PATTISON STATE PARK – An interesting annual tradition that some hold sacred is going for a snowshoe hike on the longest night of the year, which was on Wednesday, Dec. 21. Despite slick roads and some pretty serious snow falling throughout the day, we came across several families who wouldn’t let the weather stop them up at Pattison State Park in Douglas County.
Peggy Richardson and her family, who came to the state park from Hayward, said she liked the history of the sport the best. She said, “Snowshoes were one of the cultural elements common to all Native tribes that lived where snowy winter conditions were common. More recently, about 100 years ago most people made their own snowshoes. That is just fascinating to me how this has all changed. Snowshoes were created by using wooden snowshoe molds. Snowshoe forms and molds are quite rare and very difficult to acquire.”
We also came across Ann Williamson, from Spooner, who came to snowshoe at Pattison with her two children. She mentioned, “Normally we do the longest day snowshoe event at Hunt Hill; however, it was cancelled due to the snow we are having today. So, we decided to give this a try and are having fun. The candlelight hikes and the luminary hikes that Hunt Hill put on several times throughout the year are great. The whole atmosphere is wonderful with the lighted trails and then knowing your reward at the end is some hot chocolate and the chance to warm up again by the fire. We really hope to attend the next one.”
