Hiking in snow...

Sunday, January 27, 2013

I came downstairs in the morning to the smell of fresh polyurethane and went straight to the kitchen table to check the results of yesterday’s work.  It was very disappointing.  I could see sanding marks through the new finish that I’d applied and knew that I’d be stripping it and starting over that night.  Well…I needed a project and now I had a good one.

Dakota and I went to the park for a hike.  A heat wave was approaching and that meant all the snow would be gone in a couple of days and I’d yet to hike through it to the marsh.  We started off-trail shortly after parking the car and struggling through shin-deep snow in no time.  The snow was an unbroken blanket of white since no one had gone before us and the additional work of cutting our own trail had my heart rate soaring.  From Snowman’s Ridge, I could hear voices on the marsh and looked through the opening to see two cross country skiers crossing the ice far below.  Seeing them on the marsh changed my plans for where I’d hike and when I reached the marsh, quickly began to head for the beaver lodge.

Only I wasn’t on skies, which offered the value of weight distribution.  I started to go through the surface on my third step and backtracking continued the pattern.  There was only six inches of water at the marsh’s edge, so it was no big deal, but I was disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to go out to the middle to enjoy the unique view it offered.  We climbed back up the way we’d come, sweating and sliding partially back with each step.

I returned to my project once home having to apply a stripper to the surface and then a sanding routine that assured I wouldn’t be leaving marks in the table when I again applied the first coat of polyurethane.  I’d had thoughts of riding the trainer, but after another four hours of work on the table decided dinner and a movie was a better plan.  I’m looking forward to the melt as there may be a chance to slip in an outdoor ride though the roads will likely be covered in a salty brine that I hate getting on my bike. 

Hike duration:  60 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  90 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  350.