Off The Beaten Path - Spring is Coming Written by Pim D.

 After another seemingly long winter, the month of March brings signs of warmer and nicer weather to come.  As the days get longer and warmer, our thoughts turn to summer activities.  With it comes the twice yearly changeover in outdoor recreational activities.

Now is the time to haul out your camping and fishing gear for summer and check everything over to see what needs cleaning, fixing and restocking so that everything is ready for outdoor fun when you are.  Take stock of what is broken or missing; perhaps you need new fishing lures.  Maybe the tent is missing some tent pegs and need to be replaced.  Perhaps the backpack needs a new buckle to replace one that is broken, or maybe, your hiking boots need new shoelaces.  Whatever the case, stores that carry outdoor supplies has everything you need to get your gear ready for summer fun.

While your attention is focused on getting your camping, fishing and other summer outdoor equipment ready, you also need to check over your winter gear that you just finished using before putting it away for the summer.  Are your snowshoe bindings wearing out?  Did one of your ski poles lose a basket?  Or perhaps is your snowboard scratched after hitting a rock that “wasn’t there before” at the ski hill?  All these things need to be looked after to ensure your winter equipment is in shape for the next winter and need to be stored properly for the off-season.

There will be a short period of time, the “between season” when you can’t do anything in the outdoors, but once the snow is gone and the ground dries out, you can look forward to summer fun on the trails, hills and lakes.