My friend Jay Jones and I snowshoed some trails in the Huron National Forest in northern lower Michigan. Spent 5 days at his cabin on Hubbard Lake. Weather was perfect. Best trails were in the Hoist Lake Foot Travel area. Jay has modern shoes and I still use the old wooden ones.

Sounds like you had a good time. How did his modern shoes stack up against your traditional?

The modern ones are lighter, less tiring. Also they have a built in cleat that gives great traction on ice or steep hills. I was wearing my trail shoes that give better flotation and glide over things easily. I'd compare his modern ones to my modified bear paws.

It's hard to really compare. I've been snow shoeing for decades and he just started after Christmas.

I love my traditional shoes but if I was going to go out and buy snow shoes I'd go with the modern ones.