by Gary Lee
We had the coldest morning so far this season with 15 degrees on November 23… but a major snow storm missed us again.
There were a lot of reds and yellows east of us on the weather map last night and blue over the mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire, so I’m sure they got a little.
The Midwest got their share as the storm came across the country.
It probably tied up Chicago O’Hare Airport for quite a while. I f there is a cloud in the sky that airport seems to close down.
The hunters haven’t had much tracking snow so the deer—except the bucks that have been chasing does—are at an advantage.
This makes them a little wacky. They forget about the hunters–all they see is love at the end of the trail.
I heard a shot just before daylight this morning as I was photographing the sunrise at Seventh Lake.
The salmon were jumping out in the lake, then a mink came swimming right under the bridge to Sixth Lake.
A common merganser was flying right at me until it saw me, then turned around and went back east.
It was flying so low that each wing beat made a wake on the water. It didn’t land, just went out of sight around the point.
As of last night the forest rangers and searchers were still looking for the 83-year-old hunter who has been lost since last weekend over by Lily Lake in the Lake George area.
They made a big push over the weekend to try and find him before there was snow on the ground, but I didn’t hear that they had any success.
The searchers had stripped off a large section of woods in a Type III search.
With the help of GPS, the searchers who came back at night could plot just exactly what the search teams had covered on the ground.
There were many search and rescues conducted by forest rangers this fall throughout the Adirondacks, mostly in the High Peaks.
There have been many carry outs of hikers injured from falls, and locating of lost hikers or hikers who overextended themselves.
Many of them didn’t have any lights and the darkness came before they got out of the woods.
Luckily their cell phone worked and gave rangers their location so they could be found and brought out of the woods.
About half of the searches occurred the weekend of the time change when darkness came an hour earlier.
Without a head lamp or flashlight these folks had to just stop and wait for help to come to them.
One person going up one of the High Peaks in the snow pushed on to the top, but when they turned around and tried to follow their tracks back down the wind had covered them up.
Many of these peaks are treeless, so they were lost and couldn’t find the trail.
This is a life-threatening situation, but again, a cell phone call indicated the location of the lost person.
Rangers were able to locate the individual in the dark and was brought out safely.
Around here you may not get cell phone service so you better have a map and compass, a couple head lamps, a lighter, and know how to make a fire.
I always carry a space blanket in my pack that can be made into a lean-to shelter.
Put a fire in front against a rock ledge and you can get most of the heat off your fire.
We once stayed out with just the clothes we were wearing that day and it got close to zero that night.
When the fire would die down we would wake up and add to it quickly. We didn’t sleep much but we didn’t freeze to death either.
As I look through outdoor catalogs for clothes to wear during the fall and winter, what do I find but cotton, cotton, cotton.
I see a lot of flannel in the ads but they are 100 percent cotton.
If you get cotton wet, then you’re wet.
And when you’re wet your body wicks away any heat you may have.
This does not happen—right down to your underwear—if you are wearing wool or polyester
You work up some sweat when you are hiking, skiing or even snowmobiling.
If you are wearing cotton you will feel cold from the inside out, but the polyester will wick away that moisture and keep you warm.
You might see me wearing the same clothes each day, but even during the summer they won’t be made of cotton.
I bought my brother a couple polyester shirts and my sister-in-law said she can’t get him out of them long enough to wash them.
You might have to hunt around for them in the catalogs but they are well worth the effort.
The whole gang is coming for Thanksgiving. One is bringing the turkey, and one is doing fruit salad and veggies.
All we have to do is the oyster dressing, shrimp with dips and chips, and set the table.
Some are staying for Christmas on Main Street.
Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Getting out to set a few traps… but that’s another story. See ya.