Just sharing today

Spent the day out hiking through the Blackfoot Recreation area just east of Edmonton today. I've been out there many times kayaking, biking and hiking. Today was different as I went with the intention of testing my diy stove and getting used to carrying a full pack which I never have carried before. When it was done I had covered 14km in 4 hours. The weather was -1c, overcast and a bit breezy but all in all it was nice day.
I was fortunate to be able stay on the trails that are used by xc skiers and they were actually well packed so the footing was good. Some of the skiers said it was a bit to hard and icy for them.
I had just made a diy stove and was wanting to give it a try so I found a shelter after about 2 hours and set it up. I was surprised to see that it didn't fit together as well as it had prior to painting it. Never realized paint would make it that much thicker. It went together okay and I fired it up with my steel and dryer lint. Once I had it going I was surprised to see the paint start to bubble a bit. Strange considering it is high heat bbq paint. Because the fit was not as snug, the inside can eventually dropped from the top which mean't the flame was farther from the pot but I was able to heat the water enough to christen the stove. As a tribute to the Minnesota hangers who seem to like their cocoa, that was the drink of choice.
So some things I learned and or discovered during this hike were;
- hiking poles would be a big help
- if you want to step off the trail, gaiters would be nice
- snow shoes would get you into a lot of places off the trail, I've never used them and I'm not sure what conditions would be best to use them
- gotta try and figure a way to carry my camera other than around my neck
- I wish I started doing this stuff 30 years ago!!
Sorry there are no hammock pics, I'm waiting on my incubator and burrow so I didn't want to haul the BB out, it wasn't on my to do list today.
This has been a long post but I've included some pics from the day I wanted to share.

Looks like it was a great time. Reminds me that the rest of the world isn't 75 degrees and sunny:D

Sounds like you had a good time. Your stove looks good. Its great not using snowshoes if the snow is packed enough,,,you can make good time. Even if the snow is dry and not too deep you can make good time with long snowshoes. Choosing snowshoes has allot to do with the area you live in. Relatively flat or hilly,,,,trees spread out or underbrush,,generally wet snow or dry. If you will be mostly on flattish terrain and given that your in the "freeze your butt off area" i would have a look at traditional shoes, small Babish (webbing) or mono-filament. Find out what the native folks in your area used/use and that will give you a good start ,,,also go to Snowshoes online. & Winter Trekking.com ,,the snowshoe section,,in fact Winter Trekking is a site you might be interested in in general. Its really nice to get off the trail and find magical spots. Having said that just about any snowshoe will get you there. You could try renting them first and see if you like it.
bill

yumm!...cocoa is especially good on a cold day like that! Stove looks nice! Glad you had a good time. Thanks for sharing!!!

looks like you had a great day, thanks for sharing the excellent pix.

Looks like fun! I carry my camera in a waistbelt pocket on my backpack. I hate having anything around my neck, swinging back and forth.

I hang my heavy film SLR from the shoulder straps of my pack. That way the weight of the camera is not pulling on the back of my neck. Sometimes I'll use a loop of elastic or shockcord to keep it from flopping around too much, but most of the time I have not bothered. My point and shoot goes in a belt pouch or in a pocket of my cargo pants.

Thanks for the landscape photos . . . I kinda miss ED, AB

Lots of room, wildlife, and nery a bear to be concerned with . . .

. . . well on the prairie anyways. :D
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At least your doing it now! Sweet pix.
Shug