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View Full Version : I think it's time for a winter overnight!



shelterbuilder
01-23-2008, 22:18
Well, my annual shelter inspections are finished, work is getting to me (again), and so I think that it's time to retreat to the mountains for a little "walking therapy". I haven't been out in below-freezing temps for quite a while, so I guess that this is the weekend for it. (Too bad that I couldn't get away last weekend, when the temps were in the teens overnight!!!)

I have some new equipment that I have to break in, so I think I'll head for somewhere close-by (somewhere between the Lehigh River and the Susquehanna River). And, yes, I STILL have the damm feeding tube in, so I'll be having fun keeping all of those little cans of liquid nutrition from freezing!:D:D:D

Yahtzee
01-23-2008, 22:27
Ah, Lehigh Valley. Always love walking the Superfund site. One of the coolest spots on the AT. Rausch Gap south to the river is beautiful walking, as well. That's my home turf and I miss it.

saimyoji
01-23-2008, 23:43
We camped along Rattling Run this passed weekend. Was about 6* in the morning. Some great spots along there.

DuctTape
01-24-2008, 00:34
Isn't Rattling Run the one north of Pocahontas Spring (Not AT North)? I love that little spot in there - it feels about as isolated as it gets around here - the ridges block out all the highway noise.

saimyoji
01-24-2008, 19:20
Thats it.

winger
01-24-2008, 20:03
Yes I know what a feeding tube is, but why do you have one?

shelterbuilder
01-24-2008, 20:20
Yes I know what a feeding tube is, but why do you have one?

In the aftermath of my larynx cancer surgery in May '07, I still have a fistula (hole) in my throat that hasn't closed - anything by mouth literally falls out of the hole! The Peg tube by-passes the hole, going directly into the stomach. I've been on 3 overnights since surgery, and boy! did I get some funny looks at lunchtime!

(The docs are now talking about doing a "pec flap" procedure [taking a flap of muscle from my chest and grafting it into the hole to close it], but no date has been set yet. And I'm not putting my life on hold until the med pros get their act together.:D I'll know more this coming week - I go back to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital for a reconstruction consultation.)

Elf
01-25-2008, 00:57
Seeing how the cross country skiing around here is a good bit worse than usual (and it's never good anyway) I was thinking today that it's about time I head up to Lehigh Gap or the Pinnacle or somewhere for an afternoon in the woods. :-? What's in season in PA right now besides game wardens, anyway? I need to know how to dress.

Roland
01-25-2008, 05:26
~ I'm not putting my life on hold until the med pros get their act together.:D I'll know more this coming week - I go back to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital for a reconstruction consultation.)

You are a trooper, SB. I wish you a full and speedy recovery.

camojack
01-25-2008, 08:50
Well, my annual shelter inspections are finished, work is getting to me (again), and so I think that it's time to retreat to the mountains for a little "walking therapy". I haven't been out in below-freezing temps for quite a while, so I guess that this is the weekend for it. (Too bad that I couldn't get away last weekend, when the temps were in the teens overnight!!!)

I have some new equipment that I have to break in, so I think I'll head for somewhere close-by (somewhere between the Lehigh River and the Susquehanna River). And, yes, I STILL have the damm feeding tube in, so I'll be having fun keeping all of those little cans of liquid nutrition from freezing!:D:D:D
Get thee to the PA Ruck; you can camp overnight in the cold there, and have company. :welcome
(I'll be indoors, just down the road...)

BlackCloud
01-25-2008, 10:02
I live in FLA now, where there is no winter.

Don't rub it in people.

ki0eh
01-25-2008, 10:12
What's in season in PA right now besides game wardens, anyway? I need to know how to dress.

http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=460&q=161003

Looks like grouse and the remaining muzzleloader WMU's go out on 1/26. But spring turkey starts coming in 4/19 this year and doesn't leave until Memorial Day Monday.

JAK
01-25-2008, 10:35
There is still enough of a full moon for some overnight hiking.
I finally got around to it, but didn't leave until 5:50am or so.

The moon rise tonight is 9:10pm here, so I will try to get out and take some pics. I would really like to capture some pics of coyotes out on the ice. What is the best way to take pics at night with a cheap digital camera? I think I can figure out how to disable the flash.

shelterbuilder
01-25-2008, 22:01
Get thee to the PA Ruck; you can camp overnight in the cold there, and have company. :welcome
(I'll be indoors, just down the road...)

No, not this year - I NEED to get out on the AT in the cold by myself for a bit. But thanks for the invite - maybe next time, after my medical issues are a bit more resolved....:D

Elf
01-25-2008, 23:39
Do you think you could keep your cans unfrozen with those little chemical hand-warmer packs? That actually might be overkill, but it's rather inexpensive insurance.

Maybe we'll cross paths in the woods sometime :).

shelterbuilder
01-27-2008, 13:49
Do you think you could keep your cans unfrozen with those little chemical hand-warmer packs? That actually might be overkill, but it's rather inexpensive insurance.

Maybe we'll cross paths in the woods sometime :).

No, I don't think that they have enough heat output over time to warm the volume that I need to carry.

shelterbuilder
01-27-2008, 14:09
:bananaOkay, folks - here's how it went. Temps on Saturday ranged from 28* to 38* during the day, but fell to about 20* overnight. I started at Lehigh Furnace Gap and only hiked as far as Bake Oven Knob, then decided to turn around and spend the night at the Bake Oven Knob shelter. (If anything had gone really wrong medically or otherwise, I could have bailed out downhill, since I know some folks who live there.)

I was carrying a whole case of those "silly little cans" of liquid nutrition in a soft-side insulated cooler that was heated with 1 quart of hot - not boiling - water in a rubber ice bag. (The cooler JUST fit in my frame pack.) I fired up the alcohol stove once at lunchtime to re-heat 3/4 of the water, and again at suppertime to do the same, but the alcohol stove just couldn't keep up with the heat loss. Fortunately, one of the other guys who was camped at the shelter let me use his canister stove - we BOILED 3 cups of water and sealed up the cooler for the night. By morning, the cans were at about room temperature, which was fine, since I was coming out anyway.

Lessons learned:
1.) leave the alcy stove at home and buy a canister stove for the next winter trip! (I had enough extra gear that I didn't use that I can leave out next time to make up the extra weight of the canister stove.)
2.) next time, pre-heat the cans and the cooler overnight! It's not just the heat of the water, but also the thermal mass of the cans themselves that plays a part in this process. But the process does work!

And it felt great to get out again in the winter!!!:banana

Toolshed
01-27-2008, 14:14
Schucks... maybe I'll get out there this coming weekend. I need a nice cold overnight.

Patrickjd9
01-27-2008, 14:43
And it felt great to get out again in the winter!!!:banana
Congratulations! I'm impressed. :sun