Date: 2004-01-06
To: Shakedown 1
Miles today: 0.0

Monday January 5, between 20:15 and 23:00Sometime while watching Castaway I decided that I wanted to sleep outside. Then I looked outside: snowy and windy; check the thermometer, 10 degrees. Perfect.23:20-watching the local weather and the dude says that its going to be the coldest night we might see in a while and the snow is going to keep falling. Yahtzee.From 23:30 until about 00:30 (half past midnight) I gather my gear, check email, brush my teeth. I plan on eating a nice warm bowl of oats in the morning, out in tree house. The first thing I learned from Shakedown 1 was that my GSI Lexan mug is not totally leak proof. I poured 8oz of water in it for my oats in the morning and I noticed that it leaked when I tipped it on its side. Hmm, not sure if I didn¢t have the top tight enough or if it just isn¢t leak proof. Good to know. And yes, that is right, I said tree house. I pray I never get too old to sleep in a tree house. Tuesday January 6th, 00:30 I have shoveled 2 inches of snow out my room for the night. The tree house has 4 secure walls and a solid shingled roof but it also has screens for windows on all 4 walls. The screens run the entire length of the shelter and do a wonderful job of keeping the starlings out. Sadly their purpose is not to keep snow squalls at bay. At 00:35 I am snug in my mummy bag. The thermometer I brought in with me reads 8 degrees. I figure it¢s time to call Andy and see how his first day of school went. Andy was safely stuck at the police department griping to our coworkers about shelling out $400 for books and his dreadful school schedule. He has good reason to gripe, from what he told me, I wouldn¢t wish his workload on anyone, except him of course. By 00:45 I disconnected and decided to call it a night. The wind was howling, I could feel it a little on my face as it swirled, but my body would never have known it. By 01:00 I was outI woke for the 1st time at around 04:30 and was awake for about an hour. This is very normal for me as I have been working 3rd shift since last June. I do believe that was the last time I got a good, solid nights sleep too. So anyways back to sleep by 05:30 and I woke up at 08:30 to my mom sticking her head in the door making sure I was breathing. She did not stick around once I showed a response; I guess it was cold outside. Once I opened the hood on my mummy, it didn¢t take long for me to cool off. I quickly put the jacket I was using as a pillow on and readied my stove to cook some water. Yeah, water¢¦08:30- The 8oz I had so carefully wrapped in a fleece top and crammed deep in my stuff sack, was rock solid. No worries mate, I¢ll just melt some snow. First I better fire up the whisperlight. It took a mere minute to assemble the stove ensemble and then fill the priming cup with fuel. Then all I had to do was light the thing. I grabbed one of the lighters from my stove kit and flicked and flicked; no dice. Then I thought back to what I had read in Trailforums just hours before, how alcohol needs to be warmed to a certain temperature before it combusts. This is known as the ¢flashpoint¢. I learned that from Rodney Woolfarth¢s CJ 311, Criminal investigation. So I just figured the butane in the lighters had to be warmed up. I deemed a minute in my bag adequate and sure enough a flame, then a controlled fireball as the priming cup ignited. We¢re in business.08:40- back to the task at hand, water for my oats. The plan was to melt some snow, boil that water then dump it in my mug to break up the ice. I knew that if I filled the mug with snow and set it right on the stove it would scorch my pot and that was not what I was going for so I kinda held my Titan kettle over the flame. My hands were so cold I am not sure if this was a ¢good choice¢, but needless to say I melted about half an ounce worth of water. Just as I was to empty it in I saw a lady bug floating in my snow water. Not what I am looking for so I dumped that snow out and looked for some more fresh stuff. The process was again repeated and lo and behold, 2 ladybugs this time. Just as I was to through them out in disgust I decided to try something. I let the ounce of water come to a boil then took it from the heat and nested the mug in my kettle. Within seconds I could see the ice loosing its grip to the sides of the mug and I broke it up with my titan fork/ice breaker tool. The ladybug stew was tossed aside and 3 minutes later I had a full boil and 2 hot servings of apple and cinnamon Quaker oatmeal. As the water was boiling I took a video with my digital camera that I wish I could share with you all. It is a classic example of how the cold affects (or effects?) the brain. Even though I did not feel too terribly chilled sitting half out of my sleeping bag, I had symptoms of mild hypothermia. (Very mild mind you) I was trying to describe how I melted the ice in my mug and mumbled and stammered around, jumping from verb to noun, not making too terrible much sense. Simply this truly did amaze me. I didn¢t feel cold, yet I had early onsets of something very serious. A good lesson learned. Once I got the oatmeal in me, I was warmed and ready to go for a hike. So I did.09:30- Sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and stove kit are all inside the house. I gathered my pack and loaded it with all the gear I planned on using for the winter segment of my thru. Still stuck at 29 lbs with out food, fuel, or water. The trail for today was going to be a 7 mile jaunt around Swam Creek Pond in the Allegan State Game area, about 12 miles from my house. The news said about 6 inches fell overnight but it was hard to tell since it was blowing and drifting so much. I was looking to find out if weather like today¢s was okay to hike in or if it was better to take a zero day and stay safely tucked in the shelter. There¢s only one way to find out so I loaded up my jeep, whistled for my faithful yellow lab, Broots, and headed south into the storm.10:13- I realize that I never brushed my teeth this morning. I was in a bad mood for like 4 minutes until Broots licked my right ear and reminded me that I (we) are going hiking, no worries. Hakuna matata, or something. Fricken dogs. 10:30- Deep in the heart of the Allegan woods. I wanted to stop into the ranger station on my way to the trail head to let them know of my dance with danger but alas, due to budget cuts the ranger station has limited hours of operation. Good to know. By 10:45 I am at the trailhead and trying to decide what to wear. I switched off my Rage Against the Machine CD just in time to catch the weather report. Temps were around 10 degrees and the wind chill was minus 18. Sweet. I already had on my capilenes, top and bottom, as well as my zip off pants. I knew I needed gaiters but I slid on my rain pants first to serve as a layer of wind block; mark ¢good choice for Benny¢ if you are scoring at home. For my thorax I went with my heavier Duofold top over the capilene and my TNF wind-bloc fleece coat. If this is the jacket I plan to take for the winter part I mine as well test it in conditions like these. I left a note on my windshield that read something to fact that ¢I am a professional and I know what I am doing.¢ Actually it had my direction of travel, time, date, name, approximate ETA back to the Jeep, and home phone number. You never know. I attached my camera case to my hip belt before hoisting the pack. (Bad choice) As I swung the pack on, the 2.3 lb camera and case combination became a perfectly aimed shot to the junk (groin, twig and berries if you will). So much for setting the tone for the hike.   11:00-Movin¢ on the trail. By measurement via my hiking poles there looked to be between 7 and 8 inches on most of the trail. The wind was not noticeable unless you got to an exposed part near the lakeshore. My hands were actually quite cold for the first few hundred yards. I imagine my right hand finally said to my left, ¢Listen, Lefty, we ain¢t gonna get any more warm blood than we are getting¢ now, so we mine as well make do¢. I envision that¢s exactly how it went down. Needless to say I didn¢t hear a peep out of them the rest of the way. For a while I thought that my rain pants were too much and I should either vent them or take them off. But as soon as I would stop to either knock snow from the branches of a low hanging pine or scratch Broots¢s ears when he got in range, I immediately cooled down. It was too cold to stop moving, even out of the wind. Hiking in the snow like this taught me many things that I had forgotten about or are different for when the weather is more agreeable. For instance and for me, its best that I stop walking before doing any task, i.e. drinking from hose, putting camera back in case on hip belt, or readjusting straps. The reason is that I usually walk into something. Like today, I was sucking on the bite valve of my hose to get it to melt and walked into a low hanging snow laden pine bough. Snow all up in my grill and down my neck. Of course Broots the dog was there watching me. Fricken dogs. So hence forth I would cease forward advance if I was to occupy myself with another task, no matter how trivial it seemed. Mistakes add up and even simple ones can quickly become costly when the conditions are dangerous. Don¢t screw it up Ben.I was pleased with the pace I seemed to maintain. I made it halfway (3.5 miles) in about an hour and fifteen minutes. Not too bad in the snow. The problem was now that I no longer had acres of woods to block the wind as I was on the other side of the lake where the wind had all the room it needed to get up to speed. Le burr. (my best effort at French) I could feel myself begin to slow down and felt I needed a boost of energy, time for a pop tart break. I gave Broots a hotdog and a couple treats. I was kinda saving the hotdog incase I needed it but I couldn¢t say no. I noticed that the I wasn¢t getting any water through my hose though the bite valve was melted and the hose was clear. Using deductive logic, I followed the hose down to my Nalgene. There looked to be about 24 ounces left in it, it didn¢t make any sense. Upon closer inspection it was frozen. Not just by the hose, the whole thing. I then decided it be a good ideal to check my thermometer, 8 degrees. ¢I guess that¢s enough to do it¢ I said to Broots, he just cocked his head and said ¢got anymore hotdogs Benny?¢ Fricken dogs.I continued northbound back to the Jeep along the east shore of Swan Creek Pond. You¢d never guess how it gets its name so I¢ll tell you. There¢s usually a swan on her. We saw a pair and a mess of Canadian geese too. Broots ran out on the ice and chased the swans airborne. You see, Broots is a rather dumb Labrador, he thinks if it¢s running he can catch it. Needless to say he didn¢t get either of the swans.13:00 (1 o¢clock in the afternoon)- I was hauling. I paced myself to have about a mile left, three miles an hour, for two hours, not too bad. Then I made a mistake. Not one that I really could have done much about, but that doesn¢t change the outcome. The trail was off camber, sloping down from right to left. Across the trail, buried in 6 inches of snow was a smooth surfaced root that probably stuck out of the ground an inch or two. The root ran down hill and I stepped directly on it with the arch of my boot. As I shifted all the weight on my right foot, it slipped out from under me and I went down hard landing square on the IT band (right side) of my right knee. I sat there stunned for a second, not sure if I had blown my knee or what had just happened. I shifted back on my buttocks and recognized that I had simply fallen on the knee and there wasn¢t any wrenching or twisting. Thank the Lord. I stood up and did my best to walk it off, albeit not very successfully. The longer I stood on it, the worse I felt. I hobbled on my way careful not to screw up again. The last mile is always the longest and this held true to form. I also had one more narrow escape up my sleeve. As I navigated the last mile there were some more off camber, slanted trail sections. I think because I was favoring my right leg so much that when I planted it, twice it scooted out from underneath me, the second time it twisted me around and I began sliding backwards down the bank toward Swan Creek. Mind you this was very slowly; I had plenty of time to think. Also the shore line was ice, so that cuts the drama a bit, but I learned a valuable lesson. I had been hiking with my hands through the wrist loops of my Leki poles. When I began to slide down the dune I instinctively thought of self arrest techniques. The problem was that I could not get my wrists out of the loops in order to drive the carbide tips into terra firma. Using toe kicks I was able to stop my skate downhill without the aid of my poles. It got me thinking weather or not I want to use the wrist loops when I am in danger of sliding off the trail. I know when the trail is icy they are nice incase my gloved hands slip off the grip. Does anyone else have an opinion on the matter?After this last fall, I slowed to a creep. No more mistakes. Each foot meticulously and painstakingly planted. The last mile took a little under an hour. I was happy to find the keys still in my pocket and thrilled to hear the Jeep fire up, loose exhaust and all. I also duly noted the chirp of Nextel, noting a voicemail. Once the gear and dog where loaded, I checked it. It was Father. He didn¢t have much to say ¢cept that there was a murder in the vicinity overnight and the suspect was unaccounted for, a wolf escaped from the an area zoo, and that it was really ¢stormin¢ bad outside¢. Pops is always looking out for me. As I type, my knee is quite sore. No more sore that a bad bruise, but I feel it nonetheless. Mom is going to be home in a couple hours. I¢ll have to quit limping and wincing by then. Equipment debriefing: Everything held up well. My wind-bloc jacket was adequate. I am going to definitely look into a balaclava, most likely an Outdoor Research windproof jobbie. Also my neck could have used some protection. Maybe a dickie of some sorts. My Kombi gloves were great, no complaints. Gaiters kept my feet warm and dry. Rain pants did the same for my legs. Pack held up well. I think if I hike in heavy snow again I will use the rain cover. Not sure what I want to do about my Nalgene freezing solid. Time to eat again.