A friend of Berit’s snowshoes through the woods on a recent outing.

Growing up in Minnesota, I tried my fair share of winter activities. I skied — downhill and cross-country — skated, snow tubed, snowmobiled, sledded and dogsledded, built snow forts and snowmen, and battled in many snowball fights. The one thing I’d only tried maybe once was snowshoeing.

Then, friends of mine in Pendleton said they wanted to go. So, one day in late November, I tied up my waterproof hiking boots, zipped up my light puffy jacket and borrowed snowshoes and gaiters for my first real snowshoe outing.

We departed from Andies Prairie Sno-Park near Tollgate and started our trek up through the trees through Horseshoe Prairie Nordic Ski Area. Snow had fallen overnight, so fresh powder blanketed previous snowshoers’ tracks. I quickly worked up a sweat and had to remove my outer layers — who knew snowshoeing was such hard work?!

After about half a mile of being second in line, helping to break trail, I moved to the back, where I found the hike much easier as we made our way uphill to a warming hut that had just opened for the season. We took off our gear and boiled water to drink hot cider while cozying up in the heated trailer for a while.

Then, we returned to the trail, making much faster time on our hike down than our way up.

There’s something special about being outside in 30-degree weather (or colder!). Snow quiets the sounds around you, and when snowshoeing, you have to be in a line so you can’t quite hear the people in front of you speaking. Meanwhile, the brisk air moves through the trees and the sun’s rays create sparkles where they hit the fresh snow. It’s captivating.

I’ve already started looking into getting my own gear for future adventures, and I can’t wait to try it out more. I’m excited to have a new way to love winter outside of my Minnesota roots.