It rained for more than an hour last night so needless to say the yard was treacherous this morning.  The wind was gusting but it was warm and I couldn't decide what I wanted to do.  I really wanted to ski but knew the trails would be more suited to skating than skiing.  

I finally grabbed the cleats and the snowshoes and drove to the Strathcona Wilderness Centre.  There wasn't a parking spot to be found except for the overflow.  I didn't stay.  Instead I turned around and headed for the Cooking Lake - Blackfoot Recreation Area.  

That turned out to be a good choice.  There were about 6 vehicles in the parking lot and a couple of horse trailers that followed me in.  I put the snowshoes on and trudged through the soft snow to Neon Lake.

Earlier in the month when I was skiing, I noticed that the groomer had set some tracks on the lake surface.  I decided to follow his tracks to the lake shore. 

The warm temperatures over the past few days have melted much of the snow on the east end of the lake.  The west side still has about 4 inches.

I didn't realize that the park staff had cleared an area on the lake for skating.  There is usually a snowbank rink just off the parking lot and I had been watching to see if they were going to flood that area again.  I wish they would have posted some signs that skating was available on the lake.  I would have made good use of that surface.  It is about 4 times larger than the snowbank rink that I have been frequenting

The sun was shining in a clear blue sky. There wasn't a cloud to be seen.  It was a beautiful winter day and a great morning to be outside.