Eric and his buddy Trevor are big fans of the Mantracker show, a reality show in which a search and rescue expert on horseback, armed with a local guide, tries to apprehend two contestants before they achieve a finish line ~20 miles away before 36 hours elapse. The contestants have a map, a compass and a 2k head start.

Eric and Trevor’s version started off more like ‘chase me through the woods’, but with the snow cover we decided to change the game.

The boys and I were equipped with emergency whistles and walkie-talkies.  They gave me a 15 minute head start as I left tracks through the our 40 acre wood lot.  I doubled back a couple of times and found an observation point where I could view them following my trail.  I donned my “secret weapons”; a white Tyvek disposable lab coat and white Tyvek pants.  I pulled my cream colored wool hat down low and laid down in a snow drift to watch.

The boys were loud and easy to follow.  After about 30 minutes they were nearly on top of me when I rose up from the snow drift behind a stump and shouted “Did you miss me boys?!!”

Eric froze like his heart stopped and Trevor started looking for a tree to climb.   After their pulses returned to normal we agreed it was the best Mantracker ever.  The boys took off for the mailbox as their ‘finish line’.  I was unable to catch them and we went in for hot chocolate and a re-hash of the game.