HIKE MAINE 2003! (winter trip?)

“No No No...... Keep Tommy T OUT of the bunkhouse! He'll knock over every stove in sight! heh heh...

PLEEZE keep the tutu home, but don't forget the single malt. ;o)”

“UK - I don't know if Amy has a link to her plans anywhere, but drop her an email. It's isla_dominicana@hotmail.com
I think she did have rope runnning through the pipe, and it was a bit of a challenge going downhill. She more or less had to run on the downhills.

I'm going up to the mountains in northeast pa this weekend with family members and I'll try to test the sled on grassy hills (or maybe snow *hoping*).

btw - the pvc cement I used is Cantrex 99 conduit solvent cement. We use it at work in all conditions and it's incredibly strong.”

“We just got back from decathlon, saw a killer sled there. It's $20.00 and probably 3/4 thicker than the kid sleds, longer also by a foot. The label shows a snowmobile pulling it, but I think it's a stretch, or a slow careful snow mobiler.

There are holes up and down the sides and metal grommets in the front two holes. You are supposed to loop the rope through all the holes, and through the front ones, so it tends to pull on the whole sled. The depth of the "scoop " in front (from rim to bottom) is about twice that of the kid sleds, which should help keep out the snow.

We're gonna check Walmart tomorrow and see if they have anything similar. I kinda like this sled...

Another subject:
Twigeater, there is a woodstove in the cabin, yes? Is it suitable to put a large pot on top and cook up a BIG pot of chili? You know how us guys love our chili!!!

Chili recipes, please. Here's one of mine: Beans, hamburger(fried and crumbled), more beans, some canned corn (strained), chili powder, cayenne pepper, mushrooms, cauliflower, hot peppers (not jalopeno, some flavorful red ones). I lot it a bit warm, but I want flavor also, ain't out to impress anyone with how hot it I can eat it.

So guys, and gals, you all wanna do a huge pot of chili. (Imagine the music we'll make!!!”

“News flash!...explosion in baxter kills 10...pictures at 9”

“.....except for one guy in a tent who slept through the whole thing.”

“Hey UK - what's decathlon, a Maine store? I'm planning on building a second sled, with steel pipe versus pvc, so I'd like to see if I can find that one.

The test with my sled worked great yesterday. We got a few inches of wet snow where I was, so I was able to slide up and down some hills with a full load of firewood in the sled. It handled great, and I messed with 2 types of harnessing. One was with a belt I made with 2" webbing. I took some 1" webbing and rivetted a few daisy chain loops on each side of the belt. I clipped onto the loops and off I went. It wasn't as 'floppy' as I thought it would be.

Second harness was with a thick 2" leather belt I got from work. I punched 1/4" holes in each side, removed the eyebolts/clips from the poles and bolted the belt directly to the poles. Worked like a charm.

Still, my only concern is the durability of the pvc in extreme cold, but it did get down into the 20's. We'll se....... And I still plan on making another with steel poles.

Hey, I LOVE that chili recipe! Except for the hot peppers.”

“Pennsy, Decathlon is also known as MVP, try this cut and paste to locate a store near you.

http://www.decathlon-usa.com/us/corporate/corporate.asp

I like the leather belt idea, I've been a pondering what will work...”

“...you've got mail !”

“Reservations are in hand for both Compass Pond and Baxter Park, wahoo!

I had to pay for 50% of the Compass Pond cabin, so you'll be getting e-mail!”

“6" (of snow) today last time I looked - took my grandgirl out via kid sled and had a great time!

Got a few haul sled ideas while stowing the summertime toys - the swingset jungle bar is just right for a sled attachment. I think the lawnmower handle may be the next muti-purpose gizmo.

Have I said I LOVE WINTER, I love SNOW, and MAINE is the best place on earth?!!”

“yayyy!!! 3 inches of snow in South Portland.”

“Good ideas Twigeater. Glad that you got a good amount of snow already. What do you use for snow boots?”

“Boots?

She's a Mainiac!”

“Lyndy the boots I wear for playing outdoors are the same style as LLBean boots (leather top, rubber bottom, insulated) but different brand. I can't wear the LLB boot because my instep is too high.”

“lol TomT, I almost said that I'm wearing shoes today and haven't dug my winter coat out yet...”

“Huh, you don't have leather-bottom feets?

Playin' in the snow already...we'll be lucky if we get any decent snow here.”

“I don't know Tom, I think this might be a winter like 1995-1996. It seems colder and wetter than usual, and that is the combo that does it. That was the winter where they were using backhoes to clear the roads rather than snowplows. The side roads were all reduced to single lane due to the huge snowbanks. Very unusual in NJ.”

“Yeah, in Feb '96 the snow was to the top of chainlink yard fences....about a yard deep(or a meter).

That's the kind of thing we need here.
Some of the reservoirs are are hittin' bottom.”

“Back to the top!


I need the dates.....again~~%^]”

“February 27 to March 3, four nights.”

“He he, thanks twigs!

I'm writing it down this time!

I have to put in for leave”

“We're on the trip page, wahoo!

Now go sign up!”

“I signed up! :-D”

“Me an my bride are in!! I can still call her that, can't I?

Can't wait to see you all again.”

“What time are y'all going to get together on the 27th (I teach a class that day and wonder if I could still make it up).”

“Pedxing, This Uphill Klimber, on my wife's log in. We are pretty much just all showing up whenever that day. We gotta work and it's 4 hours up after that, so we won't get there til late ourselves. I imagine that Twigeater will be there in good time though to open up for us???”

“Yep, I'll be there to open up at "check in" time which I believe is 1pm. Then I may head out for some x-country skiing or whatever. You'll all have directions and can arrive whenever it's convenient for you and make yourself at home.
No 10pm deadline this time!”

“thanks... I'll read the thread to learn more...”

“If anybody else is interested, I believe there will be another fully paid for spot open as my g/f will not be making this trip. Post here or let me know (mjsphere@yahoo.com).”

“I copy and pasted this from one of my most recent emails from you. This is the itinerary for the Hike Maine winter trip, yes?

I
took what we could get. So....we are at Roaring Brook Friday, February
28
and Saturday, March 1. Once everyone says that's aok, I'll call for
Compass
Pond for the nights of Thursday, February 27 and Sunday, March 2.

I understand that we can get there anytime after 1 PM?

Can you post this on the trip page for quick easy reference for all involved. You see, it's not that MY memory is failing and I need to constantly look up the dates or anything like that. It's just that we have 3 spaces available, and others may be interested....

It might also be nice, for every one else, of course, if the directions to compass pond cabin were right there, too.

Actually, I was just doublechecking the dates and locations, to make sure I got the time off with my boss. I have so many e-mails and there are so many posts on the thread, and we couldn't get the first date, so we got these dates.... You know there's a lot of digging to get all the important info.

Me? I'll just look for the vehicle with the bumper sticker that says : Restore Boston, Keep Maine the way it is!!!”

“Thanks for the input Klimber, check it out now.
Let me know if I missed anything. :)

We don't have three spaces available, it's just that SOME PEOPLE - like wolfman's brother and Tom Terrific - haven't signed in on the trip page yet! (hint,hint)

I noticed goretex is on there as a yes, I assume he bought wolfman's brother's girlfriends reservation. If not, he needs to hook up with WB or me.
That leaves us with one vacancy.”

“I think I can even get there from here!!”

“I gather that Compass Pond is directly assessible by car?

This is sounding like something I could manage ifn that one space is still left.”

“Yes we are driving to Compass Pond, pedxing.
car cabining, lol!
It woud be great to have you along!”

“hey guys, read leduc's post and check out his sled:

sled”

“omigawd, I can't link directly to the thread...

click on the top link, "newsgroups" then "general backcountry" then the "anyone use a sled" thread.

something like that anyway...”

“The driving works out great, because I might pull in very late. I teach class in the afternoon... but unless there is a major storm, I should be able to get there before too late in the night.

I don't have too much winter hiking experience, but I know I'd be with a fine bunch. Consider me in.. and lemme know what kind of money I should send along.”

“BTW: What kind of time should we expect to make from Compass Pond to Roaring Brook on snowshoes with all our gear?”

“Pedxing, I think we're just gonna leave early (or as early as a group this size can, lol) and make sure our headlamps are working and we've got extra batteries.

Does anyone have those little two way radios? I have two and can borrow four more.”

“pedxing! I am really glad you can come, looking forward to meeting you!

I have a pair of two-way radios, someone will have to remind me to bring them.

Anyone planning to leave Sunday?”

“Fritz, I think UK and Skeetah bait mentioned maybe going home Sunday.”

“That's gonna be a maybe, we put in for Monday off, but don't have to use it. Depends how the spirit moves us, how late we get in, if work is real busy and can't get by without us..... LOL, oh too much!!!”

“I'm staying even if you all go home! I've been dying to stay in that cabin.

I just picked up a x-country ski brochure and noticed that Millinocket has free municiple trails. Which is just where I'd be this weekend if I was at BSP taking reservations! grrrr!”

“Thanks Fritz and Twig... this gives me extra motivation to get out and get some more use out of the snow shoes I bought in May.

I'm really looking forward to meeting people like you and UK who I've been talking to for years... and to putting faces to some other names (Penns, Skeetah, and the Goretexx who I've been seeing 'round here for quite a while)... and I'll get to meet old Santa somewhere besides Campmor!

BTW: How many people are planning to go on skis and how many on snowshoes?”

“Skeetah bait and I are bringing both. If it's icy, the skiis won't be much good,also the snowshoes can go where skiis can't on the play day.”

“I have never used either skiis or snowshoes...nor do I own either.

I'm gonna sit on Pennsy's sled. :)”

“I'm bringing both, wahoo!
I'm a terrible klutz, especially on skis. I can be just standing there on my skis minding my own business and lose my balance for no reason.

o(=}

Fritz, that should be no problem, since Pennsy's got two sleds - one to haul his gear and one to haul you!”

“Can you imagine how much he would owe me if I hauled him on the sled? He owes me big as it is, but this would put the kitty over the edge.

I don't have skis so I'll be using snowshoes. If by chance I get skis between now and then, I would bring both.”

“You know what??? Although we're bringing both, I'll probably end up doing the snowshoes, 'cause like Twigeater, I'll probably end up back on the injured reserve list..... :)LOL(just kidding), no really I'm not that good on x-country skis....better on down-hill.”

“Hey, I just realized that we have 3 pair of skiis with NNN bindings. I have some extra boots (a result of having multiple children), I check the size, but I could bring them for some one to borrow.... That should help keep cost down for someone.”