Hikers Discover The Shocking Truth About November In The Mountains

Inexperienced hikers may not find all of the Piper easy to follow on the bottom. We came out a week before after dark and questioned our experienced selves both on the way in and on the way out. I'm hoping we all learn more about how well- or ill-prepared they really were. Am guessing this might not have been such a "bonding" trip for the couple in the short run at least. I'm guessing not enough light, not enough warmth, afraid of dying might have had one of them insist on making the call while the other might have tried to stay with it. Now they have some 'splainin' to do.

BISCUT said:

These types of happenings infuriate me. I enjoy the freedom the hills bring and each time some azz does something stupid it brings us all closer and closer to increased regulation. I'm glad they were "ok" and "rescued" (not that it seems they needed to be rescued!!). People like these should be banned or trespassed from future trails.

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How would you police that?

Let me get this straight: a guy and his girlfriend head out to a secluded cabin in the beautiful NH woods and can't manage to keep each other warm past 8:00 p.m. Seriously?! Youth is wasted on the wrong people.

hikerbrian said:

Let me get this straight: a guy and his girlfriend head out to a secluded cabin in the beautiful NH woods and can't manage to keep each other warm past 8:00 p.m. Seriously?! Youth is wasted on the wrong people.

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Camp Penacook is actually an open faced shelter not a cabin, though I like the point your trying to make. He might try the Hilton next, or he might need a new girlfriend.

BISCUT said:

These types of happenings infuriate me. I enjoy the freedom the hills bring and each time some azz does something stupid it brings us all closer and closer to increased regulation. I'm glad they were "ok" and "rescued" (not that it seems they needed to be rescued!!). People like these should be banned or trespassed from future trails.

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I agree! Let's have the government ban certain people from the woods so we all can have less government intrusion and more freedom!

hikerbrian said:

Let me get this straight: a guy and his girlfriend head out to a secluded cabin in the beautiful NH woods and can't manage to keep each other warm past 8:00 p.m. Seriously?! Youth is wasted on the wrong people.

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Maybe proper illumination was not the only protective gear they forgot.

I was once part of a large effort to find an overdue couple at Crater Lake. They headed out on what was supposed to be a three-day ski tour around the rim of the lake. (Yes, it turned out something like "Gilligan's Island" …)

For several days the weather was bad and no helicopters could be used. On the sixth or seventh day, the USAF flew three of us dog handlers and our dogs down from Seattle. The weather had cleared, and an hour after we started looking, a helicopter crew spotted the couple's smoky fire. The chopper picked them up and dropped them at the search base location. Whereupon m'lady disembarked to face every freakin' news camera available from Medford to Bellingham. She was NOT a happy camper ...

hikerbrian said:

Let me get this straight: a guy and his girlfriend head out to a secluded cabin in the beautiful NH woods and can't manage to keep each other warm past 8:00 p.m. Seriously?! Youth is wasted on the wrong people.

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Remind me to only do small day hikes with you.

hikerbrian said:

Let me get this straight: a guy and his girlfriend head out to a secluded cabin in the beautiful NH woods and can't manage to keep each other warm past 8:00 p.m. Seriously?! Youth is wasted on the wrong people.

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Or maybe the guy or his girlfriend...hmmm...wasn't straight after all. I'm just saying. Sometimes youth is wasted on the wrong people when they are young once they realize they are gay.

[I just had to make a comment. I fully understand what you were saying...especially if they were 'straight.']

dug said:

How would you police that?

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Theoretical, wishful thinking.

cushetunk said:

I agree! Let's have the government ban certain people from the woods so we all can have less government intrusion and more freedom!

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See above.

Haha, kidding aside, one does what one needs to do to maintain self-sufficiency. The saying goes, "Spooning is ok, forking is not!"

"but the temperature fell to 16 degrees" ........ SIXTEEN degrees? That's practically tropical!
God forbid one should ever get stuck on top of Algonquin when it's -20! Now that's what I call chilly!

16 degrees? That's almost chilly enough to put pants on!

I have to admit that the kilt is comfortable below 20F provided it is all wool and you keep moving. The lightweight Sportkilt is good down to about 20F. However, once you stop moving you really need insulation on your legs, because the overall cooldown of your body gets much worse when cold venous blood returns to your core. Highlanders wore the kilt in winter, but they moved between warm houses and seldom tarried on the hill very much. Like us, they needed warm shelter, dry clothes, and hot food and drink once they stopped moving. One exception was Montrose's expedition from what is now Fort Augustus to what is now Fort William in January 1645. Two days and nights, and they bivvied by dipping the upper or free end of their five-yard wool kilts in the nearest burn, then wrapping it around them to lie down and sleep. At first light they were in position, and charged down the brae to utterly rout their Campbell enemies. After the pursuit they rested a few days in the village near the battlefield.

What in the Sam Hill was the point of getting the free end wet????

sardog1 said:

What in the Sam Hill was the point of getting the free end wet????

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Fold,freeze and seal

I thought of that. "Any port in a storm," I guess.

Too lazy to read the whole thread...but absent context, the last posts are alarming:

"What in the Sam Hill was the point of getting the free end wet????"

"Fold, freeze and seal." (Not with my "free end", you don't!)

"I thought of that. "Any port in a storm," I guess." I can't even comment on this without running afoul of moderation.

TCD said:

Too lazy to read the whole thread...but absent context, the last posts are alarming:

"What in the Sam Hill was the point of getting the free end wet????"

"Fold, freeze and seal." (Not with my "free end", you don't!)

"I thought of that. "Any port in a storm," I guess." I can't even comment on this without running afoul of moderation.

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I would decry the much-lamented departure of a certain verdant visage from these fora, but a certain mod would come down on me like a scaly monster. You'll have to use your own (overheated) imagination to understand how much I enjoyed that!