Any vegan hikers here?

Although I am not a huge fan of winter, I have done a number of snowshoe hiking trips in winter. Last winter my husband and I did a four mile loop snowshoeing in the BWCA of northeastern Minnesota to see some Native American pictographs. We got a very early start (hit the trail by 6am) and off the trail by noon and it's a good thing because the cold REALLY hit by that afternoon and I mean -20 F actual temp. The scenery was absolutely incredible though. The year before that we did a five mile snowshoe trip in the Superior National Forest on some rugged terrain breaking fresh snow the whole way, and we had a lot of snow.
I do everything you mention in your blog post, including the hand and foot warmers, lettting others know where we are going, warm gear, extra camp stove (fits in the palm of our hands), flashlight etc. Our dog gets to wear canvas slippers to keep the clumps of snow out of her paws and we bring extra water and food for her too. We also bring a compass and if there is a map available we bring that too and our GPS unit. It is easy to get lost in the SNF and BWCA. We use an orienteering compass because they can be dropped in the water and still work and do not succumb to cold or dead batteries. It is all mechanical and knowledge based.

Yesterday we did some geocaching and bushwhacked through some thick woods about 30 miles north of the city where I live, in the Cloquet State Forest. No snowshoeing as we didn't think there would be enough snow but we could have brought them, though the bushwhack was a bit thick for snowshoes. I have some pics but haven't yet gotten around to uploading them. Will share them soon! We had a middle of the day campfire too which was fun, and saw two grey jays who flew over to check out our campfire and see if we had any goodies to share, which we didn't lol.

I also use hemp socks or heavy cotton work socks, no wool!!! The boot makes all the difference, and foot warmers too!

Below are pics from three trips (Hegman Lake pictographs in BWCA in December 2013; Hogback lake loop we did in December 2012 in the SNF; and yesterday playing around hiking in the woods. The rock outcropping is where the pictographs are. The tracks photographed are fresh wolftracks from less than an hour before the photo was taken (we heard the wolves in the distance).

VeganOutdoorAdventures said:

Great pics, Naturebound! Looks like a beautiful area! And wolf tracks?? So cool. I'd love to see one someday. I don't think we have many, if any at all here in Upstate NY but I keep hearing that they may be coming back from the north. We'll see!

Glad you've had some good winter fun! So many people refuse to even consider going out, but I think if you live somewhere where it's snowy and cold you should at least try to make the best of it!

My boyfriend and I hiked in the Adirondack High Peaks a couple of weeks ago for my birthday. It was such a great day. I just love how pretty everything looks in the snow.

Thanks for sharing!

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Thanks! Wow, hiking in the mountains! Years ago my Dad and I hiked the Alleghenies in Pennsylvania. So beautiful out that way. I'll bet you get tons of snow in upstate New York!

I have seen several wolves in the wild and once saw a pack (while in a vehicle on a narrow gravel forest road). They are such timid creatures and never look you straight in the eye. They look at you kind of sideways, as if it is a sign of submission or maybe fear? Not sure. Wolf hunting was made legal in Minnesota a few years ago right after the wolves were finally taken off the endangered species list. Sick huh? This year, after many many groups fought this, including the Native Americans who own a lot of the land where the wolves are hunted and have a spiritual connection to them, it was overturned and hunting stopped and now the wolves are back on the endangered species list (more were taken than the allowed legal limit for last year and this year which boils my blood even more). It's still somewhat rare to seem them in the wild, but many concentrate up in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and that is where we have seen most of them.

We haven't gotten much snow yet this year but have gotten plenty of cold. :/ Oh well, sooner or later it will snow. You have much snow there right now?