more adverse fire conditions

[Cliff Stamp]

We had taken some severe snowfalls recently (25+ cm per day) and lots of high wind (100 km/hr) and it basically made travel off road fairly difficult :

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/CliffStamp/phil wilson/south fork/south_fork_snow_path.jpg

There is a trail running up that line, the snow there is above waist deep and it is mainly powder with spots of thick crust, but not enough to walk on, if you don't have snowshoes you can crawl across it, you just have to be careful about how you distribute your weight.

I spent some time the weekend looking at fires in high winds based on a conversation with my brother who noted he has built them in holes in the snow. I was using mainly a small knife with others on standby in case they were needed, but they were not. I used the South Fork for a bunch of ice and snow block cutting and it worked fine, though many times slower than a heavier fixed blade :

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/CliffStamp/phil wilson/south fork/south_fork_snow.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/CliffStamp/phil wilson/south fork/south_fork_chipper.jpg

Moving inside I went over a bank and into a small depression about 6x8 feet and cut out the top crust with the knife and moved all the snow out by hand and cut the various limbs and alders out of the way until I reached bare ground. This gave me a couple of feet of shelter on all sides and I filled it in on top with some boughs so I basically made a small open faced stove which was protected from wind and snow.

The fire was made by birch bark, some dried wood and surrounding boughs. There was no trouble in getting it started due to the shelter from the wind/snow though I was concerned about all the surrounding snow putting it out. This turns out to not be a concern. Once the fire was burning I collapsed the top in on it as the wind then just fueled it, and it had stopped snowing.

While the snow walls did not put the fire out, there were *massive* amounts of steam released as it all melted, so much so that unless the wind gusted right across the top, all the pictures showed were a huge white smog :

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/CliffStamp/phil wilson/south fork/south_fork_snow_fire.jpg

It was very difficult to use this as a direct source of heat because of all the steam, but once the fire is burning this strong you can start getting heavier wood for windbreaks and if you have a shovel clear out the snow around it.

-Cliff

 

[skammer]

That much snow you must have gotten a good idea of how exhausting travel in such conditions can be.
Goes to the stay put to survive motto.

Skam

 

[sodak]

Good stuff, Cliff! How long did this take? I hope you had Goretex gloves. I think if I was doing this kind of "bushwacking", I would have a titanium shovel at my disposal...

 

[Cliff Stamp]

I was out for quite awhile I had intended to compare walking speed/effort through deep snow to crawling (*much* faster/easier) to snowshoes (made from boughs), but after I crested a ridge and found myself in an almost perfectly made natural shelter the fire seemed a more interesting idea.

Removing the snow and cutting all the wood didn't take that long, longer than necessary because I was doing things like comparing how much time/effort it took to crack/tear the wood rather than cut it, and then do some tests cuts with the Ratweiler to note its benefit over the South Fork.

It took about a half an hour to clear out all the snow and gather the wood to start the fire which was started then on clear dry ground. Once it was going it was very difficult to work around and I don't like the idea of all that steam in the cold for obvious reasons, though I would prefer it to not having a fire.

Yes, having a decent shovel would be really worthwhile, in the time I made a small hole, a few nights back I shoveled several feet of snow out of a section of driveway. With one person creating the center hole and another shaping the waste into walls and then gathering boughs for the top, you would have a shelter made in the same time you can dig a little pit with your hands and a knife.

Skammer, yeah, I have done that lots of times, the fun part is when you are cresting along at about knee level which is hard but workable and you move a few feet to the left to get a nice piece of birch and there is a little ridge which you don't see as it is hidden by snow and you are now suddenly close to your armpits in powder. You can't push your way up out of it either, just sink right down in it.

We had had a few storms this winter so far which dumped pretty much that much snow on us in 1-2 days. It is nice and clear and no snow, and then 50 cm and high winds, in places this drifts to several feet of powder. You really want a solid walking stick when moving in heavy snow, it gets impossible to walk when the snow is much above knee level and very dangerous if you go in really deep and unexpected.

-Cliff