Even if snow never comes to the North Shore, snowshoeing is an enjoyable way to get around.On Saturday, I got my first-ever snowshoeing lesson at the Weston Ski Track. It was Winter Trails Day, and the track, located at the Leo J. Martin Golf Course on Park Road (off Rte. 30 West), offered free snowshoeing trail passes and demos.Wait, you’re asking, wasn’t it warm on Saturday? Yes, but the track makes its own snow to cover its trails, which stretch for about two kilometers.”Snowshoeing is a wonderful, low-impact aerobic activity that requires no special skills and allows you to visit winter landscapes that were previously out of reach,” the ski track website, www.skiboston.com, reads. “If you can walk, you can snowshoe! Today’s snowshoes are remarkably light and mount very quickly onto your footwear.”Some nice folks from the outdoor recreation company REI helped fit me, my girlfriend Laura, and her cousin Leo with snowshoes. The 21st-century snowshoes sure don’t look like the wooden ones that were once used by Native American tribes and Europeans. Many models incorporate materials like aluminum and steel – aluminum for the frames, steel to help you gain traction. (You can also walk with poles, although our snowshoes didn’t come with them.) Ours had straps – two along the midfoot and one for the heel. I asked one REI staffer if he had any advice, and he said not to walk with the shoes too close together.I followed Laura and Leo along the trail, which sloped upward. I focused on lifting first one foot, then the other, feeling the snowshoes settle back into the trail surface. I noticed one woman in snowshoes catching up to us on our right and decided to see if I could walk faster. As I recall, I got to the top of the ascent first ? but then had to take a breather.Shortly after Laura, Leo and I had reached the top of the slope, we headed back. This presented the trickiest part of our excursion. The trail looked as steep as Mount Washington on the way down. I took small steps and concentrated on keeping my core level and tucked in. This got me downhill. Laura and Leo made it back with no problems, too. (Some snowshoes are designed to ameliorate such conditions. On its website, REI claims that the heel cleats of the Atlas 1035 “provide superior downhill traction.”)My legs didn’t exactly feel sore after I unstrapped the snowshoes, but they did feel like they had gotten a workout. When Laura suggested we go to the ski track shop for a hot chocolate, I heartily approved.Adults and children ages 11 and up can take snowshoe lessons at the track on many weekends and holidays (lessons and trail pass are $33 for adults, $29 juniors, $20 children; rentals cost extra). Online reservations are encouraged. The track also rents snowshoes for those who simply wish to explore its trails ? which increase in length to 15 kilometers when the “real” snow arrives; you can also go off-site.Just as our snowshoes left an imprint on the trails, they also left an imprint on the day. Later on, we stopped by the Main Streets Market and Café in nearby Concord. There, on the wall of the historic café, were a decorative pair of wooden snowshoes. These ones, though, we didn’t ask to try out.Rich Tenorio can be reached at [email protected].