When you go outside, be prepared...

[jfitzpat]

I just had a reminder of the importance of the old Boy Scout motto. A few days ago, a friend and I decided to do a casual climb together to kick off the spring at "Tahquitz" (Lily Rock near Idyllwild, CA). We've both been there many times and decided to keep the day casual by picking moderate routes.

 

The approach was sunny and warmer than we expected. By the time we dropped our packs at the base of "Traitor Horn", we were both wishing we had worn shorts. We both seriously considered leaving our fleece pull overs with our packs, but decided it would be windy on top.

 

Three pitches (rope lengths) up, the sun was gone, the temp had dropped about 25 degrees (F), and the weather was toggling between sleet and snow. We work well together, and made a quick, safe, retreat. But, had the weather turned any fouler, or had we run into any snags, we almost certainly would have put the space blanket and matches that I have lugged, unused, out of habit, for years, to good use.

 

When we got back to Humber Park, we were glad to see that the cotton shorts and t-shirt hikers that we had seen in the morning had made it back to their car and departed. We joked about how cold and wet they must have been, but as you can see from the picture below, we were a little cold and wet ourselves.

 

Remember, even just a mile or two in the freezing rain can be miserable, or even dangerous. It is worth carrying a few extra pounds of stuff to be prepared.

 

-jjf

 

A cold, but happy Tracy...

[Tahosa and Sons]

This statement should not be ignored. I had the unfortunate experience of bringing out the bodies of a family; Dad, Mom, and 2 Kids that got caught in a sudden mountain rain. Hypothermia can be very deadly.

 

The "Bushwhacker"

>>--->

[+Hotdogs_Off_Trail]

From experience, when geocaching in the rain, stay on the same side of the creek as your vehicle. Nudge, nudge, know what I mean?

[+Jamie Z]

JF...

 

That's quite a story. Reminded me of my own "Be Prepared" story.

 

Last summer a friend and I paddled through a very swampy, tiny creek. We had arrived at the put-in prepared for a multi-day trip, but decided to forego most of our gear and send it with a friend who was to meet us at the end of the day.

 

Well, we paddled and paddled... and finally made it to the camp we had arranged to meet our friend at. It was after dark and beginning to get cold. We were only wearing shorts and t-shirts and had eaten our only food. We had plenty of water. Our friend was not there.

 

I had some waterproof matches with me, so I was prepared to start a fire. The lack of food was worrisome, but not vital, but we had no sleeping gear. I knew we were not too far from civilization so the thought of walking to a nearby house came to mind.

 

Before we had a chance to make a decision about what to do, our friend showed up, our gear in tow. And fresh sandwiches.

 

In retrospect, I don't know if we would have been better to carry our gear. The stream we paddled was very difficult to paddle in an empty canoe. If we'd had gear, we may not have made it through the low water and swampy areas. It was a concious calculated risk that almost left us uncomfortable for an evening.

 

For the rest of the trip, we were prepared for anything.

 

Jamie

[+on2vegas]

The reason I got a GPS was as the result of being lost on an August desert hike in the Valley of Fire Park in Nevada. I met people and asked if I could tag along since I was hiking solo. It was a 45 minute hike loop. Two thirds through the hike the folks I was with decided to go exploring. They pointed me to a crevase in rock and said to follow the trail on the other side back to the parking lot. Emerging from the crevase I saw a sweeping wash to the left that looked like a trail to me. After about 45 minutes I realized that this was going nowhere. I climbed to the highest nearest point and looked around to try to get my bearings. The water that I had brought for a 45 minute hike was gone and the temps were a toasty 108 F without a cloud in the sky. I started to backtrack to the crevase and found the trail marker that I had missed. I figured it was 15 minutes from that point. Short version, I was out hiking, lost without adequate water for about 4 hours when by dumb luck (or divine intervention) I found the road back to the car where I had several liters of water, albeit warm, wating. At that point I would have gladly paid any price for a GPS, water or a trail marker. It is amazing how quickly everything begins to look the same when you are lost.

 

"Where ever you go, there you are"

[jfitzpat]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jamie Z:

 

In retrospect, I don't know if we would have been better to carry our gear. The stream we paddled was very difficult to paddle in an empty canoe. If we'd had gear, we may not have made it through the low water and swampy areas. It was a concious calculated risk that almost left us uncomfortable for an evening.

 

---

 

Many times, a few ounces can make the difference between a night of discomfort and real risk. For non-alpine multipitch climbing, I carry the following in a little bag on the back of my harness:

 

Ultra-lightweight, breathable, water resistant jacket w/hood. Thermal headband and space blanket stuffed in the pockets. Sometimes I also carry a clean pair of warm socks, which can double as gloves or just mean warm feet at a forced bivy.

 

Petzl LED headlamp.

 

Small knife.

 

Small box of matches.

 

Partial roll of athletic tape (my on-the-wall first aid kit )

 

A couple of power bars, and/or tubes of 'goo'.

 

One 32 ounce Nalgene bottle of water (slung seperate from the bag). If it is really hot, I'll use a power drink instead of plain water.

 

In my backpack at the base of the climb, I have an extra bottle of water, small first aid kit, map and compass, ultralight breathable pants to go with the jacket, and extra batteries for the headlamp.

 

While climbing, that's about 2 pounds for the water and 2 pounds for gear (another 4 pounds in the backpack). Over the years, that 4 pounds on my fanny has turned many potential 'epics' into minor inconveniences.

 

-jjf

[jfitzpat]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jamie Z:

 

In retrospect, I don't know if we would have been better to carry our gear. The stream we paddled was very difficult to paddle in an empty canoe. If we'd had gear, we may not have made it through the low water and swampy areas. It was a concious calculated risk that almost left us uncomfortable for an evening.

 

---

 

Many times, a few ounces can make the difference between a night of discomfort and real risk. For non-alpine multipitch climbing, I carry the following in a little bag on the back of my harness:

 

Ultra-lightweight, breathable, water resistant jacket w/hood. Thermal headband and space blanket stuffed in the pockets. Sometimes I also carry a clean pair of warm socks, which can double as gloves or just mean warm feet at a forced bivy.

 

Petzl LED headlamp.

 

Small knife.

 

Small box of matches.

 

Partial roll of athletic tape (my on-the-wall first aid kit )

 

A couple of power bars, and/or tubes of 'goo'.

 

One 32 ounce Nalgene bottle of water (slung seperate from the bag). If it is really hot, I'll use a power drink instead of plain water.

 

In my backpack at the base of the climb, I have an extra bottle of water, small first aid kit, map and compass, ultralight breathable pants to go with the jacket, and extra batteries for the headlamp.

 

While climbing, that's about 2 pounds for the water and 2 pounds for gear (another 4 pounds in the backpack). Over the years, that 4 pounds on my fanny has turned many potential 'epics' into minor inconveniences.

 

-jjf

[jfitzpat]

quote:

---

Originally posted by on2vegas:

It is amazing how quickly everything begins to look the same when you are lost.

 

---

 

Sometimes, the piece of mind that comes from having a little emergency gear is worth even more than the gear itself. Fear and panic really sap your strength (been there!) And can also cause you to make some bad, hasty decisions.

 

-jjf

[+Jamie Z]

JF..

 

That's good advice. The problem was that we didn't know the condition of the stream until we got there. A local told us that we would not be able to get through with a fully loaded boat, and he was right. So... we had to make do with what we had on hand to be light.

 

We brought with us about eight sandwiches, a handful of snack-bars... water, our life jackets and the clothes on our backs. I think I was carrying a pocket knife in addition to the matches.

 

We had no lighting available, as we didn't have any flashlights (only a lantern) in all our gear. Our first aid-kit was not small enough to pack along, although we may have been wise to grab a few items out of it.

 

I think what really made the decision easy to leave all that stuff behind was that we were never too far from civilization. There were a scattering of remote houses along the way. In the worst case, we could have gotten to a house.

 

Next time, though.. I know I'll be prepared for that sort of situation. We just weren't ready to go light.

 

Jamie