Winter + Lack of Knowledge = A Deadly Combination

If you've been watching the news lately you already know that winter is upon us in a very serious way. In the northern states, it's not one of those 50 degree, t-shirt wearing winters...it's an ice covered tree, snow past your past your ankle, wind chills below 0 degrees type winters.

Recently a few hikers attempting a 10 day hike through  Great Smokey Mountain National Park had to be rescued after day one of their 10 day trip. (Click here to watch a video of the hikers recount their rescue on the Appalachian Trail)  These three hikers did not make it to their first shelter and were forced to spend the night in the snow. I have never been in a situation like this and I hope I never will. If you watched the video, you know by now that these men had no backup shelter, were only a few miles away to their intended shelter, and burned their spare clothes for warmth. I know I would have done things differently if I were them and I bet you are saying the same thing too...

Through research and personal experience I've learned a few tricks to staying warm on a cold night.

1. Heat up 1 liter of water and pour it into a Nalgene. Bundle up in sleeping bag and place Nalgene in sleeping bag (typically by feet). On a really cold night, I went to bed with 2 warm Nalgenes bottles, one by my feet and one by my stomach as I curled up in the fetal position around it.

2. Do jumping jacks before getting into sleeping bag. Or do sit-ups while in sleeping bag. It doesn't really matter what you do, just as long as it gets the heart pumping and the blood flowing.

3. Eat something! The human body needs to burn calories in order to produce heat.

4. Get comfortable with wearing layers. The days of wearing heavy, bulky jackets and pants are nothing more than a distant memory. If the term base layer, insulation layer, or shell confuses you, watch this quick video on the basics of layering.

5. While I am on the subject of clothes...Put on more clothes. Extra clothes does no good if it is balled up in your stuff sack. While hiking in the Smokies this spring, the temp dropped and to stay warm one night I resorted to wearing everything in my backpack to bed.

6. If you own a down sleeping bag, do not cover your head with the sleeping bag. As you exhale you will create moisture, leading to a wet spot on your sleeping bag.

7. Check weather forecasts for the area where you will be hiking/spending the night...not the closest town 20 miles away and 3000 feet below. To check the weather forecast at shelters on the AT click here.  The link will provide you a week long forecast from NOAA.

8. This one should be obvious...cover your head. A lot of body heat is lost through your head.

9. Get to know your neighbor. On cold nights, I like sleeping in the shelter so I can curl up between two people and absorb their body heat.

10. Do not put one of those emergency bivy bags over a down sleeping bag and go to bed. I did this once...It was great for about six hours but without thinking about all the condensation that will be trapped inside of the bivy, I woke up at 4AM in a soaking wet sleeping bag, freezing my bum off.

There are many more ways to stay warm on a cold night. Use any of these 10 tips as a starting point.

Dehydrating attempt

Thursday afternoon event:

I had two cantaloupe slowly rotting in my kitchen and it got to the point where they started getting soft and mushy. Due to the holidays I completely forgot about them...I can't quite remember when I bought them! I figured I better get them in the dehydrator before it was too late. To fill up the rest of the trays, I added three sliced sweet potatoes.

For the sweet potatoes, I tried to cut them up as even as possible. The recipe I was using said to peel the potatoes, slice them up at an 1/8 inch, soak them in warm water for ten minutes, drizzle oil on them and add salt. Have you ever tried slicing a rock hard, raw potato before; it's difficult! I hard such a hard time cutting the potatoes; I even slipped but luckily the knife blade cut into my fingernail (thankfully not my flesh!). After dehydrating them at 350 for 12 hours, they turned out okay. I could taste to rawness of the potato...maybe next time I will cook them to reduce the starchy taste. My ma loved them so these will not be added to my bird food :)


Beside having issues with cutting my potatoes, I had melon issues as well. After quartering my cantaloupes, I decided that one was way too soft and juicy to slice up, so, I turned it into a puree. My intent was to make a fruit leather...instead I made a dry bitter orange mess. It was gross! The sliced cantaloupe turned out crispy and sweet, making the dehydrating attempt not a total loss.

Overall, I would call this dehydrating attempt a rank just below a success...not quite a failure but not quite a success...is there a word for that?

2013 Review

Here's a few memories that stand out from 2013...

January- Started a job as a ski lift attendant in order to pay for the gear I still needed for my Appalachian Trail thru-hike.

March- Rode the Amtrak for the first time. I decided to take the Amtrak from Wisconsin to Georgia because it was 1/2 the cost of an airplane ticket.

March 22- Made it to the top of Springer Mountain and hiked to Hawk Mountain shelter.

Late April- Left the trail and took a shuttle to Asheville TN so I could catch a Greyhound back to Wisconsin. I returned back to Wisconsin and moved into my ma's house, hoping to have a new job and be gone by August.

Summer- Spent the summer with my nieces and nephews. Didn't do too much out of the ordinary. I saw a lot of movies at the local theater ($3 tickets!). Found out soo many entry level jobs require a bachelor's degree...started thinking about finishing my 4 year degree in ecology.

September- Still at my ma's house, unfortunately. Started a new seasonal job in a dusty warehouse. My nasal cavities became polluted :(

November- Still couldn't find a permanent full time job so I planned to save as much money as I could and go hiking on the AT. Maybe I would turn my failed thru-hike into a successful section hike.

December- Applied for a bunch of National Park Service jobs in all corners of the US and even for a position in Guam. Agreed to take a position in IL...no more hike for me...maybe in 2015!

Except for the one month I was on the trail, this was a very uneventful year.

 I am grateful for the time I got to spend with my family. I got to see them twice in one year (family reunion and Christmas)! For not being around since 2010, spending time with family meant a lot, because, I don't know how much longer I will be in the Midwest.

 If I had to do one thing over, I would not have stayed at my ma's house. I've learned that no matter how old I get, she will treat me like an child. Maybe this is how all parents act...I'm not quite sure. I do know, after living on your own for so long, it's difficult to have someone come into your life and micromanage your actions.

A fresh start is needed, and, that is exactly my plan for 2014. This weekend, I am moving to my new apartment in Illinois.  Here' s to making 2014 a great year!!!