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Out There: Outdoor activity part of healthy lifestyle

There is no time like the present to combat the results of holiday decadence. Don’t wait until spring! Do it now!
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Foggy days bring hoarfrost to the Creston Valley flats.

With the passing of January, I see an increase in activities in the way of hiking, walking and use of indoor activity facilities. There is no time like the present to combat the results of holiday decadence. Don’t wait until spring! Do it now! Outdoor winter exercise may, in some instances, be a little more tricky than summer activities, but, hey, we don’t have the excuse of it being too hot.

Light snowfalls over the winter made walking and hiking reasonably easy. So far, even up to 3,500 feet the use of skis and snowshoes don’t really make travelling on foot much more efficient because the snow is hardly top-of-boot level. The use of snowshoes, right now, anyway, is an asset only in adding weight to the feet, providing more exercise. Of course, way up there, snowshoes are certainly an advantage. You can go places you can’t otherwise easily go. Right now, down in the valley, 2,200 feet and below, use of skis and snowshoes is pretty much out of the question. But wait: We can still get a pile of snow. If a snowfall is powdery, one needs about eight inches of snow, over bare ground, to keep from bottoming out.

With temperatures occasionally going above the freezing point during the day and below at night, patches of snow on trails and elsewhere have been turned into ice patches. Wearing ice grips or cleats is an absolute advantage. They give a person sure footing. However, sometimes they come off in snow and finding them may mean retracing one’s steps and that can be quite time consuming. Some people have types that don’t come off so easily and others tie them over the boot so that they stay on or so that, at least, they still hang around even though they are off.

Forest service roads, at lower levels, like Bear and Huggard Creek, Mt. Thompson, Dodge Creek and others out Kitchener way, make great places for winter hiking. On some routes, snowmobile traffic can be fairly light and almost nil. In either case, a track has been made providing a solid base for walking or cross-country skiing, too, if there has been at least several inches of fresh snow. Fresh snow on an icy snowmobile track does wonders for cross-country and backcountry skiing.

Kootenay Pass is good for cross-country skiing. People do a relaxed run along the backside of the lake or they ski up the old road to the Ripple Ridge Trail area. From there the road is level for approximately a mile. But on this run one can boil going up and freeze coming down. It is important to have layers to peel off to cool down or put on to warm up. A wet body doesn’t do well in a cold wind. For safety, do not attempt any treeless or partly treed slopes!

For some people, a better choice for skiing is on the hydro-gas pipeline right-of-way on the east side of the summit north of the highway. Before the last grade to the summit there is a pullout area with good access to the right-of-way. Here, slopes are much more gradual and one can enjoy, depending on conditions, trekking along in fresh powdery snow making one’s own trail or ski on a track already cut. Again, stay off of steep treeless or partially treed slopes at the west end of this area. A snowshoe trek of any length is possible just about anywhere around Kootenay Pass or on the east side on side roads at lower elevations.

As with skiing, crusty snow conditions after a melt can make snowshoeing difficult if not hazardous. Extensive use of an area, changes in temperature, snowfall, extensive cloud cover and wind can make either less ideal, but it’s still good exercise. Of course, dressing adequately accompanied by healthy food and warm water will make a world of difference. Of course, a world of difference can be made by another aspect. It is similar to putting good gas in the vehicle. We are usually pretty fussy about that!

One needs to be “tanking up” with efficient energy not just before the outing but consistently to get best lifelong results. The best and most energy-efficient foods are those that are plant based, raw or cooked, unrefined, not overly concentrated, in as natural a form as possible and eaten in moderate amounts at an appropriate times. Animal based foods are all-around inefficient sources of nourishment. They are more slowly assimilated, fostering an inefficient digestive system. It takes more energy to digest animal-based foods than plant-based foods.

An inefficient system, along with slow moving and oxygen deficient blood means weak cells. Weak cells are vulnerable to disease. That is one reason we get sick. “We are what we eat.” Input equals output. Put good in and get good out. And, there is not much gained by putting good in to counteract the bad. Good, rich compost taken to the dump doesn’t make the dump better. The bad stuff in the dump makes the good stuff bad!

One, in the long run, to a large degree, pretty much negates exercise and all that nice fresh air by consuming animal-based foods. When one thinks about it, isn’t much of what we consume and what is available toxic waste? Healthy living, inclusive of exercise, is an all-encompassing practice. Reaching and maintaining a person’s own optimum is a total lifestyle, involving every aspect.

Now just don’t quit eating. When you leave out something unhealthy be sure you replace it with something healthy. Otherwise, you will be back where you started. Remember, eating healthy is natural, just like exercising. There is no time like the present to take off from what ever level you are at and make changes. How do you make a difference if you keep doing the same things? No matter who you are, what you do or what you are, it is one step at a time. Enjoy your hiking, your walking and your exercising even better!

Ed McMackin is a biologist by profession but a naturalist and hiker by nature. He can be reached at 250-866-5747.