Harriman Solo - freakin' cold!!

“I did it!!...well, almost...

This weekend was to be my first-ever solo BP'ing trip. I had planned on hiking through Harriman - from the Tuxedo train station to the Tom Jones Shelter on Saturday, spend the night, and hike back Sunday to catch the train. However, the forces of Winter had other plans for me!!!

After 4 trains – the A to the 1 to the PATH to Metro-North – I arrived at the Tuxedo train station - and once I found the trail – began my day’s adventures at around 10:30am. It was an absolutely gorgeous, sparkling winter day – the sun shone fiercely, a slight breeze blew invigoratingly, and the sky was as clear and blue as a Paradise island lagoon.

With Yaxtrax on my boots and a trailhead walking stick in hand – I began the uphill thrust. I was surprised by the amount of energy needed to not only walk up the moderately-sized hill with the obscenely heavy pile on my back – I think it was my backpack but am more inclined to believe I was carrying a buffalo – but to also get my feet through the 8 inches of snow that was everywhere! (Side note – this was also my first snow hike – HOLY BONKERS!!!) I quickly realized that a good portion of this adventure would be spent sucking wind.

Once I reached the first viewpoint and set out on the Ramapo-Dunderberg trail – all signs of fellow humans disappeared. What a glorious feeling – long stretches of untarnished snow waiting just for me! It was slippery in a few spots and at one point I went for a downhill ski…on my FACE!! Man, I wish someone could have been there to see that mighty fine sight – by the way, the snow tasted pretty darn good!

Came across a lovely half-frozen stream that was being feed by a small snowmelt waterfall. Took awhile to figure out the crossing – the water was deep and cold – the rocks were disguised by snow – and thicker patches of ice deceptively beckoned my weight – only to crack once hit hard with my stick. But alas...my trusty stick and I negotiated a path across! LOL

After watching a redheaded woodpecker play in the branches – I then took the Victory trail. My favorite part was passing through the swamp areas. It was a relief to see a break in the landscape of snow-covered mountains and trail with the vast stretches of head-high stalks of golden swamp grass. The lake was also a beautiful site – half frozen over – with a smattering of snow islands. I also really enjoyed watching the way the shifting sun painted different colors on the snow - from golden, to pink, to blue.

Speaking of blue...I continued on through Harriman but was having some trouble with the extra weight in my pack – I kept getting winded, going for haphazard slides (because one of the yaxtrax fell off and lost forever in the deep snow – don’t buy them – they suck), and every 20 minutes felt like hurling my guts up. Hmmmmm? Feeling pretty darned tired – and unfortunately the snow had managed to get into my boots, soaking my socks, and was beginning to freeze my right foot’s toes – I decided to call it a day at 4pm – just shy of the shelter. I was in a big hurry to get the tent up because I was alarmed by the fact that my right toes had gone numb. My goal was to get the tent up, take off my boots, change socks and warm up in the sleeping bag before starting to cook. The tent took forever to pitch - the tent and my hands were cold and it was a struggle to get the poles in the proper holes. But I did it!

Oh sweet relief to have the tent up...but imagine my shock when I took off my right boot – after picking the frozen knot out of the frozen laces – with dripping wet socks – to discover that three of my toes were layered in ice! Oh my god – it scared the crap out of me! So I dried off the foot and into thicker dry socks, took care of the left foot, and then stuck bothh feet into the sleeping bag to warm up. The best moment in my life was when my right toes started to hurt after I'd been gently rubbing them for quite some time – I figured it meant they were warming up. Anyway, it was taking forever to get my feet back to life – the sun had finally set, my water bottles promptly began freezing over, as did my boots (despite the inserted hand warmers) – and even though I had warm dry clothes on and was inside the sleeping bag – I started to shiver – not a little – but alot. I knew I needed to cook some warm food and drink – but my toes were still too frozen to put back in the soaked boots. It was now 6pm. After much internal debate – I finally said, “screw this” and decided I needed to get out of there and somewhere warm. Thank goodness for friends! By 7:30pm I finally got everything back into the pack – sad thing is I thought it took only 30 minutes to do this – and headed out - with garbage bags wrapped around my feet to keep the dripping wet insides of my boots from refreezing my toes - on the star lit trail. It was so freakin’ beautiful – hiking in the dark on a snow-covered trail – saw a shooting star – heard little creatures nesting for the night – freaked myself out with my own raspy breath at one point! Anyway, I just took the Victory trail to the road – and walked to the Tom Jones parking area were my wonderful friends picked me up and filled me with coffee!

So even though my pride is mighty sore – I am glad to have made the choice I did – it was freakin’ cold!!! I don’t think I’ll be going solo in the winter for a very long time – but I would definatly do this trail again with a partner – even in the winter!

Sorry it’s so long – if you read the whole thing – thank you – you’re a brave, brave soul!!

Pictures to come…..”

“Good trip, nobody died......

They won't all be like this trip, you got yourself a hellva base line now....they will get better.

Proud of ya.

Base line training....."How miserable you are at any given moment is based on the worst you have ever been"”

“I think you did the right thing!Think of this as a learning backpacking skills.

Now you know some do's and don'ts for the next time you go out.

Glad that you had a good time.

8)”

“Congrats on making a wise decision. I've had my share of winter adventures. Managed to survive them all. I've had a little more success than you, but have also decided that overnight in winter is not my cup of tea now that I proved I can do it. I do enjoy winter dayhikes when conditions permit.

Keep making wise choices and you will enjoy many trips in your time, either alone or with somebody.”

“Thanks guys!

Next time - I'll have gaiters to protect against the inpouring of snow - and I'll carry more socks. I really believe that if the foot situation hadn't happened - I would have made it. Ah well, it was fun and a good learning session!”

“There you go. When you're not learning you're pushing up daisies!”

“Geez, what kind of boots you have?

Remind me not to get them!

We always check our feet/ change our socks if necessary after stream crossings”

“my boots are wonderful - what are you talking about?
You must have misread the part "...and unfortunately the snow had managed to get into my boots" - the snow was up to my calves - and I do not have gaiters - henceforth, the snow got in over the top of the ankle, slowly but surely, throughout the day.

By the way - the are Vasque Sundowner GTX - but again, they can't do a damn thing if the water is coming in through the top...

How was your weekend?”

“My weekend was uneventful. Spent most of it being entertained by my teething daughter.”

“sorry - i think i might have misinterpretted your tone - if so, I apologize - I'm still a bit ticked off about the whole frozen toes incident....thought you were being condescending...”

“Nah, I was just being a little sarcastic! I have tecnica shastas, and I used to think they leaked. Turns out my feet sweat heavily and the goretex lining holds the moisture in. So by the end of the day my feet are squishing. Antiperspirant helped though.”

“you roll it on your feet? hehehe....its a funny image - but at least your fett stay dry AND nice smelling - so tell me, which brand of deodarant do you use on your feet? the same as the underarms? hehe haha”

“Glad you made it back all in 1 piece!”

“yeah - maybe my trail name could be "Popsicle Toes" LOL!”

“Popsicle toes, now there's an image!”

“Bluefoot would be a good name! Or, if you had frostbite, "twinkle toes!"

I don't think brand matters, but I use a variety of "Secret," because I like the smell. I think it also reduces friction, to minimize the chance of getting blisters.”

“Great story!!! Glad to see you made a good decision and come out of there. Don't let your pride get you though. Very smart move. There will be another day.”

“OMG!!!! Twinkle Toes! That's the one - its perfect - and since my dance career is not over - it works twice as well!

What do you all think?

although bluefoot is kinda mysterious yet funny...hmmmmmm”

“chelle, glad to know your ok today. Like I said, be proud of yourself!
I am proud of you!
By the way, how was the coffee?

J/K”

“My angel!!!!

Well, the cat's outta the bag! It was Mapleleaf, Treebeard, and Twignut who came to pick me up....thank you for saving my sorry arse! LOL!

So, Tom Jones in January? Still wanna hike in the long way? ;)”

“yes.. but for only 1 night. Not in the mood to die in Harriman. That would be embarassing. Id rather go on a 14.000 footer...
LOL

Im still proud of you girl!
get the pics up ASAP.
did you keep a journal?”

“Twinkle Toes,

twignut wants to know if you want to hear another "Blonde Joke?"”

“LOL!!

there's more!!!”

“Chelle, I think that is a wonderful story, especially the part about the friends bringing you coffee. I'm sorry about the frozen toes incident, but it would have happened that way for a lot of us. I have yet to purchase gaiters as well. It really sounds like a beautiful hike and I'm sure that the next one will be better.”

“thank you”

“twignut was being kind to you cause you were cold.

LOLOLOLOLOL

yes she has more. I should know, because I got to hear more of them today while on break from volunteer.”

“its addiction - you must have an intervention - she must learn the dangers of too many dumb blonde jokes.

seriously though - she should post them all - I think they're freakin' hysterical!

Thanks twignut for making me laugh with your jokes!”

“Yep, Twinkle Toes sounds like a winner!”

“Good for you, Chelle!!! You did the right thing by deciding to call it off and head out. That shows true smarts. I think you'll have to do a Revenge in Harriman trip! :-) Glad you got back safe.”

“I'd do it again - but this time I'm dragging Goretex along to help fight off the cold ;)”

“Congrats...what a trip!”

“I hope to have pictures up by the end of the week - now I just gotta figure out how to get them on the web..”

“Check you out- The guts to go on a solo in the winter, the brains to know when to call it quits. It would have been cool to have picked you up on the way back from the Cats, but I'm glad to hear you had the chance to have coffee with Maple and family- can't wait to hang out with them again. Oh, and by the way, don't tell him I said so, but Goretex missed you! :P”

“i'm jsut curious, not trryin to be a smarta$$, but would the shelter have provided warmth? like, could you have built a fire in it? and also i was curious how the tree people knew to pick you up?


i'm with geo, i did alot of winter camping back in my scout days and it's just not for me. i'm too wimpy i guess, lol. i would neever do it at a place where you couldn't have a fire to warm you up. lot's of people are just the opposite though, they hate hot weather as much as i hate cold weather.

thanks for the report!”

“Great Job Chelle, the best trips are the ones we survive. And still get some adventure... The best way to learn is to get out. I think you are pretty brave to have gone out solo. Thanks for the trip report. I will be looking forward to the pictures....”

“good report twinkle toes. dont rub frozen feet tho. you can do a lot of damage and not feel a thing. :(”

“I give you a lot of credit for even going on a solo winter trip. Outside of the females I met from TT, I don't know of any women that would have the guts to do it. You learn something every time you go out and you made the right choice to bail out.”

“Good report Chelle2! There's nothing like Goretex to hold the water in your boots, lol.

I like twinkle toes, just make sure you start a "changing my name" thread if you take a different name.”

“The best adventures have to involve some drama...that is why they make the best stories.

Glad you made it out ok. Each time is a learning experience, eh? Winter camping might be best experimented with a partner to start...if nothing else, they make good tent warmers. I love solo hiking though...nothing matches that feeling of solace, especially in the snow blanketed woods.

Thanks for sharing. :o)”

“Glad to see that you are ok. Now, let me know if you hear from any other hikers that are stranded. I need more people to help me move. (inside joke)”

“Dewdtarts,

Hey there! The "tree" people knew to pick me up because, thank goodnees, I had taken my cell phone with me and it had just enough power to get through to them. And regarding the shelter - I threw down my tent when I did because I was absolutely exhausted at that point from the day long effort of hiking in snow with a pack that was too heavy for me. I also had a feeling that I needed to take care of my foot right away. A liitle voice inside of me said it was the right thing to do.

If my wonderful friends had not been able to pick me up - I would have then picked up camp and headed on in the dark to the shelter - again, I wanted to first take care of my foot and then make some hot chocolate. But thankfully, I was able to get a pickup.

Yes, I feel a bit silly but the lessons learned will carry me a long way in the future. I learned that I love solo hiking but not in the winter. I learned that I can take care of myself but that I'm also not so stubborn as to let my pride get in the way of knowing when to get out of a potentially bad situation.

Anyway, thanks for all the encouraging responses and tips for the next time. I had a blast and would'nt change it for anything - okay, maybe the frozen toe part - but hey, now I have a trail name!”

“Good for you just for getting out there chelle!

Too bad about your yaktrax but I know whatcha mean. I saw a newer version that comes with an over the boot strap - they must've had a lot of complaints about 'em slipping off”

“A big kudos to mapleleaf and family for coming out to get chelle. That was very cool and generous of them to do that.”

“woah...scary! i would definitely have done the same thing 'twere i you. i bet you were sooooo glad to see Maple et. al!”

“they saved my sorry behind!

now - when that's move guys?”

“oh ok, i see now.

way ta go! YOU DA HIKER!”

“Don't worry! We'll let you know.”

“Way to go chelle! You made the right decision getting out. Night hiking in the snow is great I did a 4.5 hour night hike in Harriman Friday night from about 8:00 PM to 12:30 AM. I also saw a meteor and had a very noisy screech owl keep me company for a while.”

“you had a classic "stikmon styled" hike...cool. Its always the dissasters that make the best tripreports...yours is stellar!!!

gaiters are the cheapest way to ensure dry socks. 14.99 at campmor

Nice new trailname...you will have to attend next years TC3 event, and stand within the ring of fire and be recognized by your peers.

Glad you survived...survival and defeat of the Dark Lord are the bestest feelings.”

“Must Hike - I think I heard the same owl - I think. There was some sort of critter but it sounded like a hawk's cry - but it was at night - any ideas?”