Snowshoeing at the Des Lacs National Wildlife Refuge . . .

Let's go snowshoeing on the Des Lacs National Wildlife Refuge...

a fine way to spend a Saturday.

Temperature -- about 7 or 8 degrees F, wind NNW <15mph (nonexistent by ND standards)

70 people signed up for two sessions,

with beginning, intermediate and advanced trails for each group.

(Guess who started on the beginner's trail?)

The bindings fit over my boots!

Morning group on the Boat Dock Road -- beginners looking good!



Morning view looking east across
the Middle Des Lacs Lake, framed so well.



Young beginners try a "hill" -- some of us just concentrated
on keeping our tips straight and visible.
Hills were for later!

Berry delights for the wildlife....

Porcupines prefer tree bark, leave a mess.
(This tree will probably live, just be trimmed a bit!)

Snowbirds left their nest for the winter.



Intermediate group on afternoon trek
at the lower end of Tasker's Coulee.

Mostly beginners here, but we tried
bushwhacking through the trees.



Nothing like the taste of winter bark....

Paint by lichen....



Deer bed, freshly made the previous night.

Creek bed at the lower end of the coulee.
We found safe places to cross.

Surprise! Open water running through the creek, delicate frost on top.

Looking back at the coulee....

Let's go snowshoeing again sometime!
The Des Lacs NWR hopes to host similar programs in the future.
(No bones or snowshoes were harmed in the making of this blogpost, although
heretofore unknown muscle groups were taxed and many cookies were consumed.

And now, I officially love snowshoeing--add a pair to my Christmas list, Santa!!  Oh my gosh, there's no better way to see the winter activity on the refuge...our morning group witnessed a standoff between several whitetails and four coyotes...three of the coyotes headed for cover, but one tried his luck against a group of three deer, only to discover he was hopelessly outnumbered!

I think my cheek muscles hurt as much from grinning all day as my thigh muscles did from trekking (and falling and getting up again...gotta watch those tips under the crusty snow layer!!).
Thanks for reading--come visit the refuge sometime!!!
(And many thanks to this lovely woman for inspiration for the snowshadow photo--I just had to try it, Ro!!)

First step . . .

Sometimes, you just have to get started.

I'm not always good at that.

I'm a procrastinator, a woman of good intentions with delayed actions, a fiddle-arounder (if that could be a word).

But I love words and stories...and other people's blogs...and the opportunity this medium presents.

So here's my confession:  I set up this blog in November 2010.  I write for a weekly newspaper in Kenmare, North Dakota, and have published there for 10 years.  I also maintain the website for the paper and post a variety of feature stories and my personal column there every week.  But to launch my own blog has taken more than two months of dithering, along with another hour tonight tweaking the various settings.

Settings are fun. But that's not the focus of my blog.

"Coyote & Darner" is a work in progress--a place to share joy, jokes, writing, stories, sorrows (not many, I hope), nature, chickens, dogs (we have a puppy coming in six weeks to join our 6-year-old black Lab), and cookies.  A place for me to take a step forward as a writer, and for you to share your connections and stories, if you're interested.

Here's to the first step.

Of course, works in progress are always subject to revision. That's one of the things I like best about being a writer.

What's your first step of 2011? (It's January--first steps still count!!!)


P.S. Photos WILL be an integral part of this blog.  That's the next step.