[at-l] springtime southern cold

[daveh at psknet.com (David Hicks)]

No, but I know what of you speak, albeit not where of -- as in Tug Hill 
Plateau.

This goes back a few years.  I was clearing deadfalls following a late season 
ice-storm, back in the day when I bivy camped.  When night came the wind was 
from the south-west.  I found a nice sheltered spot to the lee of some cover, 
rigged my small tarp to protect my head and gear, and went to sleep.

Wind at dark ---->
                              <---- Wind by morning
      #
    # #      ___
  ####   /     ______
##### / & /o-<-<=  \
   ^     ^        ^
   ^     ^         Me in my bivy
   ^      Tarp and gear
   Heavy brush

It began to snow and drift.  The brush and tarp acted as a snow-fence and 
dropped blowing snow on me, as I slept all cozy in my bivy.

As the low passed over and the wind swung around 180*, blowing the drifting 
snow back up under the tarp, over my gear and my head. A bit before light, I 
awoke.  Claustrophobic!  The mound, which my head was under, was less that two 
feet (which wasn't all that heavy), but it was a major shock/scare, until I 
dug my self out.  Even by flash light, I could see how little snow had 
actually fallen, I was amazed that I could have rigged just the right set-up 
to dump a mound right on top of my head and my gear.  There was less than a 
couple inches at my feet.  Most of the clearing was nearly bare.  There was 
just this little mound where my head had been and all my gear was still 
buried.

It took most of the morning to find all my personal camping gear, chainsaw, 
etc. and get the H out of there.

Chainsaw

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Bullard" <jbullar1@twcny.rr.com>
To: "David Hicks" <daveh@psknet.com>; <at-l@backcountry.net>
Sent: Saturday, March 05, 2005 9:31 PM
Subject: Re: [at-l] springtime southern cold


At 09:23 PM 3/5/2005 -0500, David Hicks wrote:
>BTW -- Speaking of the lee side, did I ever tell you about what happened
>to me
>once when a low passes directly over during the night?  But that is another
>story.

No, but I grew up on Tug Hill Plateau, a high area (1000 feet higher than
Watertown, only 12 miles down the road) in the path of lake effect snow
from Lake Ontario. Storms would blow off the lake and *over* the valley but
when they got to us, we would be *in* the storm. Was it something like that?