The Snowshoe Commute Across Lake Monona

The snowshoe commute to work across Lake Monona is one of the great pleasures of winter in Madison. Starting from Olbrich Park, there is a choice of routes. One is to skirt the lake's north shoreline, getting off the lake at Yahara Place Park to cross the Yahara River on the Rutledge Street bridge, and getting back on the lake one block west at Morrison Park for the duration of the trek. The other option is to venture way out toward the middle of the lake to get around the middle Yahara River's mouth (because the flow can make for unpredictable ice). Both routes reconverge near the snowfence that marks the warm-water effluent zone from Madison Gas & Electric's Blount Street generating plant, where the final approach to the commute's conclusion at Monona Terrace affords a perspective of the isthmus skyline that is worth savoring in the silence that comes with stopping for a moment.