Lazy Crazy days on San Gorgonio

[zippetydude]

Way crazy fun this weekend on San G! On Saturday, I did VC, but only after sleeping in like a slug...which helped my energy level, as I did a PR, which didn't make any difference in the weather, as it began to rain and then hail uproariously while I was on the way down...I had to hide under a tree for about 20 minutes when it got crazy, and those hailstones bouncing off my head hurt! As Walt and HJ will tell you, I am always ultra prepared (although they spell it differently - "unprepared") for any eventuality, it was fun and absolutely wonderful to be caught in the rain/hail with nothing but shorts and a tank top on...yes, I got cold and couldn't feel my hands for a while, but it was so much fun I wouldn't change a thing. Hope someone else got stuck in the middle of that for a while too...

z

[Ellen]

Howdy Z AKA fellow Polar Bear

Good job!!! I was caught at Mineshaft Saddle in a lightning/hail storm descending from San G in 2005. Even with a ultralight gortex jacket over a fleece, getting hit by hail hurt. Of course, I didn't have pants or gloves. My hands were blistered from being hit by hail stones. I kept moving -- the lightning was striking all around me.

Several weeks later, I did the Pikes Peak Ascent and got caught in a lightning/hail/snow storm at 12.5 K. Like you, I was only wearing a tank top and shorts. I could hear people swearing all the way up -- getting hit on the head with hail really hurts. By the time I finished, my hands were markedly swollen and I was bright pink from the cold. Two hundred of us were stuck in the train station until the snow plows cleared the road

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[Hikin_Jim]

As Walt and HJ will tell you, I am always ultra prepared (although they spell it differently - "unprepared")...

Some day, I'm going to come around a corner and find you shivering in the cold, and I'm going to hand you that jacket I've been lugging up and down the mountains for all this time.

Yeah, I've gotten the heck knocked out of me by hail more than once. One trick, if you have an extra sock, fleece hat, bandana, or something is to fold that extra item up and put it under the hat you're wearing. Trust me, it's a good thing.

Also, if you have a poncho, wear it of course, but you can hold you arms close to your chest and you'll be somewhat shielded. Of course, you have to put your trekking poles (if you use them) in your pack.

HJ

[Ellen]

Howdy HJ

Ask Z-dude what he wears for leggings when he snowshoes

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[Hikin_Jim]

I'm a little late* to the party here, but I'll bite: Hey, Zip, what do you wear on your legs when you snowshoe?

HJ

*I've been in Japan the last couple of weeks.