A Walk In The Snow

With apologies to the movie producers. My conversation with Night Shade in the other thread got me to thinking about this, so here's another scenario for everyone or anyone (I know, oh great another scenario)

You decide to go out into the forest on a late January/early February afternoon. You leave your house around 1:00 pm and head out snowshoeing or x-country skiing. When you leave the house, it's around -15C (apologies to my Farenheit using neighbors) with a wind coming out of the northwest around 10 kilometers per hour and it's kind of cloudy. You're heading south and east. You travel a few kilometers through mostly coniferous evergreen forest, the trees are well spaced for easy access, you cross a small lake and head up the other bank. You can feel the wind increasing but it's behind your back so you don't pay it much attention. You left your general travel plan drawn out on a map back home (clever you) You're enjoying the day and moving at a pretty brisk pace. Here's what you've got going for you:

1) a couple of layers of medium weigh wool clothing with a windbreaker layer overtop, your jacket is pretty much weatherproof and downlined. Toasty.

2) You're wearing leather mitts with sheepskin lining.

3) Insulated and "weatherproof" boots, supposedly good to -40 and heavy weight wool socks.

4) A fixed blade knife, wooden matches, a couple litres of water and some snack food---bag of trail mix and some jerky, a couple of boiled eggs and your metal cup and a couple of tea bags. A good compass and one of those emergency whistles with a small thermometer on the back. (Coghlan's sells them, I don't know who else)

5) A wool hat
Around 4:00 you realize that it's getting late, the sun's getting pretty low on the horizon ,the wind at your back has increased dramatically and is starting to blow snow. Your little thermometer reads that the temperature is now -20 and the wind has increased to about 15-20 kilometers per hour. You decide to head back the way you came and when you turn around....all you can see is snow. You can't even see your own tracks, this is not a clearly defined trail remember, you've been making your way through the trees. The snow is drifting around tree bases, has blown over your tracks and is blowing in your face. What are you going to do? Please don't magically add in any equipment not listed.

Since I've been walking about three hours, and only have - what 1/2 to an hour of light left. With the snow blowing in my face and the light quickly fading, I stop - relax - gather materials to build a shelter. I gather/harvest as many pine boughs as I can for a debris shelter (opening to the southeast). Insulate the shelter with snow to keep the breeze from blowing through. Start a fire (gather dead lower branches, any dead limbs I can find). Make some tea - have a snack. Stay as warm as I can. In the morning I start heading back. Using the compass I head in a north westerly direction. The snow will also be drifting on the north west side of the trees.

Begin heading back, no panic.

You are traveling in and around close to home so you should have a pretty good idea of the lay of the land. Use your compass to help guide you.

From the start, I would have paid attention to where I was going using large markers like the lake and treeline, etc. I could make the three hour trip out in about half that time going back. So, 1 1/2-2 hours to get home. I'm going home immediately, using the compass if needed. i'd chow some food before heading home if I was hungry. This will add heat too.

I suppose if the snow was packable I could quickly build a snowfort/ windbreak and camp out for a few hoping the wind that will be in my face changes direction or calms. Usually around here the wind calms some before dark. Being that cold the snow probably isn't packable and it sounds like it might turn into a real blizzard, so hanging around too long is probably not a good idea. I'd rather walk back thru a foot of snow rather than two or three feet. Honestly, I would just head home ASAP.

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Originally Posted by red lake

Begin heading back, no panic.

You are traveling in and around close to home so you should have a pretty good idea of the lay of the land. Use your compass to help guide you.

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thats what I'd do....you've only been out for three hours, its only four o'clock. we are on the upside of the solstice by that date, so I have another hour and half of light at my lat. So, I'd just scuttle on home, paying attention to my surroundings and making sure to pay attention to landmarks I recognize. Even once it gets totally dark, I'd still keep slowly moving on towards the house. The woods really light up at night when there is snow on the ground, no worries...I've lived out this scenario probably a hundred times. I'll still make it home for dinner.

for me 3 hours from home on snowshoes that is not too far,so i would turn around and head back, i do not live on flat land and have learned my area so that even in the dark i can make it back no problem, as jason points out it is amazing how much the snow illuminates the way

rwc1969- sorry bud but i must respectfully wholeheartedly disagree, the last thing that i would want to do as it cools off and wind picks up with blowing snow is rush home and trying to turn a 3 hour hike into 1.5 hr is not going to work, the sweat you build up could potentially be life threatening, the key is to relax enjoy the night trek.
this scenario might be different if i was 3 hours from camp in an area i was not familiar with but being that close to home thats how i would handle that situation.

Whatever I do.. 1 thing remains important... Don't over exert myself to the point of sweating!

Close to home... I'd head back on a direct route using the compass if I was starting to get cold... If not cold I'd just kinda wander back.. I love being out in the snow at night!

Woods I don't know... Different story!! I'd probably hunker down like Crash said and hike out in a.m. With light and using compass... The whole while cursing my own stupidity for getting myself into such an easily avoidable predicament!

I'm going to find a place to spend the night with a little shelter from the wind, get all the dry wood i can find and build a fire, settle down,eat half my food, save some for morning.
I'm assuming that the folks at home know that i know what i'm doing without calling the rescue squad.

There's what I think is a kind of important piece of equipment that I left out on purpose.

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Originally Posted by trax

There's what I think is a kind of important piece of equipment that I left out on purpose.

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there is no mention of pants....
so, are we out hiking around with boots and jacket on, but showing our butts to the wind?

Also, there is no mention of a pack, so are we walking around pantless, carrying in our arms..."A fixed blade knife, wooden matches, a couple litres of water and some snack food---bag of trail mix and some jerky, a couple of boiled eggs and your metal cup and a couple of tea bags. A good compass and one of those emergency whistles with a small thermometer on the back"

Ah ha....there lies the danger, the fixed blade knife doesn't have a sheath, so we are walking around in a snow storm with no pants on, and carrying a big ol' Rambo knife...I guess if we slipped on the ice during the lake crossing, things could get pretty intersting!

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Originally Posted by Jason_Montana

there is no mention of pants....
so, are we out hiking around with boots and jacket on, but showing our butts to the wind?

Also, there is no mention of a pack, so are we walking around pantless, carrying in our arms..."A fixed blade knife, wooden matches, a couple litres of water and some snack food---bag of trail mix and some jerky, a couple of boiled eggs and your metal cup and a couple of tea bags. A good compass and one of those emergency whistles with a small thermometer on the back"

Ah ha....there lies the danger, the fixed blade knife doesn't have a sheath, so we are walking around in a snow storm with no pants on, and carrying a big ol' Rambo knife...I guess if we slipped on the ice during the lake crossing, things could get pretty intersting!

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Jason,don't be silly,use yer brain fer sumthin' besides a hatrack for crying out loud!

Jason is absolutely right! No, I gave you all the benefit of the doubt on pants and a pack.

Goggles or sunglasses.

All you guys that are heading back home in those conditions: you're approximately 3 hours out, you don't have 3 hours of daylight left to get home. If you think you walked a straight line, good luck. I'll tell you the mining exploration industry pays good money to anyone who can follow a straight line all day on snowshoes, they're called linecutters. If you think the snow is going to illuminate your path,well maybe on a clear or semi-clear night, but it's blowing snow in your face, it's all going to look alike. Know what else happened? The minute you turned around and realized you couldn't see your path, you got scared. All those spruce trees just started to look alike. The temperature drop and wind increase has put you in almost -30c conditions, no goggles or glasses, your eyelashes are going to start freezing shut walking into that snowstorm and ( a very insightful comment on his part) in regard to what NightShade said...you've already started sweating. If you are an experienced woodsman and in an area you know, you'll probably get home ok. You're not that far away, after all. Of course, there were these fisherman who got shipwrecked in Labrador and froze to death beside their fire so.....close doesn't always help.:cold:

If you're building a shelter and hunkering down, I'd advise taking advantage of all that snow and push it up against the outsides of your shelter for extrainsulation and to help with a windbreak. It's the most common resource out there and everyone overlooks it. You also want to make sure you've gathered plenty of dry material before you start striking matches, because they're going to go out pretty easy in that breeze. Again, experience helps, but of the responses I've seen so far, for a person without experience, I'd go with crash's.

In all honesty....I'd say building a fire is going to be tough...it can be done, but you don't have any fire starter- you've got the bag that the trail mix was in...but that isnt very much to get a fire going in 15-20 mph winds. Your basically in a "to build a fire" kind of predictament in these conditions with just some wooden matches

Also, there really isnt much time to build a very good shelter, for most people building a fire and creating a good shelter in this weather isnt going to be a reality...so< i'd keep traveling home. Staying out in a marginal shelter with no fire is going to make something that wasnt necessarily a survival situation become one.. I say keep moving.

After walking for a few hours if you decide that you are lost, and want make it home, make an impromtu burrowed out snow hole somewhere to get out of the wind

In all honesty here, this just doesnt seem like a survival situation to me. I am not too far from my house in all reality. I truly believe stopping and building a shelter and spending the night out in these conditions is going to "create a survival situation" out of a predictment that at most was a "late for dinner" kind of situation.

I have honestly been in this situation probably a hundred times- and have never stopped and built a shelter. To me, being essentially in my own backyard- I woudn't be scared or lost.

Also, I question that "my eyelashes will be freezing shut" I am out running dogs at 10- 15mph all the time in these temps into headwinds, and i've never had my eyes freeze shut.

I would not be happy crossing the lake if the wind is kicking up and the temp is dropping. I might start to head back along my reverse bearing and depending on the weather and how late it is (do I have a light?) build a shelter, start a fire, have a cuppa, and hunker down for the night.

So, is it -40 C or F? .....just kidding. :smash:

I know what I wouldn't do.

I would try and not fall into any water.
I would try and not light a fire under branches with snow on them.
I would try and not freeze to death with my dog watching.
Got to love Jack London.

Well, I would be x-c skiing. So, I would have prepared track to go home. I would remove the middle layer of clothing, turn around and pick up pace. I'd be home in two hours. Three if the weather was really bad.

Goggles are important!.. A blizzard walk necessity in my opinion.. I always wear 'em when out in snow.. Windblown snow in your face is blinding regardless of temp. I'm disappointed in myself for not seeing what now seems like a glaringly obvious problem in the making.... Without goggles (which I don't go out in snow without!.. But I ll play along) I would probably hunker down regardless where I am... Guess I was kinda takin for granted that I ve been in that situation before... Didn't really even cross my mind the lack ofgoggles till u mentioned.... In the scenario u describe that is truly a big difference maker!

Good post!

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Originally Posted by NCO

Well, I would be x-c skiing. So, I would have prepared track to go home. I would remove the middle layer of clothing, turn around and pick up pace. I'd be home in two hours. Three if the weather was really bad.

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No you wouldn't. You don't have cross country skis with you. They're not on the list. That would have been the part where Trax said:

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Please don't magically add in any equipment not listed.

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Crash.. He said u had either snowshoes or xc skis