Snowshoes and Romcoms

After much delay (thank you, homework), your deepest desire to know how my weekend went can finally be satisfied! Just kidding - you should really aim higher than that.

Snowshoeing with the Wilderness Program was a roaring success; although it was cold, we warmed up as soon as we started moving, and the two students leading the trip were well-equipped to deal with our lack of knowledge. According to my phone, we hiked about 6.3 miles, round trip - not bad for a Saturday! We went to Mount Belvidere, which is near Lowell, Vermont, and is about an hour and a half northeast of Saint Mike's.

We wound up using microspikes on our overboots instead of the snowshoes, but that may have actually made it easier. The highlight of the trek for me was definitely seeing moose tracks! You don't realize how big an animal is until each footprint is the size of your hand and each print is a foot and a half apart. Whoa. I also thought it was cool to see the leaf-buds on the trees, courtesy of the previous week's warm weather, although they're at least a month ahead of schedule. 

On the drive back (and don't worry, you don't need a car to go on a wilderness trip - they drive you), I saw a house surrounded by maple trees that had been tapped for syrup! I have no idea if that is the correct terminology (never having made maple syrup myself), but I thought that was pretty cool. I also experienced the "purple mountains' majesty" in America, The Beautiful. I don't know which mountains the song actually refers to, but be it because of the weather or otherwise, the mountains actually looked tinged purple on the way back. Quirk of Vermont, I suppose.

In honor of the upcoming Valentine's Day, Her Campus SMC hosted its very first event with Galentine's Day on Thursday, as a sort of "holiday" for those of us who are single pringles. We hosted in McCarthy Recital Hall, and featured a cheesy movie, hot cocoa, popcorn, and Valentine's themed candy. Due to technical difficulties, we got off to a rough start, but once that was resolved, everything proceeded swimmingly! I saw a lot of people who are not active in Her Campus, so hopefully more people are finding out about us. 

Today's temperature has a high of ZERO, so I doubt I will be doing anything particularly exciting today, but that just provides an excuse to make hot chocolate, so things could be worse. Happy Valentine's Day to all my readers, single pringles or otherwise!

Laura