Snowshoeing Powell River's Winter Trails

On Tuesday, January 9, a blast of Arctic air decended on Powell River. The temperature dropped from 6 degrees C to zero in just under an hour and was accompanied by 60 km/h winds.

We sat in our cabin watching the waves build on Powell Lake, giving the work boats a wild ride on their way home. One boat even snuck into the Hole for a short respite.

The cold weather brought clear skies. Our friend John, his dog Bro, Wayne and I took advantage of the sun and headed for the snow.

We went up Heather Main as far as we could drive and then donned our snowshoes.

A short hike brought us to a viewpoint overlooking Powell Lake with spectatular snowcapped mountains in the distance (Beartooth, Freda, Knuckleheads, Freda and Tin Hat).

The snow was crusty and walking was easy in our snowshoes. John has traditional style shoes. Wayne and I have tubular aluminum models.

We recently saw a Nova special about climbing Mt. Everest. We kidded John that he was our Sherpa and we were the pokey climbers who paid for the right to climb a majestic peak. While our exertion was nothing compared to climbing Everest, we could imagine their sense of accomplishment and joy at seeing a vista without compare.

If you would like more stories about winter adventures, read Up the Winter Trail available at www.PowellRiverBooks.com. -- Margy