Greetings,

I live in north eastern ohio and I have not done a lot of winter hiking in the past however I have a bad case of cabin fever, and am really feeling the need to be outside hiking; however with my limited winter hiking experence, I feel I would be outside my comfort zone doing a longer trip alone.
If anyone is interested in meeting up for a shake down winter hike and lives in the area I would be very interested.

All the best, Nathan Stebner

I live near Cincinnati and I also am hesitant on going out alone. I leave for college in June/July and would like to get in a few trips before that time.

Nathan,
I'm Marty Cooperman and live in Cleveland Heights.
I've been out winter camping quite a bit.
I'm part of the North East Ohio Backpacking Club and there are several winter trips scheduled and more to come.

I'm hoping to get out on President's Day weekend.
One fly in the ointment is that 2 weeks ago I suffered what might be a partial meniscus tear in my knee, ostensibly from running, but more likely from 2 days of off-trail snowshoeing. I like snowshoeing.

The Dr. told me to baby my knee, not flex it, take ibuprofen and ice it regularly and not stress it for several weeks. It might heal or it might not. I go back to see her just before the President's Day trip for the verdict.

I've been babying it by walking home from work downtown, walking to shopping and visiting friends and walking anywhere from 8 to 17 miles on the weekends. It's more fun in the woods, but I have to do road walking so as to not flex the knee too much going up and down hills.

Contact me at m(dot)cooperman(at)csuohio(dot)edu and we'll chat.

Thanks,
Marty