By Sylvie O’Rourke
Snow showed up in early December and remained, blanketing the trees, for four glorious days. I was launched prematurely into winter-utopia mode, going for strolls in the woods at every opportunity. I even headed out to Rigaud for a day to snowshoe where the snow was deeper. Sadly, on the fifth day, the rain came and washed it all away, but by that time the snow-bug had already bitten and drawn blood.
Now that the grass is green again, I feel like I have no choice but to do what every winter enthusiast might do. I go where the ground is whiter, in this case, across the border. That is what brings us here now heading on a snow-chasing excursion to the Adirondacks in a car full of like-minded people.
First, we explore a little-known gem called Elders Grove where the trail is not marked, but the trees are massive. It has been a few years since we have last been here and, although we locate the gate, the trailhead is another matter. We can’t find the inconspicuous cairn to get us started and there are no human tracks in the fresh snow. We do the next best thing and bushwhack following any hint of a possible trail, but what appears promising at first eventually ends up a dead end. We are forced to backtrack time and time again. Ultimately, we never do find the trail, but we sure have fun in the process. I pity the next snowshoers who might rely on our tracks to find their own way around the forest. We will try again some other time but now we have another forest to visit.
Our second stop is at the nearby Osgood Pond, where the trails are blazed, and we can snowshoe with confidence. The trail has bridges crossing two century-old hand-dug canals which connect three ponds together. Historically, this enabled cottagers and hotel guests to reach the nearby church by canoe. Also of interest are three lean-tos where you could choose to spend a night under the stars if you were so inclined. Today, one of them will serve us well as a picnic spot by the frozen pond.
After a restorative lunch, we are ready to go again to snowshoe on the network of trails along the shore and through the cathedral pines. We are warming up for the season ahead, building up our muscles for the mountains to come, and getting used to having awkward snow-gripping devices attached to our boots. The surrounding beauty casts its spell on us, and it takes a near-stumble on a protruding root to jar us back to reality. There is not much of a snow-base yet and caution is needed. We observe footprints on the trail ahead, perhaps those belonging to a coyote, along with the occasional crisscrossing of deer hooves. As in the previous forest, we see no evidence of human activity since the last snowfall. The white purity of the forest has a calming effect on us, shattered only by the wind relieving an evergreen bow of its burden of snow. At times, this unexpected snow dump narrowly misses someone’s head, much to our amusement.
A deep breath of crisp air fills my lungs and promptly vaporizes as I exhale; proof that I am alive in this heavenly setting. Sporadically, I stop in my tracks to admire nature. I do that…a lot. Amateur photography is my magnet, always pulling me to see art in the most unassuming places, be it a shadow on the ground, a light-pattern filtering through the trees, or a frozen drop hanging from a pinecone. I am trying to absorb everything as it may serve as inspiration for a story later. You just never know. It is no wonder that I am often trailing behind the others; it’s not so much my lack of physical speed as my overactive mind. At least that is the excuse I’m sticking to.
A day such as this one only convinces me more that sometimes we must take matters into our own hands to extend the snow-season and eradicate those in between months that are too buggy or muddy to be in the woods, or too cold to be on the water. We are snow-chasers, doing what we can to get an early start on the season and make it last as long as possible.
SDG & A Cornwall Seeker, www.theseeker.ca, February 2024, page 20.