Snow Shoe Action at LaBagh Froest Preserve.

The snow started falling Friday morning and there was about a 8-10 inches by the time it was all done with about 6 of that on the streets by the time I got out of work.  My bike ride to the happy hour at the Empty Bottle was quite the journey.  Milwaukee Ave which is one of main routes to the north western neighborhoods was jam packed with cars and my bike was fishtailing like crazy.  Once I got to the intersection of Ogden and Milwaukee the cars were gridlocked.  I maneuvered my bike through and it was a beautiful sight.  For a mile and a half to Augusta st. not one car came up behind me I had the road all to myself.  Quite the experience.  The night ended at the California Clipper which was a nice respite from the Alberta Clipper which gave us the snow and biting cold.

With a bit of a late start and a gift certificate to REI burning a hole in my pocket I headed out to purchase some snow shoes to have some fun in the powder that had fallen.  I had rented the MSR EVOs a year or two back to hike the Indiana Dunes and had a blast.  However I ended up going with the Atlas Snowfall.   The EVOs have some really heavy duty crampons and serrated edges which make them more suited for glacier summits.  Well I don't know if you noticed but the glaciers left the Midwest at the end of the Ice Age.  I'm a big fan of buying gear for what you do not what you want to do.  These Atlas shoes are light and ridiculously simple.  There is no hinge just a piece of thick vinyl that flexes with your foot.  K2 is the parent company and not over engineering the shoe let them drop money on a great binding system.  Any how they are cheap and light and perfect for what you can get into on the occasional snow dump in the flat-lands.


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I tried them out at LaBagh Forest Preserve. I took my mountain bike out there this summer and it lends itself to snowshoeing and cross country skiing perfectly.  By the time I got there the sun was setting and the snow was still fluffy.  It made for some great pictures of the Chicago River.  I rode the bike there with the shoes hanging out of my panniers.  I love the fact that I was able to do the whole day on two wheels.  Enjoy the pics.

This whole family was CC Skiing.  I got to get in on that next time.