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I too ordered a set of snowshoes from a military surplus website and they arrived yesterday. I never had the need for them before but this year is different. The snow is so fluffy here that even with the snowshoes, you still sink in 6 inches or so and although thats better then sinking in 3 feet, its still a workout. The wide gradual turns and no backing up is going to be a little hard to get used to. Should make for an interesting and tiresome time getting things tapped this year!
It looks like snowshoes will be a necessity here, there's around 24" on the ground. buffalocreek, I hope your army surplus shoes are better than the ones i've used! My experience is that decent modern ones can't be beat.
I got a pair of these and cost me about $ 43 with shipping. Don't know how good they are, but hopefully will at least last for mapling season.
They do have a big screw in stainless spike on the bottom for traction.
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-MTN-25-Snows...item2a04b9ab9c
Does anyone have a Dunnam(spelling) sports store near them? Wife and I each bought a set at Christmas from our local store and they were,with tax and Etc. about $75.00 Work great and we intend to us them over the weekend to tap.
Jim
We've tapped a few years in snow shoes and it's not fun. The real benefit to them is if you need to follow the same trail twice because it will harden. If you're breaking trail it beats a trip to the gym for a workout!
Some advice - If you find the heel strap keeps slipping off try tying it up around your ankle with a piece of string or bailer twine. I've taken more than a few spills when one shoe came off and down you go!
We are right in to the big ginning of the season and there are still 67 of us on right now.
the thing i don't like about tapping in snow shoes is you have to carry a step ladder around the woods to reach your taps to pull them
Snowshoes are a way of life here in Maine for anyone who needs to be outdoors in the winter. You think using them to tap is tough? Wait till you have to start carrying two five gallon buckets of sap uphill to the shack. Fell backwards one time and the snow was so deep, I could't reach the ground to push myself back up. Flopped around like a fish out of the water for ten minutes. No gym needed here. Can't wait though!!
According to paper today, we have gotten 101.4 inches of snow so far this winter where I live and about all of it in less than 2 months. I would guess they are around 120 to 125 inches at the sugarhouse so far in the same period of time.
One thing is for sure, if we can get a couple of good weeks of weather, there is plenty of moisture and the sap should run like there's no tomorrow. Snowshoes should be here on Monday and hopefully start tapping sometime next week.
It might run like there is no tomarrow Brandon but I wonder how it will affect the sugar content. I now here at my place that is not alot of snow and on normal years it does not seem to provide us with anymore sap. I will have a better aspect on that thought this year as mother nature has spared us for once. I cannot remember a winter where there was this little amount of snow here.
Had a real fun day today. Started the truck up and heard a weird noise under the hood and quickly figured out the water pump was on its way out. Got a new one and put it in along with hoses. Got that done and decided the day was wasted and figured mine as well work on getting a better splash guard made for the evaporator. While in the process of that I was drilling through the sheetmetal and just as the drill broke through my dog decided to run into me and I put the bit clear through my finger. The fun part was putting the drill in reverse and backing it out. Manned up and did a self doctor job and finished the guard. I think I will take the weekend off and watch the big race.