wildcats--22 january 07

[bruno]

headed up to da 'cats to bag them badboyz fer my winter list. nice and sunny but a little cold, but 'tweren't a thang. i got warm goin' up that first part lemme tell ya! purty darn icy and slick but i put on some of them yaktrax and was up doublequick! up past the skilift and along the ridge up and down up and down! good times bootskiin' on the downhills!!

if ya go soon and there's no snow between now and when ya go, don't bother with the snowshoes. ol' bruno done broke out da trail fer ya!!!! thank me later!!

time--5:30 from pinkham to pinkham.

ps--me water thingy froze part way out and i had nuthin' to drink and all i could think of was water (and beer!!) on the way down. snow jus' doesn't quench yer thirsty! plus it'll make me get all chilled.

[Bill O]

Thanks for the report Bruno. It would have been nice if it wasn't written in "hillbillie" format, but I'd love to see more trail reports/ route conditions in this forum.

It will be great in the spring when you have mixed snow/ice and mud on many trails and you want to know what you are getting into before the hike.

[Brad]

I am afraid I do not have time to translate posts like that. I just have to scroll on by.

[KD Talbot]

Don't lissen to dem Bruno! I growed up jes' a few clicks north in Stoneham an no one unnerstans whut die zay eder.
KDT

[Bill O]

headed up to da 'cats to bag them badboyz fer my winter list. nice and sunny but a little cold, but 'tweren't a thang. i got warm goin' up that first part lemme tell ya! purty darn icy and slick but i put on some of them yaktrax and was up doublequick! up past the skilift and along the ridge up and down up and down! good times bootskiin' on the downhills!!

Bruno went to climb the Wildcats so he could claim a winter ascent. He said it was sunny and cold, but it wasn't that bad. He got warm hiking up. It was icy, "darn icy" so he used Yaktrax. Apparently those worked because he went twice as fast. The rest of that paragraph was indecipherable.

if ya go soon and there's no snow between now and when ya go, don't bother with the snowshoes. ol' bruno done broke out da trail fer ya!!!! thank me later!!

If they don't get any new snow don't bother with the snowshoes. Bruno apparently broke the current trail and you'll need to thank him.

time--5:30 from pinkham to pinkham.

Took Bruno 5:30 hours to complete the climb. Looks like he parked at Pinkham.

ps--me water thingy froze part way out and i had nuthin' to drink and all i could think of was water (and beer!!) on the way down. snow jus' doesn't quench yer thirsty! plus it'll make me get all chilled.

This is where the problems started. Bruno's water "thingy" froze. Makes sense, it was cold. He was thirsty and all he could think about was water and beer.

[KD Talbot]

The last part of the paragraph states-

He went up past the ski lift and along the ridge between summits which I can attest has many ups and downs. Then he had a good time boot skiing on the way back down.

Man, I thought youse guys wuz fum Ningland too.
KDT

[bruno]

thanks bill o and kd fer translatin'! i'm actually from da south--north cackalacky born and bred! a tarheel! but i sho' do like the mountains yall yankees got up here! you guys are hardcore too! i used to live in colorado and cali where i went fer my learnin' (but spent a li'l more time skiin' and hikin' than learnin' as ya can tell!) and ya know what? you guys up here don't mess aroun' in yer trail buildin'! no siree! out west and down south we switchback the trails to make it easier to get up da mountain. you cats on da other hand jus' go straight up!!! i dig that about yall!! 'core all the way!!!

now if i could jus' figger out how to keep my water from freezin. . . .

[Brad]

I use a Camelpack - with the insulated hose. After drinking I blow back on it so the water is not left in the hose to freeze.

[bruno]

I use a Camelpack - with the insulated hose. After drinking I blow back on it so the water is not left in the hose to freeze.

hey brad! yeah i blow it back but obviously need to insulate. did you make the tube or is it something you get at an outdoor shop? thanks!!

[Bill O]

hey brad! yeah i blow it back but obviously need to insulate. did you make the tube or is it something you get at an outdoor shop? thanks!!

I think you can buy those insulating tubes, but you'll still need to blow the water back out. When its 0F even the insulation isn't going to be enough. The thought of not having water really scares me so I just go with the wide-mouth bottles when its that cold.