"Cabin Fever" Festival

We love our community! Every winter, Trout Lake holds a "Cabin Fever" festival. Being the small, Northwest community that it is, this free event is full of outdoor oriented events. We didn't join in the cross-country ski race (since we don't know how), but instead spent the morning on a guided snowshoe walk around the Trout Lake Wetlands Natural Area Preserve. The snow was all pretty old, so we weren't able to do any significant animal track identification, but at least we now know that there is a Trout Lake Wetlands Natural Area Preserve! This "wetlands" is where Trout Lake got its name; the lake is now going through transformation and can only be considered a lake during short periods of the year. Eventually, the lake will disappear altogether, but during this transition period it makes a great environment for studying nature.

In the afternoon we attended a GPS clinic, learning some of the tricks and methods for using a GPS unit in the wilderness. The best thing about going to this clinic, actually, was that it prompted Corinne to actually read the users' manual to prepare for the class! Eventually we may actually remember to bring our GPS unit out into the wilderness with us. With at least one set of extra batteries, of course.

- Mike (& Corinne)