A favorite winter pastime of mine is donning my 30-inch mountaineering snowshoes and traipsing off into knee-high drifts off of some country lane near Chestnut Ridge or Zoar Valley. There’s magic in the way fresh snow can transform an unassuming woodrow into an undiscovered, primordial forest or a meadow into a stark, Antarctic ice field. It’s best to start out slowly, though, especially if you’ve never been snowshoeing, or if it’s been a while since your last trek (believe me, it can be awkward in those clodhoppers). Along those lines, the Olmsted Park Conservancy has scheduled two simple snowshoeing events in Delaware Park this month. The first, this Saturday morning, will be a one-mile hike around the golf course. Registration begins at 9 am in the Parkside Lodge and costs $5 per person (under 10 free). Snowshoes are available for rent from the Conservancy. All ages are welcome to attend and, if the weather doesn’t change soon, to bring along their clubs for a rollicking round of snowshoe golf (aerate the course while you play!). The second event is a 3-km hike at the same time and place the following Saturday (1/14).

Saturday, January 7 at 10am. Parkside Lodge in Delaware Park, 82 Parkside Ave. (838-1249). $5