On a foggy day in town, we climbed above the cloud layer to snowshoe in the upper grasslands.   We followed the old grass-dirt track into the meadows, then the route into Clay Lake to see the old Reid Homestead and the views across the meadows at the top of the Community Grasslands Trail.   We then wnet through the forest through a low pass and came out into the upper meadows, full of aspen groves and small ponds.   We enjoy going down to Stony Lake and then down the trail toward the Lac du Bois Road, and finally up the ponds north to the start.   Snowshoers can set their own trail anywhere, but 8 of us set a pretty good track to follow.

Vehicle Access:

• drive north on the Lac du Bois Road and continue until you enter the forest right before the southwest end of McQueen Lake
• park at the pullout area in front of the large sign before the fenceline, or along the road
• walk back along the road 220m south to the orange gate on the east side (the trailhead)

The Route

• there is a double track here, but it covered in snow
• continue past the north end of the pond and up the hill to a junction
• the left track leads over to Clay Lake; the right goes into the open meadows
• if you go to Clay Lake, you can loop by going through the forest through a low pass back to the meadows
• alternately, you can retrace your steps
• aim south through the meadows and the aspen islands
• Stony Lake is a large pond which sits at the foot of a hill to the southwest
• there is a new fencceline in the area installed by the Nature Conservancy of Canada; follow it west
• follow an obvious trail down toward the ponds below
• when the Lac du Bois Road is in sight, turn north and follow the line of three ponds back to your starting point
• this route is about 6km (2 hours) on the snow