Date: 2009-09-25
To: Prep #11
Miles today: 0.0

CHARACTER-BUILDING WEATHERDoing dangerous things kicks the synapses with a rush, makes the air smell sweeter and gives everything an edge of clarity that playing it safe just doesn't do! The secret is to keep a good balance between safety and boldness. A lot of people have been raising concerns lately about my February start date on the AT and contending with the cold. So I dug up a trip report from a memorable winter hike I took in February 2008 where I met Firebug and Tornado Wolf for the first time. It will hopefully allay the fears of my ability to cope with what I¢ll face on the AT in February. Thought I¢d share it with you.2/8/08:   In the Midwest, we don¢t have bad weather in the winter. We call it character-building weather. I¢ve been going up to Newport State Park at the tip of Door County in northeast Wisconsin for 15 years now for their candlelight ski and something surprises me every time. As I pulled into the park at 3:00 Friday afternoon, about 10 wild turkeys were strutting alongside the road. It still disconcerts me that bowling balls can fly. And then right at the front gate there¢s this beautiful new structure which I think is going to be the new ranger station/visitor center. Knew immediately the camping fees would be higher and they were.Snowshoed in on the Lynd Point trail pulling 42 lbs. in a gear sled. Was first to arrive at Site 2 which can easily accommodate 6 tents and chose a place where I could guy the tent to trees since I heard it was supposed to be a bit windy Saturday night. Using four 18¢ long x 1¢ diameter sticks tied onto 3¢ of nylon braided string attached to my tent¢s stake loops, I used dead man stakes, buried them really deep and tamped a lot of snow on top. (I did such a good job, they froze in solid. That tent wasn¢t going anywhere! I had to cut the strings to free my tent when it was time to pack up.) Was all set up with everything stowed as it was getting dark. Cooked dinner for myself when I realized I had forgotten a spoon so used my coffee cup lid as a scoop. But then I remembered I also forgot my down coat. Took a count on how many layers I brought and had enough that I would be fine except if exposed to serious wind chill for an extended period of time. Really must start doing a checklist. You can do without a spoon but forgetting a coat? Getting older is so much fun.Figured it would be cheery to have a campfire going when Firebug and Tornado Wolf hiked in. I had spotted a few downed trees in the vicinity so collecting firewood wasn¢t hard even after dark.Just as I lit the kindling, Firebug shoed in. He had taken the scenic route and bless him, even brought a bundle of dry Door County wood so had my little fire going great in short time. Was very entertaining watching him set up his new Northface mountaineering tent for the first time. The guys weren¢t even tied onto it yet! But he got it up and looking awesome in about 35 minutes.Awhile later as we¢re chatting it up by the fire, Firebug spots a headlamp blinking from the Lynd Point trail. We figured it was Tornado Wolf coming in but the light never got closer. Finally curiosity prompted Firebug to hike over there where he could see it was a lighthouse out on Washington Island blinking and he had been sitting in just the right spot in camp to see it through all the trees.Around 10, we spotted a moving light coming up the Lynd Point trail and this time it was attached to a human¢Tornado Wolf. He backpacked in, set up quickly and even though he says he¢s new to all this camping stuff, he certainly looks and acts like he¢s been doing it for a long time.Saturday morning was overcast with temps in the 20¢s. Tornado Wolf went hiking along the lakeshore, Firebug and I went cross country skiing with him doing the south trails and I went north roughly following the shoreline . It had snowed a couple days before so all the trees were snow laden¢absolutely beautiful. The Lake has a drama of its own with its perpetual winter clouds and waves cresting over the ice. I skied up to Europe Bay and back down cutting off on the Fern Trail before heading back to camp.Stopped in at the ranger station and confirmed they were cancelling the candlelight ski that night due to weather. We all got back to camp around the same time, had lunch, then the boys took off adventuring on their own and I just soaked up the quiet in camp. For me the woods in winter are food for my soul. When they got back, we all got serious about wood gathering and it¢s amazing how much three people can gather in a short amount of time. Tornado Wolf had a lightweight hand chainsaw which cut like butter¢gotta get me one of them. Firebug had a lightweight handsaw so we had a stack of 2-3¢ diameter logs pretty quickly.After dinner we sat around enjoying the fire and telling all those unrepeatable stories to each other. Good time, lots of laughs¢all the while waiting for the character-building weather to move in. And it did with a vengeance about 9:00 pm. Heard the wind coming and a few minutes later all the snow laden trees caused a mini-blizzard for us. We were protected pretty well from the wind, but after about 45 minutes, we all sought the shelter of our tents. Temperatures were still in the mid-teens but dropping fast. I think we all had brought two sleeping bags each anticipating the below zero temps.Woke up at 2:00 in the morning with the sensation that my eyeballs were freezing. Hunkering down another six inches in my bag cured that. Tornado Wolf got up just before dawn to get some sunrise pictures. The wind was noticeable in camp¢it must have been fierce down by the Lake. He got a fire going which was nice to sit at having coffee. He said the temperature in Ellison Bay that morning was minus eleven (-11 F.) The wind was howling between 35-45 mph which gave us a -40 F. wind chill. We made it to morning alive, earned our bragging rights, built a lot of character, and decided to get out of Dodge. Not having my down coat with me, I decided to take the slightly longer trail back to the car through the woods rather than follow the exposed shoreline. This afforded me some protection from the ferocious wind coming right off Lake Michigan but it was still strong enough that I was wearing every layer I had plus my neoprene facemask and snow goggles. So we packed it all up in about 40 minutes and headed for the nearest warm restaurant in Sister Bay that had curious yellow-green icicles hanging from the roof eaves which probably have to do with the sod roof with live goats that are on it in the summer. But the rib-eye steak and Swedish pancakes were wonderful.