain about getting a soaker! We tumbled down crevices, had branches whipped into our eyes, struggled to stand after twisting our snowshoes deep into the snow and landing face-first into powder, and we laughed our heads off. Extreme showshoeing. Can't wait to do it again.