2/19 Balsam Lake Mtn. Loup

[rockysummit]

Started from Quaker clearing early Sunday morning with couple inches of powder and still very cold and windy. Met up with a small group of scouts, probably 16 year olds, coming from the leanto. They too were heading for the summit. I could tell that the one parent leader was a bit concerned when I asked if they had a good night out in the woods. He said that they were heading for the top to warm up at the old ranger cabin where there were two care takers up for the weekend. I don't think they knew how cold it was going to be and might not have been quite prepaired. One of the kids was climbing with little clothing and no gloves. At the top the care takers got them inside and warming up for probably a half hour. On the wall of the cabin in direct sunlight , the thermometer read zero degrees. One of the nice helpful guys at the cabin told the group not to camp at the top, and head down out of the wind to the leanto. Good idea as he said it got down to -18 that night with tremendous winds. I think they'll have extra dry clothes and gloves next trip. Any way, the views were just great and everybody seemed to make out O.K.

[mudhook]

Seems that if there is no snow at the bottom,some people still can't catch on thats its winter. My experience meeting scout groups is that 2 out of 5 are prepared. Leadership?
It was a beautiful day to be out, was'nt it?

[billandjudy]

We did this back in November along w/ Graham--It was a cool overcast day w/ almost no views from the tower. We are planning to go back at some point. It is an enjoyable walk
We also ran into a group of 7 kids on Slide yesterday. Most wore jeans and sweatshirts,some had no hats, :?: :?: including the lone adult.

[rockysummit]

It was a beautiful clear day but it seems many folks forgot it is winter. The group from the leanto said it was super cold and windy where they had camped, I don't think they could have imagined the wind on top, which was where they intended to camp. Almost every winter weekend we seem to run into people that make us a little nervous with lack of experience or equipment. Thankfully, so far, we haven't heard of any terrible stories from the area, just a bunch of learning experiences I guess.

[MattC]

Tony and Mudhook-isn't that the second time in a couple of weeks you've run into gloveless hikers? If this keeps up, maybe you could complete another round of the Winter 35 where you run into at least one person w/o gloves on each peak! I don't understand it-I'd just about as soon go out there barefoot as not bring gloves and mittens.

Matt

[Jay H]

Is "Loup" some NJ/French Canadian word I don't know about?

:)

..or perhaps is that the shortened version of Lentil Soup..== Loup?

Sorry Tony, couldn't resist.

Without snow, I wish the water temps will just rise so I can get out paddling soon...

Jay

[rockysummit]

Jay, I LOVE lentil soup, must have been on my mind!.. Maybe I was a little looped when I typed it...hey it's all fun anyway.
-Tony

[mudhook]

Watts wrong wit loup?

[wanderingspirit]

It seems that in our modern life we get cut off from the outside world and kind of lose touch with even the most basic of things, like how to properly dress for the weather. People are too accustomed to running from their house to their car to another nice warm building, be it work, school, store etc. On any given day you see people in the market or the mall dressed like it is the middle of summer even on the coldest of days. Just my 2 cents anyway.

[Jay H]

Ya know, when I bike to work in 4deg temps, half the co-workers that I run into ask me if I biked in today, which I have to reply, I bet I'm much warmer than walking to my car....

I will hike many times in winter without my hat and sometimes without gloves, but I always have them in my bag, along with a headlamp, map, and compass.

Jay

[wanderingspirit]

Ya know, when I bike to work in 4deg temps, half the co-workers that I run into ask me if I biked in today, which I have to reply, I bet I'm much warmer than walking to my car....

I will hike many times in winter without my hat and sometimes without gloves, but I always have them in my bag, along with a headlamp, map, and compass.

Jay

I can relate to that Jay, at least somewhat. I walk to work and even though it is a fairly short walk, on real cold mornings my co-workers think I'm nuts for doing it. Of course there is a big difference between walking in the cold and riding a bike in it! :D

[coldfeet]

I went camping this weekend in Livingston Manor, exit 96 off rte 17...app 175 scouts with app 75 leaders and staff....what can i say, you know the temps....-3 to -7 sat night...some boys didn't wear gloves or hats...not many but I had to watch what i said because I'm not their father (maybe why mine didn't go)...if they felt sick we were to take them to the warming house...one older boy mentioned that it was a learning experience the hard way (he must have heard this term before)...my response was "we are 150 miles away from home, now is not the time to learn, just help him now please"...maybe I was right, maybe wrong, I was able to talk to the younger boys and tell them what to do...the older boys have a mind of their own and I'll leave that up to the older leaders to talk to them....tough balance...but I give credit to the scouts hiking in the catskills, I'm sure they had their gear somewhere....last thing..this year i convinced the new kids to bring their gear to the meeting 2 nights before the trip....went through everything...thre out the cotton t shirts and told his mother to get more sweaters, found one boy with a 20F bag...told mother to send in fleece blankets, i helped and brought some for him....glad i was able to contribute to their happiness...

[rockysummit]

I'm probably one of the last people to feel the cold and dress pretty lightly even at the start of a cold hike, but I have many pairs of gloves,hats, and a jacket in my pack. My father looks at photos and always asks, "aren't you cold up there?" I guess the thing is, it's a lot of fun and very beautiful as long as you have an idea of what you're getting into and are prepared.

[Jay H]

this year i convinced the new kids to bring their gear to the meeting 2 nights before the trip....went through everything...thre out the cotton t shirts and told his mother to get more sweaters, found one boy with a 20F bag...told mother to send in fleece blankets, i helped and brought some for him....glad i was able to contribute to their happiness...

Good on ya' Coldfeet, that is a good idea, especially when you are far from home but not terrribly far from the Catskill Hiking Shack in Wurtsboro... But then again, it's better to be self reliant. One of the things I do when planning longer trips in far away places is not to start packing until I have everything layed out in some area of the floor of my house. Then after everything is in one area, start packing. You'll ensure you have more things with you and less chances of forgetting something. Doesn't work all the time but it does help. If you ever watch a lot of the "pros" plan expeditions, you'll see this done before leaving and at arrival or so. Some people even make checklists of things to bring and even categorize it into seasons (winter, non-winter, etc.) Whatever works for you! Can't always expect to have a Warming Hut!

You should pass that on to the other trip leaders, to have a mandatory gear check a day or more before the actual trip date, sure enough, somebody's bound to forget something or come unprepared but you could prevent a lot of it.

Jay

[rockysummit]

Hey Dave, glad your trip went well. I give you and the other leaders a ton of credit. It's a huge responsibility. When my kids would bring friends to hike, I always wanted one parent to come as well.(usually didn't happen) It's great that you guys are out there teaching the kids about things they might not get a chase to do with their parents.
-Tony