Tales and Trails

BY DAVE BECK Breaking cabin fever

When that last cold snap hit, I was hit with a case of cabin fever. I couldn’t wait for the weather to break. I needed to get some sort of outdoor fix and in this case the fix took the form of some snowshoeing. Actually, it was a little more than just that. I snowshoed into a cabin near Frederic, Wis. I have deer hunted there over the years wanting to get the up north experience while looking for the “turdy-point buck.” I had to settle for a doe which ended up tasting better than a leathery old turdy point buck. Snowshoeing would be a different kind of adventure.

Going to the cabin was a way to steal a couple of days from the cold jaws of winter. Dan, a high school classmate of mine, thought it was a good idea, so he joined me. He had never snowshoed before but he was also tired of winter and not doing anything.

We parked the truck, grabbed our gear, strapped on the snowshoes and were off. I used a pair of traditional snowshoes. I’ve heard them called Alaskan snowshoes and also Huron snowshoes. Either way, the tear dropped shaped shoes performed very well in the deep powdery snow. Dan used my modern lightweight aluminum snowshoes and he never complained. Since he was a first timer, he had no reference to use as a comparison.

Two things about the outing made the time up north worth the effort in getting there: the snowshoeing and the crackling fire in the cabin’s woodstove.

Snowshoeing in the solitude of the cold winter outdoors was an awesome experience. The woods sleep pretty hard and nothing was on the move. Squirrels, deer, and even birds were holed up tight waiting for the weather to break. The lack of noise was noticeable and aside from the crunching of snow under our snowshoes, the quiet was deafening. When your world lacks all auditory stimuli it’s easy to notice the silence and appreciate the moment.

The single-digit temperatures made the woodstove in the cabin the most important amenity that we had and the glass-faced front put it on par with an outdoor campfire. That evening Dan and I enjoyed the awesome winter fire while we caught up on each other’s lives and families.

All too soon the weekend came to an end. We snowshoed our way back to the truck and back to civilization. Most importantly, the weekend at the cabin got us two days closer to spring.

Didn’t get enough Dave this week? Visit “Outdoor Trails and Tales with Dave Beck” on Facebook for photos and video of Dave’s adventures. You can share your own photos and video with him there as well, or by emailing him at [email protected] piercecountyjournal.news Also, check out OTT content on Instagram @thepiercecountyjournal