Sunday, January 19, 2020 I woke to find more snow on the ground and knew that my 2 hour ski/snowshoe trip in was going to take much longer if I had to break trail through what appeared to be 8+ inches of snow.  I has started packing up as much as I could the night before so that I could make a swift departure this morning because I was going to try and make it back for my son's 4:30 hockey game in the Twin Cities. I ate oatmeal and drank coffee as I packed up my stuff and started loading the pulk. I got everything fastened and locked down by about 8:30 and stepped into my bindings to ski out. Immediately, it was way harder breaking trail on the way out then it was on the way in. I got about halfway down the long eastern bay of Wind Lake when I spotted some snowshoe tracks. It looks like someone came in recently on snowshoes and I wasn't going to have to break trail anymore. As soon as I hit the tracks the relief was immediate as my skis any my pulk pulled so much faster across the snow.  The tracks must have been someone on a day trip or someone packing ultralight as they had no sled with them. I swapped out snowshoes for skis again when I got to the portage from Wind to Moose and made it across, taking a few breaks along the way. My sled tipped over on one of the steep downhills heading down to the Moose landing, but everything was strapped in tightly so no cleanup was needed. I got the skis back on and smiled with joy when I saw the snowshoe tracks heading straight back to the Moose Lake public landing. I hit a patch of slush on this stretch and had to scrape the skis off, but made it back to the car uneventfully after that.  I had to scrape a ton of snow off of my wife's car before I could load up my gear and then it was off to Ely to hit the Steakhouse for a burger and beer before heading home. It only took 2.5 hours to get back to the landing from my campsite on Wind. I'm sure it would have taken much longer had I not run into some snowshoe tracks. 
Things I learned:  1. I could pack less clothes. As long as I don't get too sweaty out there, I should be able to pack less. I noticed that I had multiple shirts, hats and pants that never made it out of my pack. I could trim some weight here. 2. A friend would be nice to have along. I love solo canoe tripping, my solos are usually my favorite trips when I look back on each season, but winter is different. There's so much more down time with darkness setting in so early. I know my dad would be up for trekking in with me. 3. Bring more cards, books and things to keep occupied during darkness hours. 4. Winter travel is much slower. 

Overall, I had a good time. I'd do it again in a heartbeat and I'm anxious to give another area a try on my next winter trip. I really liked cold camping, no hot tent necessary. The silence is deafening up there in winter and I find myself craving it more and more each time I visit during the cold months. I apologize for not having any pics, however, I will add a link to a video I am in the process of putting together when it is completed so that you can see what I saw on the trip. 

Thanks,

Gopher Adventure - Tony