TOP: This should have been an omen...is it a trailhead, or a cemetary?
2nd: Sierra, hound dog extraordinaire
3rd: Sierra owner, Marty, signing the trail register (since Sierra is not too good with a pen)
4th: Jerry's delaminated boot
BOTTOM: The hike crew (minus Lumpy) about half-way in. They were still smiling and could feel their fingers at this point.
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Well, onward and upward as we start the new year off with our mostly-annual new years hike. We've been doing this on and off for around 10 years now, and have gotten at least 5-6 of them under our belts.
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My outdoors friend Chris picks a trail, and we go for either a one day or two day winter hike. The weather has varied from zero to 50 degrees, from deep snow to running mud, and from no wind to 50mph gusts. You just never know what will happen.
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This year we headed down near Keuka Lake, one of the Finger Lakes, with a planned 7 mile saturday, overnight in a lean-to, and 6 mile sunday. The weather was turning increasingly cold, but at least no major snowstorm inbound. There was a decent snowpack however, so we knew we'd have a hard hike ahead of us.
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The morning started without our usual finely honed logistics. First, Tom's knee failed out on him on friday, so he had to bail out. Then, Gill and Lisa decided to make it a day hike only...something about being in a sleeping bag, in the woods, with Chris...go figure. Then, Marty was late arriving. So, a breakfast, 2 hours late, and several cups of hot chocolate later, we were ready to go.
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We decided, in the interest of keeping a common speed, to stash our overnight packs near the lean-to before heading down to the starting trailhead. Man, did this turn out to be a good idea, as it ended up taking us 5 HOURS to hike 7 MILES, given the snow depth and terrain. What a workout. Unfortunately, we also stashed our snowshoes, and wouldn't they have turned out to be useful when the snow got over 2 feet deep.
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About an hour in Jerry's gives an "Ruh-Roh George", as his boot delaminated (Sole came unglued and left flapping). Hard enough as the hike was, this was not a good thing. Luckily, I had enough duct tape to get the shoe put together and allow him to carry on, albeit with a big lump of ice under his toes. Every time we'd stop for even a minute or two, skinny-girl Lisa would start shivering and we'd all get pretty cold. So, we got little water and food along the way. Then, the sun started peaking out from bahind the snowclouds, so we'd get 10 minutes of bright sunshine, causing us to drop a layer or two of clothes else sweat to death, then the cloud layer would build back up, and it would drop 10 degrees in minutes and we'd freeze. I had ice crystals in my hair, and was quickly losing feeling in my previously frostbitten fingers. This temperature variation, coupled with the terrain, and postholing through the deep snow, made for a serious workout.
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Anyhow, we finally got to the lean-to, and I'd had enough. I bailed out and went home with the girls...to a delicious burger and several cold beers...the only cold thing that I wanted the rest of the day! The boys stayed over, and were found by the conservation officials the following morning..frozen stiff like ice cubes. Word was it's the stiffest any of them have been in a decade :-)
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"OK, I''m a wimp, but a well-fed, warm wimp" Lumpy out
