I’m just slipping in under the Wednesday wire here, but cani-hiking in early spring in Minnesota reminds me of how dangerously icy the world can be. This time of year it tends to warm up to slush-level temperatures during the day, then re-freeze at night. Until all of the snow and slush have completely disappeared, these little suckers are my best friends:

I much prefer the microspike style to the coiled wire styles such as Yaktrax. The coils are fine for packed snow, but for me they don’t quite cut it on ice when I’m walking the dogs. The brand I have is Kahtoola MICROspikes and I’ve been very happy with them. They are pricey, but I have had mine for at least 5 years and they are still going strong, and as you can see above they even fit on my gigantic, serious Sorel boots (although they fit on an ordinary pair of shoes as well).

By the time I remember to do another WILW, I imagine it will probably be something more spring-themed than this, but for now while I can’t ski and I can’t scooter, I can at least still walk and hike without slipping and falling to my icy doom.