Going for walks in December can be difficult for me. I actually don’t mind being out in the rain or the snow, but I dislike the wind. The problem is getting out of the house. Once I am outside with the appropriate clothes on, I enjoy being out in nature and the temperature is not very important.
The other challenge with getting out for walks in December is the short window for daylight in which to go for walks out in nature, away from houses and lighting. For example, today, the 19th of December, two days before the winter solstice, sunrise was at 10.03 and sunset was at 14.22. When it is cloudy, it doesn’t seem very bright outside at sunrise or sunset. When looking outside from a brightly lit house, it seems darker than it actually is, once you are outside.
Weather-wise, December this year has been very varied. At the beginning of the month, we had quite cold temperatures, down to -12 degrees Celsius. We had snow on the ground and sunshine during the few hours of daylight. Then about the 13th of the month, it warmed up to +8 degrees Celsius and started to rain a lot. The snow disappeared. The ground is soggy. Paths in the woods are small streams or large puddles.
Today I went for about an hour’s walk starting at 11:30. I took a walk that goes both on dirt roads, paved roads and forest trail. I put on rain trousers and rain jacket. Toque and mitts were also put on. I wore winter walking boots that kept my feet dry in spite of the soggy ground. I enjoyed myself as it is quite a while since I have been out for a walk in the woods.
My goal was to get to Bjønnbråtte, which is on a cliff top. First I follow some gravel roads which are very easy walking. As I climbed up the hill, it was noticeable that it had been trying to snow, rather than rain, as I got higher up. There wasn’t much, but the temperature must have been close to freezing point and I had to be careful that I didn’t slip.
Once I got into the woods, the trail was not only damp, but the stream was following it and there were large puddles to pick my way around. The walk to Bjønnbråtte is about 20 minutes from home.
Today I decided to walk home via Sysvedalen and Vangshylla. At the bottom of Sysvedalen is a very small beach, used mostly for pulling small boats up on land to be stored there when not in use. It is a pebble beach, not sand. What attracted my attention today was the amount of seaweed that had been washed up on the beach. It has been quite stormy lately and today I was there at about high tide. Looking up the data about high tide, it was highest, at 307 cm, at about 11:50 which is quite a high tide for us. It was a full moon last night, which gives us quite high tides.
Once I was home again, I was glad that I had gone outside. I often wonder why I don’t get out more, as I really enjoy myself, even if it is raining. The weather forecast is for snow again, perhaps even tonight. I’ll just have to see what it is like tomorrow and make an effort to get outside again.
I hope you, my readers, are getting out for fresh air and exercise regularly. Don’t put it off, no matter the weather. Just find a terrain that suits you, dress for the weather and away you go. Remember the Scandinavian expression: “There is no such thing as bad weather”, but you do have to dress appropriately for the weather that you have.
Yes, there is no such thing as bad weather. Not only is that the title of a 2017 book by Linda Åkeson McGurk about a Scandinavian mom’s secrets for raising healthy, resilient and confident children, but a direct quotation from Alfred Wainwright’s, A Coast to Coast Walk (1973): “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.”