Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Feel like Old Man Winter has you in his grips?
Do you just accept it, or realize you have choices? Perhaps your answer is a change of attitude or latitude. Do you embrace it, escape it, or even run to places where the grip is even firmer?
Embrace it. Keep the home fireplaces and woodstoves burning, venture on trails into the snow-covered landscape, settle in with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and watch wildlife shuttle to and from a feeding station. The long, cold clear nights are perfect for stargazing. Take a moonlit walk through new fallen snow. Relax. Snuggle up and watch favorite old movies or pick up on series television.
It’s a great time, too, to settle back and reflect on wonderful experiences already in the books. Pull out those scrapbooks, sort through old photos, finally get around to organizing those artifacts of adventures past.
Escape it. You know this drill. Seek out adventure and scenery in Florida, Arizona, Mexico, Costa Rica and other points south and west where winter doesn’t dare show its face.
You can pull out all the stops and find adventure in places where the seasons are flipped. It’s summer in the Southern Hemisphere and it has much to offer. Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Patagonia. A very special place for wildlife enthusiasts could be the Galapagos Islands.
Escape can also be more mental than physical. Dream and research of places still to be seen — trails to hike, streams and rivers to canoe, wildlife to encounter and wonders to photograph. Now’s a great time to do your research. Not just where to go but how to do it — ideal lodging, companions, guides, best timing all figure in. And, importantly, consider how to fund the best adventure.
Or you can challenge it. Go where winter has the tightest grip. If you’re so inclined, some of the best adventures of your life may await you in winter. Look to places like Michigan and the UP, Ontario, New England, Montana and Wyoming.
Best of all might just be the state parks of Ohio. Places like Hocking Hills, Mohican, Salt Fork and Shawnee can be stunning. And, if you stay in a state park lodge, you can combine adventure and beautiful winter scenery with time beside an indoor pool, which is especially nice if you’re travelling with family.
In our house, talk frequently turns to memories of winter trips, especially two adventures to Canada’s Temagami Wilderness for the unique experience of multi-day dog sledding trips.
There’s nothing quite like standing on the runners of a dog sled listening to the smooth steady rhythm of a team of beautiful huskies pulling you across frozen wilderness lakes and on winding undulating trails through snow-laden woodlands.
The overnights are a big part of the experience. With multiple sleds, we could take some basic conveniences with us, including small wood stoves that, fully stoked, kept the thin-walled tents surprisingly tolerable even in arctic conditions.
The huskies, well adapted to handle the cold, fully embraced the adventure, too. Putting them into harnesses was an exercise in action and vocalization, a product of their enthusiasm for the sled.
It’s hard to say who enjoys the sledding more — you or the dogs.
