@sing said:
Get your snow shoes or x-country skis ready. Looks like a change in the jetstreams is going to bring a gravy train of real nor’easters to New England by the end of this week.
Snow on Saturday night, but then rain on Sunday down here in southern New England. It will keep the rivers full, but won’t do much for the snowshoeing. I brought my C1 to the local pool session, and all the sea kayakers were asking if it took it surfing - maybe I should try.
Come up here. We have about two to three feet in the woods icy hard . Harper per the Weather Channel( which is usually wrong) has us in the two feet more track… That ought to bring us back to average for the winter… We have had constant snowpack since November 11 except for one day… Christmas. Had a lot of rain… It could have been a banner snow year. I would like to switch from crampons to snowshoes.
@sing said:
Get your snow shoes or x-country skis ready. Looks like a change in the jetstreams is going to bring a gravy train of real nor’easters to New England by the end of this week.
Snow on Saturday night, but then rain on Sunday down here in southern New England. It will keep the rivers full, but won’t do much for the snowshoeing. I brought my C1 to the local pool session, and all the sea kayakers were asking if it took it surfing - maybe I should try.
Come up here. We have about two to three feet in the woods icy hard . Harper per the Weather Channel( which is usually wrong) has us in the two feet more track… That ought to bring us back to average for the winter… We have had constant snowpack since November 11 except for one day… Christmas. Had a lot of rain… It could have been a banner snow year. I would like to switch from crampons to snowshoes.
We have been totally missing the white, cold stuff down here in southern new England. We are near or at record low for the lack of snowfall. Looks like we are missing it again this weekend (I jinxed it)…
I was going to go up to western ME back over the new years week. My neighbor said, “Don’t!” That my driveway was a thick coat of ice covered with a thin layer of snow. At this point, I am sure the iced over driveway is covered over with several more feet of snow and ice. Probably won’t go up that way 'til April (unless I am willing to hire a contractor to go in with a frontloader).
Sing, don’t just drive on that snow. A former neighbor didn’t bother to clear his driveway. He drove over it every day, packing that snow down into a thick glacier. When the ice grew so high he had trouble making it up the hump from the edge of the county-graded and bladed road, he finally started up his Bobcat. The ice was so hard he could not scrape it off. I don’t remember what he ultimately used to try to break the ice, but it took several days of work and looked like a hack job. A real mess when spring thaws arrived.
I’ve always liked snow hiking, even overnight winter backpacking and ski touring in my younger days. Used to just wear vibram-soled boots but added the slip-on ice cleats in the last few years. Have mixed feelings about them – some have been bulky and others tended to come loose or catch on things. I still use those around town but last year I got a pair of the Swedish-made “IceBug” boots for woodland hikes. They have small spikes molded into the soles, like the tricouni nails that European climbers used to pound into their leather boots.
There’s a small on-line outfitter in State College, PA, who sells the discontinued and overstock models on Ebay for less than half the list price. I got a high top hiker model (I think they were under $40) and have been happy with them. Comfortable and warm, though you can’t wear them on hard surfaces or indoors, so they are really best for putting on and taking off at the trail head. Note that you have to choose the “BugGrip” model to get the spikes. The “BugSole” is just high traction rubber.
@pikabike said:
Sing, don’t just drive on that snow. A former neighbor didn’t bother to clear his driveway. He drove over it every day, packing that snow down into a thick glacier. When the ice grew so high he had trouble making it up the hump from the edge of the county-graded and bladed road, he finally started up his Bobcat. The ice was so hard he could not scrape it off. I don’t remember what he ultimately used to try to break the ice, but it took several days of work and looked like a hack job. A real mess when spring thaws arrived.
I am lucky to have a neighbor tries to keep my drive open with his pick up and plow. If saids he can’t do it because of the icy buildup, well… Looks like I won’t get up there until spring/mud season.
Only problem is that my snowshoes and x-country skills are all still up there…
New member. I’m pretty much a fair ( warm ) weather, sit-on-top, lake paddler but had considered going out this week. I was planning to stay within 15 yards of shore ( Lake Whatcom near Bellingham, WA ) and then a doctor friend made a comment about those plans. Our daytime air temps have been around 45 F and as far as I can tell the Lake runs about the same this time of year. Definitely well below the rule of 120 mentioned in this video ( air temp plus water temp >=120 or be prepared for survival after immersion. )
I’ve never felt even close to capsizing since I don’t ( yet ) fish from the kayak, but I am 70 years old and have to consider the risks. Honestly the cost of the proper gear, along with risk, makes me think sticking to hiking and the local gym make more sense. Even if I could swim to shore in 20 seconds, I might have a 1 mile-hike back to the car ( there’s a nice level trail that parallels where I typical paddle )
Hiking is a great alternative . I’m also 70 and paddle a SOT and yesterday my sometimes paddling partner talked me out of being on the water. Hung out at the lake just to get out.
Hey Sing, I have seen the wave as high as 6 feet. It is a twice/day thing but only gets big with Neap tides. Once Paris and I caught the Bore at the mouth of Twenty Mile River. Was not big but 6 beluga swam along us as we rode it in
Another weekend arrives, and no-one seems to be paddling, but there are two hikes on Saturday - I guess I know what I will be doing. Snow on Saturday in to Sunday.
Hiking in the winter is a great activity. We are going out this weekend in -20 (Celsius) (-4 F) temps. Bundle up, grease up your exposed parts, and enjoy. If the snow is heavy we will snow shoe over the same tract. Only about 10-12 weeks until back on the water.
@eckilson said:
Another weekend arrives, and no-one seems to be paddling, but there are two hikes on Saturday - I guess I know what I will be doing. Snow on Saturday in to Sunday.
Not “paddling…” Paddle surfing. Winter (swell) is coming.
@Chuck von Yamashita said:
Hey Sing, I have seen the wave as high as 6 feet. It is a twice/day thing but only gets big with Neap tides. Once Paris and I caught the Bore at the mouth of Twenty Mile River. Was not big but 6 beluga swam along us as we rode it in
Twice a day! Heck, that is way more dependable than waiting around for a winter storm! Never been to Alaska… Hmm…
Based on this chart at usaKayak.org in water 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit they recommend a dry suit. I’m probably not going to spend for a dry suit but I could do a wet suit. It’s surprisingly hard to find water temperatures year round in various lakes. Then of course there is the difference between temperature at the surface and 3 feet down for example. I found water temperature samples taken at the outflow of my lake between May and November and it looks like it’s above 60 deg F mid-May through mid-October where I could get by with a wet suit. It peaks at about 75 deg F in late July. The wetsuits come in various thicknesses which I know nothing about, but it could also come in handy for summer snorkeling.
Someone, maybe John McPhee, wrote that AK is best first visited later in life. The vast areas of wild country spoil you for anywhere else in the US. I agree.
The problem is if you fall in love with it, getting used to living in that climate, the remoteness outside of the few cities, and all the related demands is probably easier when you are young.
@pikabike said:
Someone, maybe John McPhee, wrote that AK is best first visited later in life. The vast areas of wild country spoil you for anywhere else in the US. I agree.
The problem is if you fall in love with it, getting used to living in that climate, the remoteness outside of the few cities, and all the related demands is probably easier when you are young.
My plan was to retire to Okinawa, then I moved to Anchorage. I ain’t no spring chicken now. Anchorage really is pretty mild.
@pikabike said:
Someone, maybe John McPhee, wrote that AK is best first visited later in life. The vast areas of wild country spoil you for anywhere else in the US. I agree.
The problem is if you fall in love with it, getting used to living in that climate, the remoteness outside of the few cities, and all the related demands is probably easier when you are young.
My plan was to retire to Okinawa, then I moved to Anchorage. I ain’t no spring chicken now. Anchorage really is pretty mild.
Yeah, at least mild for AK. People I talked to on Wrangell who had moved from GA said the winters were cold but rarely down to zero F cold.
The difficulty I would have is with the extreme differences in daylight hrs in winter vs summer. I noticed this even in NW WA, only about latitude 48 deg N.
Another day of hiking rather than paddling - at least we were down by a river - the Charles. I have paddled by here many times. A little ice, but for the most part the river was open.
Couple inches of snow last night, but it has already turned to rain, so it is going to turn into a sloppy mess. Later today the temperatures are going down to the teens, so it is all going to freeze.
Sing - hope you can get some wave action in today.
@eckilson said:
Another day of hiking rather than paddling - at least we were down by a river - the Charles. I have paddled by here many times. A little ice, but for the most part the river was open.
Couple inches of snow last night, but it has already turned to rain, so it is going to turn into a sloppy mess. Later today the temperatures are going down to the teens, so it is all going to freeze.
Sing - hope you can get some wave action in today.
The Charles…? Where/which town are you hiking? I am in one of Boston’s outer neighborhoods, about 2 miles from the Charles in Dedham. I am totally locked in with frozen rain. Got about .5" ice covering my street and I live on the top of a hill. Won’t be able to get anywhere until the sanding truck makes another run. It last came by about 4 hours ago. Can’t imagine the land around the Charles even out in the western suburbs not being iced over with sleet and frozen rain right now. Got to watch for the possibility of falling tree limbs in these icy conditions.
In terms of swells, we got 11’ plus @ 8-9 seconds. Something should be still be lingering around for the next couple of days…
Looks like an indoor workout day today, followed by a night of watching the Patriots in the AFC finals…
