Re: [Philmont]: cold weather gear

Lots of good advice and war stories, but maybe some hard facts will
help. My own personal temperature range at Philmont was 26 degrees to
104 degrees. That was 3 days apart on the same trek, in late July. It
is *routine* to wake up to temperatures in the 30's. At the highest
elevation camps (e.g., Copper Park), it is not unusual to wake up to
temperatures in the 20's. And we have had reports on this list, and on
bowline.org in the past, reporting occasional teens at the high camps.
Yes, such lows are more common in June - but they can occur anytime over
the entire camping season. My treks have covered the range from late
June to the end of July/beginning of August. I've had both sleet and
accumulating snow at Copper Park.

In addition to these temperatures, I have personally experienced winds
on Baldy and the other high peaks that I estimated at 75 mph or greater.
  Common? No - but if you're soaking wet in just a 20 or 30 mph wind,
you're in trouble.

About 2 weeks ago, someone reported 9 inches of hail at Crater Lake, and
6 inches at Beaubien. That's a minimum of half a day at 32 degrees -
and a wet, miserable 32 degrees at that. And I have had plenty of rain
fall on me that was hail-cold or nearly so, even with no accompanying hail.

We have had plenty of comments on the list over the past two weeks that
Philmont is both wetter and colder than past years. (It's raining at
Philmont right now.) Will August be different? Normally, the monsoon
starts in mid-July and lasts well past the end of the camping season.
Do we have any reason to believe this year will be an anomaly, and that
August will be warm and dry? I wouldn't bet the farm - or my life - on
the odds.

I believe there is a monument in Arizona (???) memorializing the death
of an entire Scout Troop that perished in a freak snowstorm back in the
30's. I'm sure someone on the list can provide more accurate info than
my vague recollection. Bottom line is let's not forget the lesson. Do
I think such a thing will ever happen at Philmont? I certainly hope
not. But I have personally experienced weather extremes there that
could kill the unprepared or the foolish. Two pounds of fleece (top and
bottom) makes for one heck of an ounce of prevention. This is a Health
and Safety issue. You know what to do!

- Dr. Bob

Dave Martin wrote:
> I will certainly be urging my troops to be fully prepared, but I'm
> anticipating some push back from a few who will say "all those
> cold-weather stories are from folks who went to Philmont in June -
> we're going the end of July (July 28), and it is hotter then - I can
> leave the fleece at home".
>
> What sayeth the wisdom of the list? Does the onset of the Philont
> monsoon season in mid to late July offset the generally warmer
> temperatures, such that the need for cold-weather gear is no less
> than it was early in June?
>
> Dave Martin Endwell, NY (where current temp is 65F)
>

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Received on Tue Jul 6 20:05:15 2004