Snowshoeing (1)

My wintertime excersise is snowshoeing a few times a week. That is about all Ido for excersise during winter. Living in the relatively cold and snowy region, maybe I should get involved in such activities as skiing or iceskating. But, I just stick to snowshoeing, because I love the "slowness" of it. I can enjoy the treasures of nature by snowshoeing than zipping through it on a pair of skis. I also like the huffing and puffing part of climbing uphill.

I usually climb small mountains in our neighborhood. I cannot go far to snowshoe because I have to come home in the late afternoon to prepare supper for my family. Even these small-scale snowshoe trips are filled with fun.

The photo was taken on March 8, 2011. The snowshoe tracks were not of mine. I found then that someone else was snowshoeing in my favorite small mountains with elevations of 210 to 250m. The round shoe marks were not of the western-style showshoes but of the traditional Japanese snowshoes called KANJIKI. I became curious and decided to follow the tracks. (tbc)