OK, I lie.
It was not the first time, but the second time. The first time was when Kiran & I went to Ilgau about a year ago. I had remembered that walk and wanted to do it again. My lovely wife presented me with snow shoes this Christmas and they debuted today since we finally got beaucoup snow!
Being an extreme novice, I spent quite some time at home figuring out how the shoes would work before driving to Einsiedeln. Once there, I fumbled a fair bit before I got them on. (I actually continued to fumble after I started walking, but got it right after a couple of adjustments!)
As I started walking from the car, some people stopped me (it's always me, right?) and asked which way they could go SSW. I told them that it was my first time and one of them was also a debutant, so I asked if I could tag along with them. I have found taht this is one of the real nice things about being in the mountains ... you can engage people and they respond. Everybody is so friendly!
So we all set out together and started creating paths in virgin snow. It was fantastic. The sun was out. It was warm. I did not use gloves or a scarf. I could have done with a sweater rather than the heavy jacket I was wearing. Ah well.
Along the way, I saw cross country skiers, old couples (some with their grand children), young couples (with or without kids), single people, people walking dogs, children playing in the snow, siblings building snowmen, throwing snowballs, people sledding ... oh all kinds of activities.
What a great way to spend an afternoon in winter, even if at the end I have burning thighs and feet and sore hands! 2 hours and 5.8 km (thank you Fitbit) later, I was satisfied and looking forward to the next time.
Couple of pictures worth sharing. The first pictures shows that I was walking in fresh snow, and in the second you see a nice view of Einsiedeln with the Kolster on the left and the ski jumping area on the right. In the foreground are little kids playing in the snow.
