An inspection of snowshoes and mukluks

Snowshoes ready for use in Feb. 2007

Back in June I was volunteered (yes, I know it's meant to be an intransitive verb) to convene a committee to make decisions about a large collection of snowshoeing equipment. My committee met for the first time in the middle of last month, and since then we've been collecting the names of people who'd like to participate in snowshoe outings, next winter. Already, we have more than 30 people showing an interest.

Last Tuesday three of us on the committee lugged a collection of old snowshoes and seven heavy bags of old mukluks around the basement of Muriel's apartment block downtown. 43 pairs of traditional snowshoes were being kept in her storage lockers, all numbered. We laid them out across the floor of the squash court, inspected them carefully, and decided to keep the ones in best condition apart, 19 pairs. I made a note of their numbers.

Snowshoeing with traditional equipment in Feb. 2006

We did the same with the mukluks and decided to reject 10 pairs of these that weren't worth keeping, which are now in my garage at home. The idea is to donate these to a charity, for whatever use can be made of them. We re-bagged the rest of the boots, 39 pairs in seven different sizes, all of these in good, wearable condition; some pairs are as good as new and would fetch a very good price if they were sold. However, several of these can be kept for use in combination with the snowshoes we've set aside for next winter.

Afterwards, Muriel, who has spent half her life in Bermuda where snow is unheard of, served tea while we talked. We have plenty of ideas about where we could go snowshoeing.