Tri-Z_Jim
01-11-2003, 10:51 PM
Today me,my boss and a friend hiked to the top of Slide Mt.( Its the highest point in the Catskill mts.(4180') At the base there was about 20 inches of snow and the temp was 28 degrees.The trail was packed well from everyone walking on it w/ snoeshoes.It took 3 hrs to reach the top and it gradually got windy and colder.When we got to the top we planned to eat lunch and take in the nice views but that didnt happen.At the top it was 5 degrees and the wind was about 40 mph.The snow was 5 to 6 feet deep and some snow drifts covered the trees.It was snowing and you could only see about 500 feet.I took my MSR coldpro gloves off and they froze solid in less than a minute.I took my lunch out of my backpack and it was frozen solid too.I gnawed at it for about 5 minutes and only got about 4 bites off it. By then my fingers were numb so i chucked it and stuffed my hands in my jacket.We decided to go before we all froze to death.I didnt get any pics at the top b/c my fingers were to cold to open the zipper on the pack. My gloves were thawing out inside my jacket.The walk down only took an hour and a half b/c we slid most of the way either on foot or on our asses.We saw about 15 other people hiking and some were camping on the mt. for the weekend. sick bastids. Overall we had a great time and I cant wait to go again,hopefully it will be a clear day next time.