We’ve always been meaning to try snowshoeing, and we finally got around to it! It was a bit of an adventure trying to get up to Myra-Bellevue because we had never been up in that area in the winter before. After going off-course a bit, and getting the car a teensy bit stuck in the snow, we finally found where we were supposed to park, so we could head out to do some snowshoeing at Myra-Bellevue! We went snowshoeing on the Trestles trail. In the summer, you can take a hike or take a bike, and go over a bunch of trestle bridges and through tunnels.
It was hard to figure out what to wear for snowshoeing. We didn’t know what to expect so we wore our winter gear and snow pants. If you’ve never been before, it’s literally hiking but with big paddles on your feet so you can traverse over snow more easily. When we went out, there hadn’t been much snow so the path at Myra Bellevue was well worn, so the snow was actually pretty well packed down in most places that you could have just walked with your shoes. We really didn’t need snow pants, but it kept us comfortable.
The trail takes you through tunnels and over trestle bridges. It’s part of the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) and runs along a canyon. This trail was all originally built by hand. And the trail is the longest rail-trail network in BC, as it’s 650 km of connected pathways from Hope to Castlegar.
Snowshoeing is really fun if you’ve never done it before. We also got a pretty decent sweat on once we really got going. It didn’t take long to get comfortable walking around in the snowshoes. I didn’t have a great pair of winter shoes or boots to wear, so by the end of the snowshoe, my shoes were a bit wet from the snow. Depending on the weather, it makes sense to dress in layers so you can add and remove as needed. We really didn’t need poles because it’s pretty easy to find your balance, but it does make the whole experience more steady.
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