Tom Rankin
Well-known member
The huge temperature swing and the huge amount of rain brought with it a few observations:
My pole straps and Laurie's snowshoe straps were useless in the morning when it was below 0, because we had left them in the trunk for 2 nights, after hiking in the warm, wet conditions 2 days before. They were frozen stiff. I had always thought of my poles, crampons, snowshoes (metal stuff) as being impervious to the elements, but the straps are not!
There is no such thing as waterproof hiking gear! I don't care what anyone says! Either it gets wet from the outside, or the inside. This does not mean that you should give up though. The dryer you can stay, the better off you will be. Thankfully, the temperatures were warm enough in the Adirondacks (40's falling to about 32) that hiking while soaking wet was not a problem. Any colder, and it could have been a major problem. If it's going to rain, bring extra layers, so you can change into something dry from time to time.
Public laundromats with lots of dryers are wonderful places!
The one in Lake Placid (on the west side of town) is actually a very nice facility. It was staffed by a friendly, helpful woman (who hates the cold! ), who even refunded me some of my many quarters, after we noticed that one of the dryers wasn't working very well. And it had a TV so we could watch the football game!
Cold beer doesn't freeze in a cooler, even if you leave it in the trunk at 0-10 degrees for 8 hours!
There are not 2, not 3, but 4 Wolf Jaws! Upper-Upper, Lower-Upper, Upper-Lower and Lower-Lower.
There's a lot of Sawteeth!
Amazingly, my digital camera worked fairly well at 0 degrees! It had been failing quite a bit lately in higher temperatures.
My pole straps and Laurie's snowshoe straps were useless in the morning when it was below 0, because we had left them in the trunk for 2 nights, after hiking in the warm, wet conditions 2 days before. They were frozen stiff. I had always thought of my poles, crampons, snowshoes (metal stuff) as being impervious to the elements, but the straps are not!
There is no such thing as waterproof hiking gear! I don't care what anyone says! Either it gets wet from the outside, or the inside. This does not mean that you should give up though. The dryer you can stay, the better off you will be. Thankfully, the temperatures were warm enough in the Adirondacks (40's falling to about 32) that hiking while soaking wet was not a problem. Any colder, and it could have been a major problem. If it's going to rain, bring extra layers, so you can change into something dry from time to time.
Public laundromats with lots of dryers are wonderful places!
The one in Lake Placid (on the west side of town) is actually a very nice facility. It was staffed by a friendly, helpful woman (who hates the cold! ), who even refunded me some of my many quarters, after we noticed that one of the dryers wasn't working very well. And it had a TV so we could watch the football game! Cold beer doesn't freeze in a cooler, even if you leave it in the trunk at 0-10 degrees for 8 hours!
There are not 2, not 3, but 4 Wolf Jaws! Upper-Upper, Lower-Upper, Upper-Lower and Lower-Lower.
There's a lot of Sawteeth!
Amazingly, my digital camera worked fairly well at 0 degrees! It had been failing quite a bit lately in higher temperatures.
