The temperatures drop, lakes and ponds freeze, and lots of paddlers start looking for pool sessions so that can practice indoors. I love winter paddling, but trips are a lot harder to come by. Yesterday I did a hike since no-one seemed to be out paddling.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/eckilson/albums/72157688685247763
It was a nice hike with a good group and pretty scenery, but it’s just not the same. My local club is doing a pool sessions today, so maybe it time for me to go indoors as well.
Great minds thinking alike. I also went for a hike on Friday and did some birding. The Red Headed Woodpecker is getting really scarce around here and folks have reported seeing them on a particular trail. I saw quite a few species but not that one.
I loved hiking in the winter and we’ve had a few beautiful days to do it.
Birding in winter snows makes nonwhite creatures really stand out. Easier sightings on or near ground.
The snow also shows all kinds of tracks. We’ve seen those of mule deer, bobcat, mountain lion, red fox, coyote, cottontail rabbit (but no jackrabbit lately), mouse, and “wingtip tracks” from larger birds (redtail hawk, raven) either taking off or landing near dead deer.
The walking does get tricky when snow packs and glazes over. I finally bought the solution to walking on slippery and smooth surfaces: Kahtoola Nano Spikes. They worked exactly as expected on a 7-mile outing, making me wish I’d gotten them much earlier.
Rex, which bird guide do you like best? I use Peterson’s for the western US.
Hey Pika, I guess I’m not a total fossil because I mostly use an iphone app when I’m out birding. It’s iBird Ultimate North America. Always with me and it does bird sounds. When I get home to the PC I use Cornell’s All About Birds site:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/
edit: I keep a Peterson’s (east) and a National Geographic guide in the back of the car all the time… along with some old binoculars.
I’ve been walking, hiking, and backpacking a lot more than I have been kayaking or suping lately. I especially like long weekend solo backpacking trips during shoulder seasons, not many folks around, it’s nice and cool at night, and hardly any bugs. Have been taking these trips over kayak camping trips over the past few years. Also the new to me ultralight gear is pretty awesome nowadays, where you can get all your gear weight around the 10 pound range, a lot easier on your joints than my older gear which was probably twice the weight. I’m also interested in bringing this type of gear kayak camping at some point, and trying to steer away from the just slightly lighter than car camping gear mentality I’ve used towards kayaking in the past. Especially for weekend/week long trips where super sturdy gear isn’t required. Easier to drag 10 lbs of gear around than 25 lbs, and less weight in the boat leaves more energy for padding.
Those Katoola Nanos look ineffective for Maine. ( its odd that just a few years ago there was one Katoola product and that replaced the clunky Stabilicers) We have the Katoola Microspikes which are the minimum for ice walking ( sometimes we are on the lake but our roads are not sidewalked and there is two inches of ice on them( they are dirt underneath and will not thaw till April)… For hiking we use the longer Hillsound Trail Crampons for barebooting hard packed mountain trails for here and the White Mountains. We have a lack of snow. While we usually have four feet around now we have less than a foot and its all hard crusty frozen ice.
Wish I had more gumption to get out and go below zero. We have had thirty mph winds to boot. It has been nice recently though .
@Rex said:
Hey Pika, I guess I’m not a total fossil because I mostly use an iphone app when I’m out birding. It’s iBird Ultimate North America. Always with me and it does bird sounds. When I get home to the PC I use Cornell’s All About Birds site:https://www.allaboutbirds.org/
edit: I keep a Peterson’s (east) and a National Geographic guide in the back of the car all the time… along with some old binoculars.
Ha, then I am a total fossil! No iPhone, let alone an app on it. I have seen it in use by a bona fide birding nut, though. I mean the kind of guy whose extensive travel is FOR bird-seeking. It looks helpful. I just want to keep equipment to a minimum, but this could change later.
I do miss paddling. The solid-water season is long. I think the local bike shop rents bikes with the superfat snow tires and rims. Might try that, if we get a long enough break from snowstorms, shoveling, and ice chipping that I need different exercise.
Hey Pika, The fossil reference was a jab at myself. I’m stuck in the past with cars… still driving a manual transmission.
No ice around here yet, and no snow - the bigger problem for us so far this year has been puddles and wet feet. We’ll get some snow eventually, and hard-packed, icy trails are the usual problem. I have been using Yaktrax ICEtrekkers with the diamond grip. They are OK, but snow and ice tend to build up on/around them, so I don’t wear them unless I absolutely have to. I’d love to get some snow so we can do some snow shoeing.
Went to the pool session with my C1 yesterday, and once again realized how far I am from being able to roll that boat. If only I could learn to paddle with a paddle float. 
So am I, and I have no desire to switch to autos.
The jackrabbit is still around…caught it on game camera. Next shot was of bobcat.
@eckilson said:
No ice around here yet, and no snow - the bigger problem for us so far this year has been puddles and wet feet. We’ll get some snow eventually, and hard-packed, icy trails are the usual problem. I have been using Yaktrax ICEtrekkers with the diamond grip. They are OK, but snow and ice tend to build up on/around them, so I don’t wear them unless I absolutely have to. I’d love to get some snow so we can do some snow shoeing.Went to the pool session with my C1 yesterday, and once again realized how far I am from being able to roll that boat. If only I could learn to paddle with a paddle float.
Hardpacked snow with icy surface is what I am dealing with. The tire studs used in the Nano Spikes work well for that and allow me to wear regular light hikers such as Keens. When the snow is soft and deep, I wear Sorels instead; they have surprisingly good traction.
Wish I had the pool rolling option near me. There is only one place allowing it, on one night, about 55 miles away.
Get your snow shoes or x-country skis ready. Looks like a change in the jetstreams is going to bring a gravy train of real nor’easters to New England by the end of this week. 
My mountain bike with the studded snow tires has been sitting in my garage waiting. More important, waveskis are ready for some good storm swells.
Finally, getting real winter around here. >:)
sing
A lover of New England winter.
TChuck’s posts must make you jealous.
@string said:
TChuck’s posts must make you jealous.
Sort of. Chuck, Paris and I paddled a local lake on his visit this past summer. Frankly, I would much rather paddle in Anchorage with them. The shortcoming of Anchorage is that it is not that close to surf. Paddling is ok (I would be much more into fat tire biking on those snow covered backroad with chuck and paris). Overall, I am more about the stoke. For New England, the opportunities for the stoke come more in the winter.
sing
@sing said:
Get your snow shoes or x-country skis ready. Looks like a change in the jetstreams is going to bring a gravy train of real nor’easters to New England by the end of this week.
Snow on Saturday night, but then rain on Sunday down here in southern New England. It will keep the rivers full, but won’t do much for the snowshoeing. I brought my C1 to the local pool session, and all the sea kayakers were asking if it took it surfing - maybe I should try.
Sort of. Chuck, Paris and I paddled a local lake on his visit this past summer. Frankly, I would much rather paddle in Anchorage with them. The shortcoming of Anchorage is that it is not that close to surf. Paddling is ok (I would be much more into fat tire biking on those snow covered backroad with chuck and paris). Overall, I am more about the stoke. For New England, the opportunities for the stoke come more in the winter.
sing
Catch the bore right and you get a 10 mile+ ride https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maJjVwX-OiM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubmYx6HZgNo Good surfing in Seward on Resurrection Bay as well https://www.google.com/search?q=surfing+seward+alaska&rlz=1CAACAY_enUS751US752&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=ReU7Mi_phvfWyM%3A%2CK5rAWpTmKoxUqM%2C_&usg=AI4_-kRZosBEeMTLn9GBOjCKBMQCWS7IDQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiJ18iNjPHfAhVHilQKHa-6BLIQ9QEwE3oECAEQCA#imgrc=ReU7Mi_phvfWyM:
Wow!
Wow, too, and I am jealous!
@Chuck von Yamashita said:
Sort of. Chuck, Paris and I paddled a local lake on his visit this past summer. Frankly, I would much rather paddle in Anchorage with them. The shortcoming of Anchorage is that it is not that close to surf. Paddling is ok (I would be much more into fat tire biking on those snow covered backroad with chuck and paris). Overall, I am more about the stoke. For New England, the opportunities for the stoke come more in the winter.
sing
Catch the bore right and you get a 10 mile+ ride https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maJjVwX-OiM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubmYx6HZgNo Good surfing in Seward on Resurrection Bay as well https://www.google.com/search?q=surfing+seward+alaska&rlz=1CAACAY_enUS751US752&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=ReU7Mi_phvfWyM%3A%2CK5rAWpTmKoxUqM%2C_&usg=AI4_-kRZosBEeMTLn9GBOjCKBMQCWS7IDQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiJ18iNjPHfAhVHilQKHa-6BLIQ9QEwE3oECAEQCA#imgrc=ReU7Mi_phvfWyM:
Ok chuck,
The bore riding does look pretty fun. Does it get bigger? What’s the cycle, how many times per month?
sing
who is boreless