@castoff said:
For 38 years 2 of my brother-in-laws, a mutual friend, and I have done on average a 5 day and 4 night backpacking trip In the Smokies/ AT/ and other high mountain sections of the southern Appalachian between Christmas and New Years. I haven’t snow-shoed but have hiked in knee deep snow. Your not alone. This year I didn’t go with them as our 9 MO granddaughter is visiting right now from Arkansas.
And you are too old!
Minus 22F air temp this morning, but a brilliant sunny day. Great Lakes making ice fast. Now at 15% which is impressive for December. Once the ice fills the Straits and surrounds Beaver Island, that will shut down the lake effect snow machine for a good part of the tip of the mitt. I’m okay with that as 12 to 20" of snow a day got old fast.
78 days until spring.
Yep. Nature slammed the door on paddling quite abruptly this year in St Joe. I was swimming in Lake Michigan with my wife in October and paddling in warm weather with the puppy until the very end of November. Then 2 weeks later even the St Joseph river formed shore ice immediately after the small lakes froze. This morning it looked like there was a couple hundred yards of slushy ice on Lake Michigan. We also get the “benefit” of reduced lake effect snow if The Lake freezes but overall we don’t mind the snow if we get the warming benefit…it is often 10-15 degrees warmer here than Chicago. But not this year.
Minus 22 yikes where’s that? Santa’s lodge?
@Rookie said:
Minus 22F air temp
So, about -30°C on this side of the border… which I’ve only witnessed here once myself a couple years ago. I thought for sure my thermometer was broken until I went to start my truck. I knew it was correct when the engine only made a bit of a groan before giving up.
Seems we all agree. It’s cold.
Current water temperate of 53F. Air temp will reach about 60 as high today.
You guys get us back in the summer/fall, as our ocean water temperature only reaches about 60F as a high.
@PaddleDog52 said:
Minus 22 yikes where’s that? Santa’s lodge?
Probably warmer at Santa’s digs. Coldest I recall is -34F some years ago, in February. That’s really brisk.
Looking at my favorite salt water launch… Its frozen… Fantastic pressure ridges. Arctic sea smoke where there is open water
@PaddleDog52 said:
New Year’s day paddle in jeopardy.
Unfortunately, yes. It’s -3 here this morning with wind chill around -20. It’s been this way for a week, and sounds like it will continue this way for another week. We don’t typically get this type of cold in southern New England. Water temps in the rivers are right around freezing, and even moving water is icing up. Here is one of my favorite pictures - looking upstream at Staircase on the Scantic in CT.
Here is what it usually looks like.
I don’t always paddle on New Year’s Day, but if I don’t I usually get out on the 31st or the 2nd instead. Not this year. I bagged out on this year’s New Year’s Day paddle due to ice. Hate to say it, but it looks like I might be doing a lot more hiking this winter. I did get out for a hike on Saturday. It was a balmy 6 degrees with no wind - very comfortable.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/eckilson/albums/72157690902907734
I shouldn’t complain - it was a pretty good 2017.
http://eckilson.blogspot.com/2017/12/2017-year-end-review.html
@willowleaf said:
I still wished I was out on it in my boat. But then I’m one of those nut-cases that used to go snow-shoe backpacking in mid-winter.
I’m starting to like winter hiking. A couple of my paddling buddies and I hooked up with a group (mostly bikers, but that’s OK) that go out every Saturday morning at 8:00 for about a 5-mile hike. Around here it is mostly micro spikes on packed snow and ice, but occasionally we’ll get some nice fluffy powder for snowshoeing. I’d rather paddle, but hiking is a good alternative when things are iced up.
In New England and west (officially none of NY state is in New England)… I think it has been at least two winters since we had sub-zero temps of any note, either last more than a day or hitting double digits, anywhere south of the lower Adirondacks. And those temps typically arrive later, just after a January thaw. But - I do recall one Christmas a few decades ago when I was in Florida visiting my parents, and the Capital District of NY woke up to minus 24 on Christmas morning. I heard about it for a long time after because my old low compression Duster with the simple slant 6 engine was the only car that was likely going to start among a whole bunch of them. And I had brought the keys with me to Florida. So my roommate and her relatives had to take taxis to and from their Christmas dinner. 
This is great weather for snowshoeing though, you stay warm. And for any warm weather activities, midweek looks quite good. Temps will likely break 20 F plus.
@Celia said:
Temps will likely break 20 F plus.
After weeks of subzero, that’s tropic! Can drive around with your car window down.
@eckilson said:
@PaddleDog52 said:
New Year’s day paddle in jeopardy.Unfortunately, yes. It’s -3 here this morning with wind chill around -20. It’s been this way for a week, and sounds like it will continue this way for another week. We don’t typically get this type of cold in southern New England. Water temps in the rivers are right around freezing, and even moving water is icing up. Here is one of my favorite pictures - looking upstream at Staircase on the Scantic in CT.
Here is what it usually looks like.
I don’t always paddle on New Year’s Day, but if I don’t I usually get out on the 31st or the 2nd instead. Not this year. I bagged out on this year’s New Year’s Day paddle due to ice. Hate to say it, but it looks like I might be doing a lot more hiking this winter. I did get out for a hike on Saturday. It was a balmy 6 degrees with no wind - very comfortable.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/eckilson/albums/72157690902907734
I shouldn’t complain - it was a pretty good 2017.
http://eckilson.blogspot.com/2017/12/2017-year-end-review.html
Great weather for hiking.
Here in Northern New England temps below zero are normal lows. Try Greenville or Baker Lake or Whitefield NH.( South of Portsmouth is a different animal as well as the coast. anywhere in NE . But usually they run from about Jan 15 to Feb 10… Were away from the ocean and our usual low -15 for those stretches… we do not get a January thaw. The people that are fishing now on the ocean are not happy. The people that are ice fishing are ecstatic. Some of the setups are small towns complete with bbq. Some ice fishing shelters are elaborate.
The temps now are normal but for two weeks from now which makes me wonder what later in the month will bring.
Yes you can stay warm while winter hiking but windchill will bite you if you get sweaty. Layer accordingly and take along a spare long underwear top and dry gloves… Thermoregulation is mighty important.
I just spent an hour in the kitchen sweating while cooking… Took a walk outside in my PJs on the deck. 0 felt so good. For a few minutes. And the hot tub beckons.
For some reason yesterday driving around Harpswell I got hot did drive with the window down for about 2 minutes . It was 3. The seagulls are hunkered down in the snow. We were wanting to see the Arctic Sea Smoke on the ocean and the pressure ridges on the ice near shore. We saw some but really have no ambition to get up at three am . Sunrise is the best time to see the sea smoke.
The snow is so dry that so far my microspikes are just staying in the pack… Its hard to get a good slide.
Yesterday we went out for a Last Splash of 2017 paddle. The sun was out. It was in the mid 50s. Water temp was about the same mid 50s. Even the jet skis were out.
Today is another matter. Water temp is still in the mid 50s. But the air temp is 35 degrees with 15-20. It is cloudy and just gray out. We have freeze warnings tonight. This picture is in color. You should be able to see the fog on the water. Kinnda chilly for North Florida but not unusual. In fact it is what we’ll have all week.
Better than what we had in Iowa though.
72 degrees, year 'round. Monkeys and manatees on New Years Eve. Weather sucks on New Years Day.
