Backtracks

Lost Pond Snowshoe, Feb 21, 2026
A foot of snow the night before obliged us all to spend much of the next morning digging out. The roads were clear by 10 so we caravanned to Cranberry Lake, where we had to do some more snow shoveling to get into the parking lot. O frabjous day! Someone had snowshoed on our trail last night or early today. Snow clung to every branch, making for awesome scenery in the young hardwood forest making up the first part of the trail. About halfway around the north side of Lost Pond, our predecessor’s snowshoe track ended and our work began. The sun didn’t emerge, but the bright sky illuminated the beaver-flooded pond and its many snags. Our forest was predominantly large evergreens. There was an osprey nest, and the tracks of a snowshoe hare. We passed over little bridges at the west end of the pond and found a spot with a sitting-log on the south side for lunch, reveling in the mild weather and lack of wind. Shortly, we came upon the tracks of a big coyote. Some very large cherry trees. And a spruce punctured many times by a sapsucker. Completing our loop, we picked up our own nicely-packed trail and padded out easily, stopping to admire the cliffs and icefalls near the trailhead.
Pictured: TL John Omohundro, Laurentian Chapter members Jim Lynch & John Barron, 3 Northwoods Chapter members.