For many years, backpacking was my main outdoor sport, along with tennis, snow skiing, scuba diving and others. Due to my pain before, during and after arthritis, right hip joint replacement surgery, left hip joint replacement surgery, and pinched nerve spinal surgery, I have not backpacked for about five years.
I have now recuperated to the point where I have practiced carrying a pack for three miles around the path at a local county park. With significantly reduced pain, I think I am able to handle a backpacking trip.
For several weeks I have been planning an outing today, January 8, as my first post-surgery backpacking trip. The plan is to hike on the Neusiok Trail in Croatian National Forest, from the trail crossing at NC Highway 306, going northwest to the Copperhead Landing shelter near the Pine Cliff Recreation Area.
Unfortunately, today we happen to be in the grip of a major winter storm that is covering most of the country. The weather report for this trip was predicted to be high of 43 degrees and low of 23 degrees. I have camped in weather colder than that, so I believe that I could stand it.
The weather at my mine and Janet's house last night got down to 27 degrees. So, I brought my electronic devices like GPS, cell phone charger and headlamp into inside the house overnight to prevent the cold from sapping the batteries’ energy.
This morning, I went out to my shed to finish loading my backpack. I had forgotten about the water in the pack. I was disappointed to see that the water in my hydration bladder and drinking tube had frozen. It would take me a while to thaw them out; or replace them with canteens which I could insulate and make stay liquid..
Another problem was I had on most of my winter clothes. They were sufficient to make my torso warm enough to be slightly sweaty. But I was not wearing gloves because I was doing small tasks with my gear. The cold had such a strong grip on my uncovered fingers that I could not get my body to push enough warm blood there. Within about 15 minutes my fingers went numb and I could not do the work.
These problems bothered me enough that I looked at my phone to check the weather. I was surprised to see the National Weather Service sent me an alert, warning of abnormally severe cold tonight. The prediction changed to a low tonight of 11 degrees. At the same moment, I received a message from one of my Facebook hiking groups giving me the same warning. It advised to stay indoors. If I had not seen those warnings and gone on the trip, I would have been in significant danger and severe discomfort.
I decided that wisdom is the better part of valor. So, I have rescheduled the trip to sometime in the next week or two when the weather is more cooperative.
A good time was not had by all.
