Opening day of trout season should be magical and opening day in 2009 was. The brown trout above was one of my 12-year-old son Keefer’s. My brook trout were smaller, but feisty. April 1st was opening day of trout season in upstate New York and we were able to do three of our favorite things: trout fishing, cross country skiing and Nordic Walking all in the same day. It was the best opening day on record. Keefer and I caught our limit, managed to squeeze in a few miles of cross country skiing before the snow melted and then did some Nordic Walking around my sister’s 40 acre blueberry farm. She hand prunes every blueberry bush each year. Her blueberries are the best in country because of it – Burdick Blueberries (named after our grandfather).
While cross country skiing we ran into some of our group out Nordic Walking. Cross country skiing is one of the best aerobic sports on the planet. It is gentle on the knees and gives the upper body a great workout too. As a serious runner all through high school and college, cross country skiing was always one of my favorite cross training activities. I combined running and cross country skiing prior to my first running marathon and it made the 26+ miles almost a breeze. Nordic Walking is just like cross country skiing, but you don’t need skis or snow and you never fall down. Nordic Walking Poles also radically reduce the stress to your weight bearing joints. And the upper body gets involved with the workout – unlike regular walking and/or running. We have been cross country skiing back home in northern Michigan since Nov. 17th and we are still finding good snow in April if you know where to look. I love cross country skiing and Nordic Walking with my family. When hunting for morels with the family I always use my Nordic Walking Poles too – they are great in rough terrain. Trout season opener in Michigan is the last Saturday in April. The snow will be gone and we’ll be Nordic Walking up Alligator Hill everyday. Alligator Hill is behind Glen Arbor and is part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. WWW.SKIWALKING.COM and the American Nordic Walking System we offer 14 different lengths – more than any other retailer or manufacturer of Nordic Walking Poles in North America. One-piece poles are safer, lighter and much more durable than cheap twist-locking adjustable length/telescoping/collapsible poles. Skiers wouldn’t be caught dead using adjustable length poles and one-piece poles for Nordic Walking prove to be safer, lighter and much more durable than adjustable twist-locking poles.
