[at-l] a very different "trip" report

[foshione@dteenergy.com (Elizabeth A. Foshion)]

This is really off topic, but I thought some of you might get a chuckle
out of this.

SE Michigan had a wind storm weekend before last that brought down a lot
of power lines. Detroit Edison (my soon to be ex-employer) had 162,000
customers without power. Which means that I got to spend the weekend
baby-sitting a downed power line and telling folks not to touch it with
themselves, kids, or pets. During the 18 hours I sat with one particular
line - out in the middle of nowhere,  I put some of my gear to the test.

The Therma-rest Guidelight does an excellent job of cushioning and
insulating the bed of a '88 Toyota pickup truck. I was very comfortable
in my Campmor 20 degree bag, combined with SmartWool long underwear and
lots of polarfleece. The temperatures dropped to 15 degrees with wind
gusts up to 45 mph, but my layering strategy kept me warm whether
walking the line, or sitting in the truck.  My Photon light let me read
for the 10 hours of darkness, and also let me identify the hungry
raccoons periodically circling the truck. My tincanstove was put to
frequent use brewing up cups of tea and soup.

And...I experienced "trail" magic around midnight when one of the
neighbors dropped off a hot pizza and pop!

BTW - the sky was so beautiful and clear with everyone's power out.

The only downer is that now I have to wash all my hiking clothes before
I can start out next week.

Squirrelgirl