[at-l] springtime southern cold

[stephensadams at hotmail.com (Steve Adams)]

Chainsaw,

Reference your post, dated 03-05-05, advising, ?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.  ...  the wind swung around 180*, blowing the 
drifting snow back up under the tarp, over my gear and my head.?

I have no insight to add, but your post reminded me of a similar experience.

To save weight and pitching time, most of us didn?t carry a tent (shelter 
half) in the military, but used a poncho if the weather was poor.

The sleeping bags had an emergency zipper which would burst open if you 
zipped them up completely.

Minus 20 degrees was the usual daytime temperature, and I hated getting out 
of my sleeping bag.  My technique was to awaken, zip the bag completely to 
activate the emergency mechanism, silently count down ?3 - 2 - 1," then 
throw the bag open and spring up off the ground.

One winter night in the Alps you could clearly see the stars; the weather 
didn?t look bad.  Unbeknownst to me, about two feet of snow fell during the 
night.  In the morning I went through my usual routine and threw the bag 
open.  All I saw was snow flying into the air, then snow falling onto me.

I immediately altered my routine, peering out and checking for snow, before 
bursting from the bag.

Now, I just grumble and go back to sleep for a while.

Steve