​Shifting to winter

[Guest]

It snowed a few days ago, and there is still some on the ground.

It is time to shift to winter packing mode. Out comes the warmer clothing, gloves, furry hat, Mukluks, winter sleeping bag, wind chair insulation accoutrements and other cold weather comfort gear.

Time to shift to winter packing mode, and time to start thinking south. But if I wander far enough south I’ll still need most of the summer gear. Trying to cover a range of possible destinations without bringing the whole dang house becomes an issue.

Apologies to those of you who still have one of those job thingees, it is more of a retiree’s lament.

 

[Alan Gage]

Sounds like a nice problem to have. I'm hoping to stay entertained building boats but if the normal winter doldrums set in I'll likely head for SE Arizona for a couple weeks. Arizona in the winter is tough to pack for as well. Everything from snow shoes to shorts comes along. Last winter when I was there they were having record heat. Coming from -20 in Iowa 85 degrees felt very uncomfortable. But less than an hour later I was at 8000 feet crunching through snow on a trail in the pines.

Have fun wherever you go. Too bad you can't get far enough south to enjoy long days and short nights without boarding an airplane.

Alan

 

[stripperguy]

I will soon (next June?) enter that world of retirement. Until then, winter will be the same as always...keeps the rental properties occupied, go to work every day, get in as much skiing as possible in between. About 10 years ago, I started BC skiing, or AT skiing. For those of you not familiar, I climb de mountain, I ski down de mountain, I climb de mountain, I ski down de...well, you get the idea. There are no lifts, no amenities, no grooming, and generally no tracks. There may or may not be trails, I actually prefer closely packed hardwoods. I do ski at a few lift served areas early season, just to remember how to ski again.

MDB and I have been talking about a paddling vacation this coming winter, maybe SC or Georgia, or maybe even FL, we'll see.

 

[tump_lion]

glades...nice...i BC ski with a local touring group most weekends around georgian bay -- not exactly all-mountain -- but i do enjoy the free-heel turns

 

[Holmes375]

Geez... you ski people... snowshoes be the proper way to get around the mountains in the winter

 

[Canotrouge]

No Title

It has been winter here since a month or so now, so canoe and light weight stuff switch to wall tent, stove and toboggan!! That is from last week end, -17c at night and -10 ish c during the day... It was great!!

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Getting into hard winter about a month early here. It's been weird. Sub-freezing temps and 8-10" of snow....but a lot of trees haven't dropped their leaves yet. "Everybody" keeps saying we'll get another warm spell before the real winter sets in, but I'm not confident about that. Fortunately (or unfortunately), I have plenty of indoor projects to keep me out of the cold. Not that I mind the cold. I enjoy winter sports - even poling the canoe with ice lining the river. But when temps get down to 20°f and below, ice builds up on the boat and the pole almost instantly - making things pretty difficult. Valley snow got crunchy almost immediately and not enough base in the mountains to make skiing fun yet. So, into the woodshop I go.

Revamping my dust-collection "system" so we can go into full production mode for the cabinets in my sister's new house. While on the side, I am carving out a new ash pole for my friend who has shown an interest in poling (still wanting to do more after his first humbling experience). On the docket are a firewood box for my FIL, some barn wood picture frames, and a hall butler that was roughed-out a couple years ago then put on hold. Hopefully, I can get this all done before the snow piles up or the temps moderate. Only the dust collection really matters. After that, the woolies and the drysuit come out to play.

 

[ppine]

Two years ago we got tired of winter and headed for Arizona to paddle the Colorado River in February. A run about 70 miles above Yuma. The weather was unseasonably cold with heavy frost every night. It was damp all the time even out in the desert. The darkness was the biggest hurdle and the low sun angle. But there was no one out there. At night we could not see one light except for starlight. Wild donkeys braying, coyote choir, owls hooting and otters swimming past camp

Single digits last night. Maybe its time to plan another winter trip.

 

[Alan Gage]

Two years ago we got tired of winter and headed for Arizona to paddle the Colorado River in February. A run about 70 miles above Yuma. The weather was unseasonably cold with heavy frost every night. It was damp all the time even out in the desert. The darkness was the biggest hurdle and the low sun angle. But there was no one out there. At night we could not see one light except for starlight. Wild donkeys braying, coyote choir, owls hooting and otters swimming past camp

Single digits last night. Maybe its time to plan another winter trip.

The best and worst parts about heading south in the winter right there. No matter where you go the lack of daylight is always a bummer. What are you supposed to do between 5:00 and 10:00 for 2 weeks in the middle of nowhere, alone? I always end up going to bed way too early only to wake up at 4:00am still having to deal with another 3-4 hours of darkness before sunrise. As a result I don't stay in one place as much as I'd like to. Instead I explore all day and then slowly drive somewhere else in the dark, make a quick camp, and explore again the next day. It would be more enjoyable to settle in somewhere for a few days but I just can't do it.

But the upshot is no one is there, at least not where I go. Although it's nearly on the Mexico border it's high elevation and it's a summer retreat to beat the Phoenix and Tucson heat. In winter highs are generally in the 60's with lows around freezing. Snow at higher elevations. Simply gorgeous weather as far as I'm concerned, about 60 degrees warmer than what I leave behind in Iowa. But when it's 75 in Phoenix no one wants to drive 4+ hours to be cold so I feel like I've got the place to myself, which I mostly do. Plus the wind doesn't blow, which is always a refreshing change from home.

Better quit talking about it. I'm trying NOT to go this year. But the way winter is starting that's going to be tough.

Alan

 

[Guest]

But the upshot is no one is there, at least not where I go. Although it's nearly on the Mexico border it's high elevation and it's a summer retreat to beat the Phoenix and Tucson heat. In winter highs are generally in the 60's with lows around freezing. Snow at higher elevations. Simply gorgeous weather as far as I'm concerned, about 60 degrees warmer than what I leave behind in Iowa. But when it's 75 in Phoenix no one wants to drive 4+ hours to be cold so I feel like I've got the place to myself, which I mostly do. Plus the wind doesn't blow, which is always a refreshing change from home.

Better quit talking about it. I'm trying NOT to go this year. But the way winter is starting that's going to be tough.

Alan

I have to ask, Chiricahuas by any chance?

That area is one of my favorite places on earth, especially up elevation in Paradise. I hope to be back next spring to work on a friend’s cabin above Turkey Creek.

 

[Alan Gage]

Absolutely! I was there for a 1 1/2 weeks last winter and I didn't get to even half of the places I wanted to check out. Still haven't been to Leslie Canyon NWR, didn't make it back to Whitewater draw and didn't get back to the Huachucas at all. I did make it to Gila Box for the first time and will be returning for sure. Also got out for a day trip to the east side of the Santa Rita mountains near Patagonia/Sonoita with a friend from Tucson who grew up exploring that area. That's got to be one of the prettiest landscapes in the country.

The Chiricahuas are really something special though. Lots of return trips to go as there's still so much to see and to see again. I fell in love with that area before I became an avid bird watcher. Imagine my joy, after taking up birding, to find it was one of the premiere birding destinations in the country.

Let me know if you need any help on that cabin.

Alan

 

[Guest]

Will do. I helped build the place back in ’88. Ah, there’s my first tripping truck.



It makes a fine home base for exploring SE Arizona. I have a penchant for the Chiricahuas and white Toyota trucks.



That is a special area for flora and fauna and some of the scenery is as visually stunning as anything in the country. The entrance to Cave Creek canyon seen from a distance looks like something from a fantasy illustration.

 

[ppine]

You guys are talking about a great part of the country. It is a biological crossroads, known far and wide to birders everywhere. It is the old Apache stomping grounds. Some bad things happened at Turkey Creek during the Indian Wars. Early abos figured out it was a great place to be in winter. The cultural remains and archaeology are a wonderful thing to pay attention to.

 

[Guest]

What are you supposed to do between 5:00 and 10:00 for 2 weeks in the middle of nowhere, alone?

Read. A good reading light and a selection of books is a godsend when it gets dark at 6pm.

 

[Alan Gage]

Read. A good reading light and a selection of books is a godsend when it gets dark at 6pm.

Good point. I need a more comfortable setup for doing that. After all, that's what I do all evening at home if I don't have a project to work on. As it is now I'm either using the vehicle's dome light or a headlamp, neither of which are ideal.

Alan

 

[stripperguy]

And so it begins...
Here's a shot of me from last Friday, 15 inches of fresh on top of a warm base. Excellent skiing for such a shallow snow pack. Managed to get a little over 3,000 ft in before I called it quits.




And here's a buddy in another spot, look closely, he's there.

 

[Mihun09]

We have very little snow so far, can still see the grass in the back yard. Biggest snow fall was 4" last Friday night. It has been frigid, windchills into the high -30's so far but longer range they are actually forecasting +1 for next Wednesday.

 

[Canotrouge]

We didn't really get any new snow since my last post, but it has been cold, down to -25C some morning but not really windy. We are in need of some snow, at least a few inches so we can get going on the skies!!

 

[Odyssey]

We had a nice blanket of first snow a couple weeks back. About 2-3". A nice start to winter, and Christmas. This being S Ontario I should've known it couldn't last. And it didn't. I was happily (don't remind me in February I said this) shovelling snow one week, and the next I was in my garden turning over compost. Some call it faux winter, or false winter. I've heard other f words applied to the shloppy stuff we get in NovDec. Oh well. I shouldn't complain. Soon enough we'll be restarting the "what I hate about winter" thread. I'm gonna try not to hibernate this winter, but I've got a big stack of books to read, and some overdue dehydrating to do. I might, just might, go for a frolic in the snow. I haven't made a snow angel since I was a kid. That's something that never gets old. Snow angels come in different sizes, right?

 

[Mihun09]

Winter can be a funny thing. My last Winter in Guelph we had snow then rain then snow then rain up to Christmas. When I moved out here in Spring 2009 everyone said I would be back after the first Winter. Well, that was a global warming one with temps in the pluses in January 2010 and paddling in April. Nice first Winter in "Winterpeg". I didn't have a block heater and didn't need it, everyone out here wondered why I didn't have one until I explained that in S. Ontario you don't need one. They are on every new vehicle bought out here, mandatory.

The last couple of years have been brutal. Extreme extended cold periods, my water line froze in the city and the landlord didn't want to pay the city to thaw it, I had to run the water for 3 months after which was pricey.

The longer range forecast for this Winter is basically, last Winter but earlier Spring. So, January and February are supposed to be -30c everyday for daytime highs. Since all the cuts by the government, Environment Canada hasn't been very accurate so we are hoping they are wrong again. What little snow we have now might be gone next week with Wednesday, Thursday and Friday forecast in the pluses. Nice considering it is actually still Autumn.

This will be my 6th Winter out here and I really do miss the warmth of S. Ontario, it isn't much fun to go out and sit in a still frozen vehicle after 10 minutes of warming it up for the 45 minute commute to work, but that is life in Manitoba. Thankfully the gas prices are now below $1 a litre so the extra gas wasted warming it morning and night is offset.

December 21st will be the shortest day of the year, or close to it. Out here we still lose a minute or two after the Winter Solstice and time stands still for a week before we start gaining it back. However, once we get that 3 minutes of daylight each day, it makes Winter go a little faster for me, even though it will be March before I actually see any "light" during my commute.

Tomorrow is supposed to be Zero, so I will go out and fix the snowblower.

The reason we put up with Winter out here is the Summers and all the Wilderness paddling available with only a short 4 hour drive.

Have a lovely day!