Thank you for taking the time to read through this !
I just noticed there is a chance of Blizzard (Winter Storm Jonas) in our region (NY/NJ) and I would like to take this unique opportunity and go for a short (5 hours) fun winter hike.
While current predictions (as of Thursday night) only hint at a so-called Hot Blizzard (e.g. temperatures around -5 Celsius), the windchill has a way of sucking out the warmth, so I'd like to run the plan by the local experts here and get some critique.
Here's the plan:
- Bottom Layers: Based on experience with the Chicago blizzard, I will now take second pants (I only had one pants on me and after 2.5 hrs my legs were quite cold)
- Boots: My new boots were proven in my 16-hour snow hike few months ago, so I take it they should be more than adequate for just 5 hours
- Top Layers: Two regular T-shirts + long-sleeve thin shirt + long-sleeve thick shirt + wool sleeve-less vest (very warm with inner warm layer) + waterproof windbreaker jacket
- 2 Gloves + Scarf + Skiing Cap
- Glasses (eyes tend to water a lot, the older I get)
This is what I want to have on me (in case I loose the backpack to wind):
- 2 small vodka shots for the instant energy boost (practically zero weight, yet pack an incredible punch, proven to override fatigue and give you the 'kick' - even when you run out of adrenaline)
- 2 pairs of reserve gloves (it's very easy to loose them in the wind)
- 1 reserve cap
- cell phone
- compass
This is what I want to put into backpack:
- 6-8 liters of water : I love to walk against the blizzard, which takes a huge amount of energy, especially a lot of water - I'm pretty sure I'll have to consume over 1 liter per hour
- reserve gloves/cap
- survival kit
I've hauled an enormous amount of food with me up the snowy mountain 10 weeks ago, but did not consume anything during the 16 hour hike. Not even the Snickers bar, let alone bananas or the sandwiches I had. So, I'm thinking I probably should not carry any food for 5 hours (as the hunger would be the least of my worries, should I get stranded), correct ?
While I'm not a complete beginner, there is always room to improve - here are my prior experiences with blizzards:
- few years ago I did a 2.5 hour hike in what was deemed 3rd worst blizzard in Chicago history, but it wasn't really that bad. I'd like to double that to 5 hours now.
- my whole childhood, we never had a 'snow day' just because of blizzard, so we got used to walking to school in blizzard conditions since early age
- I believe the coldest blizzard for me was -27 Celsius (only god knows the windchill), and I had to wait 1.5 hr for the bus (at that time I did not know I was actually slowly freezing on that bus stop :-) ) and then walk to school another hour against the wind (actually, it was painful, legs refusing to move).
Would you recommend adjusting the layers or taking additional items with me ?