Letter Re: Two-Legged Snow Mobility

Jim and All:
As I got off the plane and headed out from the airport parking garage I realized that actually getting home could be a challenge. The blizzard of February 2007 which was coming to an end had dropped a significant amount of snow and the high winds had been producing white out conditions. A phone call to a friend who lived in my area quickly told me I might have to walk if I plan on getting home. Normally I would have just stayed at a friend or relatives home until the weather lifted and the roads had been cleared. This really wasn’t an option for me as my wife had been snowed in for three days alone with my 11 month old daughter. My daughter’s medical conditions required she be on a ventilator during the night and have 24 hour observation. With the roads impassable, our daughter’s nurses who normally came to the house 16 hours a day hadn’t been able to help out.

The plan was to use the buddy system with two four wheel drive vehicles to see if we could find a back way through the country side to the house. As a plan B, I stopped and picked up some cold weather gear and boots before I left the city. I should have already had this in my truck, but you know what they say about hindsight. After getting one truck stuck in the snow at a time and pulling each other out, the only real option was to get as close as possible and start walking. As close as possible turned out to be about two and half miles.

With the wind at my back I started down the snow drifted road on foot. After about a 100 yards, I quickly realized that this was going to be a challenge like nothing I had ever experienced. After a mile of trudging and crawling over snow drifts I started to get a severe spasm and cramp in my lower back. At this point it took everything I had to go 50 yards and I would have to lay down and stretch out my back. It took me around three hours to get home. My snowshoes were sitting at the back door when I got there. Three days later the snow plow came down the gravel road.

The next time I would see a winter like this would be the winter of 2009-2010. The snow falling in early December was a welcome sight as we normally do not see significant snow this time of year in the Midwest. This foot of snow and major drifts made it quite difficult for the deer hunters trying to fill tags during the gun season. Luckily I had already filled tags during the archery season and could sit this round out. The few that did get out and brave the elements were trudging through knee high deep snow at a snails pace. How they got the deer out of the field if they were lucky enough to get a shot was a little work to say the least. Others were pulling snowmobiles on trailers to retrieve the downed animals from the fields. As a result of the heavy snow that stuck around, the gun season deer harvest was extremely down.

I kept a close eye to the on goings of the late season and weather due to the fact that I had a few tags for a January anterless season. The snow kept coming and the drifts kept growing. By the time the late January season rolled around we had record snow fall for the season with no end in sight. We lost track of how many days we had been snowed in. Usually area farmers got the roads passable with tractors before the county road maintainers could get to them.

I could have said the heck with rest of the deer season, but had already paid for the late tags and couldn’t stand to watch them go to waste. Finding the deer this time of year was not an issue. Getting to them and getting them out of the field was. Horses were a thought, but the snow was even too deep for them to be effective. With snowshoes strapped on, rifle, pack, and sled in tow I set out from the farm for an adventure. My buddy was not as equipped for the deep snow and put in ten times the effort to walk 20 yards. We were fortunate to fill all of our tags within 3/4 of a mile or less from my farm. The trek back to the house with a sled full of quartered venison was still a workout despite the snowshoes, but was still easier than simply walking without them.

The snowshoes I purchased six years ago were a leisure item that I hadn’t really considered a necessity at the time. I can’t imagine going through another winter like we had in 2009-2010 or walking through another blizzard without them. Aside from the deer hunting, I used them on a daily basis from walking to the mailbox, bring in firewood, to feeding the horses and chickens. During a winter of TEOTWAWKI transportation would most likely be by horse or foot unless you want to use snowmobile and stored fuel. Even then a horse or snowmobile can be difficult if the snow is too deep.

There are many different styles of snowshoes based on the application and your physical size. Keep in mind the extra clothes and gear you will be hauling when wearing snowshoes. This is critical when selecting what size you need which is based on a load rating. The pair I have are a tad undersized, but I did drop about 20 lbs through the winter which I have to attribute to the added physical activity and the snowshoes. This was also an “economical” set as I wasn’t sure what I would actually use them for at the time. My next pair will be a more rugged and higher quality set as well as a higher load rating.

Buying snowshoes after the snow hits is like trying to find a generator after the power goes out. I will be getting an additional set for myself as well as the rest of the family, not too mention a few more sleds. I will also be sure to keep a set in each vehicle during the winter with the rest of the cold weather gear. – R.M. in Iowa