The local and national meteorologists sound like a broken record during nearly every broadcast, using the term "Polar Vortex", extreme cold, dangerous wind chills, and stay indoors to describe our current and persistent weather pattern.  The current weather may be the coldest we have had in decades, but it might be what our area needs.  The map attached to this blog indicates ice cover on the Great Lakes as of midnight on 1/27/2014.  This too is something we haven't seen in decades, but it is actually very helpful. 

Over the past 40 years, Great Lakes ice cover has decreased by 71 percent, on average.  Summer water temperatures have increased more than 2.5 degrees, and water levels have decreased by 29 inches as of January 2013.  Water levels were helped tremendously by a wet 2013, but it still leaves the Great Lakes more than a foot below its historic averages.  So, how does our arctic cold snap actually help?  

The increased ice cover helps reduce evaporative water loss during the current season which helps with overall water levels and reduces the amount of lake effect snow.   Lake effect snow typically balances its negative effect by returning to the Great Lakes during the spring thaw, so the benefit may just be for the local residents lumbar regions, but a benefit nonetheless.  Even more importantly, the large amounts of ice will help reduce the overall temperature of the lakes, which helps with water loss due to evaporation the following year, helping bring us closer to natural equilibrium.   So, as we complain about the temperatures this winter, remember that there is a method to Old Man Winter's madness, that will benefit the region in the future.  

I will leave you with this interesting bit of information I found in an article from Lisa Borre of National Geographic's Water Current section.  December and January are the worst months for water loss due to evaporation.  This may seem counter-intuitive, but high evaporation needs large temperature differences between air and water, low relative humidity, and high wind speeds.  During ideal evaporation conditions, it can account for a loss of 0.4 to 0.6 inches of water per day.  If that rate of loss occurred over the entire Great Lakes, it would be equivalent to nearly 20 times the flow rate of water at Niagara Falls. 

"Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it." Lao Tzu

Are you planning a backpacking or paddle trip in 2014?  Did you already start your new fitness routine to build the strength and endurance you need? Did you forget about the nutrition component of your trip?  Most people do.  Nutrition is more than just the balanced caloric diet of proteins, carbs, and fats and drinking water.  In fact, that is just 4 of the 6 components to overall nutrition.  For your normal daily functions, the remain 2 micronutrient components; vitamins and minerals, are often taken care of with the consumption of fresh vegetables and fruits.   But fresh fruits and veggies don't often travel well in the backcountry.  So, how do you get the vitamins and minerals your body needs while in the wilderness, and how do they help your performance.  The following is a list of essential vitamins and minerals, some bodily functions they help with, and a few backcountry friendly sources.  

Vitamin A - Essential for growth and development of cells and for healthy immune system. - Dark orange colored fruits and vegetables, (baked sweet potatoes, carrots, pumpkins)

Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) - Helps absorb iron and calcium, contributes to brain function and essential for healthy blood vessels. - Red berries and tomatoes

Vitamin D - Helps strengthen bones and to absorb calcium. - This is a unique vitamin that your body creates when your skin is exposed to sunlight or you can eat fortified foods like milk.

Vitamin E - An antioxidant essential in protecting cells from damage and for healthy red blood cells. - Nuts, whole grains, avocados (guacamole)

Vitamin B12 - Construction of red blood cells and nerve function. - Fish, low moisture cheese, some cereals

Vitamin B6 - Important for brain and nerve function, and breaking down proteins - Beans, seeds, nuts.

Thiamin - Helps convert carbohydrates to energy and necessary for heart, muscle, and nerve function - fortified foods, dried beans, soy products, and whole grains.

Niacin - Helps turn food into energy and important to nerve function - Fish, peanuts, fortified cereals.

Riboflavin - Helps convert carbohydrates into energy and producing red blood cells. - Nuts, legumes, fortified cereals.

Folate - Helps make red blood cells and DNA. - Dried beans and legumes, and some fortified cereals.

Calcium - Helps build and maintain strong bones - low moisture cheese and soy items.

Iron - Essential for the transport of oxygen throughout the body - fish, beans, raisins

Magnesium - Helps muscle and nerve function, and helps steady your heart rhythm - Whole grains, nuts and seeds, beans, chocolate.

Potassium - Helps balance the amount of water in blood and body tissues and with nerve and muscle function - dried fruits and legumes.

Phosphorus - Helps the body make energy and is essential for every cell in your body - Fish and low moisture cheese.

Zinc - Important for immune health and wound healing - Nuts, beans, whole grains, soy products.

If you choose to bring prepared vegetables or fruits, just remember that if they are prepared with high heat, boiled or dehydrated in the preparation process, they often lose some of the water soluble vitamins and minerals.  The best bet would be to either steam or bake the items and keep them as whole as possible. 

"It is health that is real wealth, not pieces of gold or silver." - Mahatma Gandhi

According to the Outdoor Industry Association, snowshoeing participation has grown by more than 40% in the past 5 years.  More than 4 million people now participate in snowshoeing each year and the number continues to grow.  So, why the increase in popularity?  If you can walk, you can snowshoe which gives it an edge over other balance related winter activities.  A starter pair of recreational snowshoes can cost you only $100 and most locations you use them are either free or have a minimal day/seasonal use fee which has tremendous benefit to the cost and locale limitations of downhill skiing or snowboarding.  Once you have decided to become one of the millions of snowshoers, its just a matter of picking the right ones, and snowshoes have come a long way from the traditional wooden frame.  Here are the three things I consider when choosing the right snowshoe.

The weight of you and whatever gear you plan on hiking with is often the most important.  The overall purpose of a snowshoe is to keep you afloat on the snow, and if you choose the wrong size for your weight, you will be back to breaking through the snow and having to trudge through thigh deep snow with feet three times their normal size.  Most snowshoes will have a weight range listed on the tag, but they are often a huge spread.  You want to choose the smallest size that fits your weight requirements.  This helps minimize the weight of the snowshoe themselves.  Typical sizing from manufacturers are in lengths of 25" (up to 200 lbs.), 30" (up to 250 lbs.), and 36" (up to 300 lbs.). 

Terrain is important when looking at the components of the snowshoe.  If you will be using them on flat ground you can often get by with simpler binding systems and less traction enhancement.  Rolling hills are the next step up and may require a stronger binding system to keep your foot snug and a beefier heel and toe crampon for traction.  And, if you are planning on any steep hills or mountain snowshoeing, look for a snowshoe with aggressive traction enhancers to keep you from sliding off the mountain and a heel lift that helps with calf strain on steep surfaces.

And finally, the snow conditions are also something to address.  Deep powder requires a larger surface area to distribute your weight effectively, while packed trails could be navigated with a smaller lighter frame.  If you will be using your shoes on packed trails most of the time and may occasionally use them in powder, some manufacturers offer a floatation add-on to your snowshoes to give you more surface area in that situation.

I hope to see more people out on the trails this winter trying out their new snowshoes.

His birthplace is a hotly debated topic for many cities in the
upper Midwest as well as places in California and Maine, and his achievements read like the exploits of Chuck Norris or a Dos Equis commercial, but you would be hard pressed to find anyone more responsible for the history and creation of the Great Lakes region than the enormous buffalo-plaid wearing Paul Bunyan, and his trusty sidekick, Babe the Blue Ox.  Here are a few of Bunyan’s geological accomplishments to prove it.

- Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes were created by the footprints of Paul and Babe as they wandered blindly through a terrible blizzard.
- Paul needed to create the Great Lakes so that Babe had a sufficient watering hole.
- The Mississippi River was created when the Blue Ox pulled tank wagon used to coat the logging roads with ice in the winter, sprang a leak and trickled south. 
- Every time they needed new shoes for Babe, they had to open a new iron mine. 
- Even our own Rib Mountain is rumored to be Paul Bunyan’s final resting place, giving us a glimpse into his mythical size.  By my estimation, that would make him nearly 2 miles tall.

Paul Bunyan’s achievements even extend to the western states, with the creation of the Grand Canyon as Paul drug his axe behind him and Mount Hood getting its beginnings as a stack of rocks piled by Bunyan as he put out his campfire.  But, in spite of the intended comedic relief of Bunyan's folklore, many of the tall tales also offer us a glimpse into the harsh reality that was life in a logging camp.  The weather could be harsh, the work dangerous, and the seclusion uninviting, but the lumberjacks and logging camps prospered.  In the end, they helped develop many of the cities and towns of our "Northwoods", they formed the roots of our paper industry, and shaped the rail tracks and roadways we have today.  And, even though Paul Bunyan himself won't be mentioned in Great Lakes History 101, the thousands of people his character was based on, have a starring role. 

 "The year of the two winters it got so cold the axemen let their beards grow full length. They wrapped the beards around them for warmth. In the spring Paul cut all the beards with a large scythe. The whiskers were stacked like hay and later sold for making mattresses..."  Courtesy of Bang Printing, Drawing by Homer Dimmick