Planning a trip to the backcountry in winter

The solitude, quiet and frozen cold of a winter landscape are great reasons to head outdoors in January and February. You can snowshoe, ski, trek or go sledding. Sleep overnight in a tent, lean-to, yurt or cabin. Tree branches may snap, and lake ice may groan as it freezes and buckles. Or maybe the only sound you'll hear is the gentle shoosh, shoosh, shoosh of your snowshoes in powder.