Re: First time snowshoeing and backpacking

Sorry it took a bit for me to get back to you. To answer you're question, I have quite a bit of winter camping experience usually doing several 3-7 day trips each winter. The issue is that I usually do this in northern Wisconsin where there is only 6-12 inches of snow and I haven't had to bother with snowshoes. The only new thing for me would be the snowshoeing which it sounds like will be a bit of a challenge given the terrain. I'd still rather make a full trip rather than set up a basecamp (setting up and tearing down camp on a cold dark night/early morning is half the fun right), but It sounds like I should be pretty conservative regarding how much ground we cover. By the way, I love the sled idea, any other suggestions like that would be greatly appreciated. I do have a sled that I've used for hauling deer out of the woods which would work perfect, I just never thought about using it for my pack. I even have a harness that I rigged up for it, probably best not to use it near any of the cliffs though!!!

I do plan to be conservative about the ground we cover, but is there any specific exercises that I can do between now and then that will allow me to cover more ground when I get there or is the only way to work the required muscles to go out there and snowshoe. I ask because I'm on the road for work right now till a couple of days before I leave. I do quite a bit of running and biking, but it seems like snowshoeing makes you sore in differant areas than running and biking, but I have a hard time thinking up a more similar exercise that I can do on the road.