This past Snow storm reminded me again how quickly the city can become a "wilderness" environment.

Saturday I had to help my SO pack up her Art Studio, on the way there it wasn't terrible but kind of "fun" to travel the normally 30 min drive to the studio. Now keep in mind our first travel was when the storm was really starting to warm up to lay down the snow. On the way there we pulled out only one car. The roads were starting to become unplowed. While rigging up the truck to pull out the first victim of the storm police car barley made it up a hill to see what I was doing. The road that we were on was impassable by any type of car and the squad car wisely chose to not go up the street we were on as it was unplowed.

Many back roads and some main streets were not plowed, and very impassable to the average car. This was my first sign that down town St. Paul was becoming a "wilderness" environment.

After packing the ride home became more of a challenge. By the time we got home I had to close down an off ramp, and pulled over 7 cars. The off ramp had to be closed, because it was clogged by an abandoned car and 3 other cars that went around it. We got the three cars out of the off ramp but it was best to use flairs to block off the ramp while getting the cars off the on-ramp and back on the highway.

The reason for posting was not so much about pulling cars or being able to help others but how quickly a "urban" environment had become wilderness. If you left your car at all you had to have your hat, mittens, scarf and eye protection on to keep warm, my pants had frozen up to my knees. We had to do a quick repair to the truck due to the snow and that required improvisation and we cold not rely on anyone or anything but ourselves. The only difference was that our surroundings were buildings and parking lots not trees and fields, but we were still not able to call on anyone to help us or help those around us. All of the gear that I carry in my truck was put to use, and often tested.

The gear that I had with me was pushed, and tested. I remember getting into the truck after hooking up one car and thinking that had I worn lesser boots, socks, jacket, gloves, hat and scarf I would have been frost nipped at the least, after only spending 10 min in the cold hooking up a car. Many times I was reaching for gear that I thought I would only need in the woods while in the middle of down town. When in the wilderness you take precautions, you don't do things that can put you at risk. I found myself in a more, "Wilderness" mental state.

I am interested to here what others experience was with this storm and if they felt it turned there urban world into a Wilderness expedition.

i'm just across the river in South Minneapolis..phone just rang it was the citys automated warning call,no joke--we have to move our cars tonite--again!!..so anyway i was over in St Paul today..Highland to shop..and it's a mess all over.side streets still packed with snow....and--that bag of winter gear and the propane stove that i got a fresh tank for is still sitting in the basement---sorry guys i'm not prepared..

Good job stopping to help. I'll bet those folks were glad to see you.

You're right, cities are temporary skins on the face of Earth, the illusion of control. When atmosphere or lithosphere sneeze, cities become wilderness without resources.

Lots of snow and high winds for 2 days in Northeastern Ontario, schools were closed today so I stayed home with the 3 kids, shoveled out our house and the neighbours.

My wife came home with a new appreciation for her new-to-her Toyota Rav4 and Blizzak Winter Tires, she felt secure to drive where ever she needed to go and it saved her from loosing a days pay.

Mike

I live in Burnsville and work in St. Paul... the main roads were "ok" but not great - the interstate and main highways were not bad at all from my perspective. In St. Paul, the ramp area I park in was not cleaned out well - it was useable for parking but where a path to walk out to the sidewalk was it was one snowblower pass wide with lots of white stuff on each side. The intersections are interesting - you can't see worth a darn in a lot of them.

Some major intersections in St. Paul had piled up snow that made getting around them and/or thru them tough. It will be a couple of weeks for them to get this cleaned up. I sure wish I still had the old Jeep and not the new Prius.

I just realized my gloves must have fallen out of my coat pocket at the grocery store so now I have to go buy new ones. Any suggestions for something good, the "leather" ones I had from wilsons leather didn't seem to work very well, the leather would get still when it got damp and didn't conform to my pockets very well either.

Do NOT go cheap on your gloves. I've been getting the two part ones with a waterproof external shell and a liner for them and that combo seems to work best for me. This weekend when blowing out snow at about 5 degrees my hands were freezing up with the leather/wool liner mittens I had on so I swapped them out for the REI shell and liner gloves and didn't have any more issues with cold hands.

As for gloves, three pair is what I've usually got with the theory that it's good to have a spare, two is really one and one is none. There is also an extra pair in the car at all times.

This is sort of what I've got... well worth the bucks
http://www.rei.com/product/757118

I also have (second pair) some warm leather 'duty' gloves
http://www.hatch-corp.com/detail.aspx?pid=WPG100

Good luck and stay warm!

Paul -

Those look nice, I like the layered idea, thin ones for when I need more dexterity.

Our city had a large ice storm a few years ago, knocked out power for a week at a time in a lot of places. People bugged out to friends/family homes, hotels that still had power, etc.
Its really wilderness like to drive down the street and see no lights, just dark empty houses.

I'm not one to "cheap-out" on things but as of last winter my go-to gloves, even during the blizzards we had, are these Duluth Trading "Glomitts." They are convertible mittens so you can have the dexterity of fingerless gloves and flip the top back up for the warmth of mittens.

My fingers were toasty warm this 22-degree morning on our dog walk.

They are on sale for $17.50 -- I wear the Men's small. They're so cheap and wonderful that I have several pair so will be wearing them for years even if I lose one here and there....

http://www.duluthtrading.com/store/products/50041.aspx


For bikejoring in slushy snow, snowshoveling and making snowmen, I opt for Dakine snowboard gloves. But the truth is I get a lot more use out of the Duluth Trading Glomitts.

http://www.rei.com/product/802577:


I second the recommendation for redundancy in gloves -- I have several pair in the car, all year long. Including the Glomitts, work gloves (insulated and not) and down mittens.

The right gloves and socks are priceless in freezing conditions.

I'll second the importance of keeping feet and hands warm. When doing barn chores during cold conditions I always keep at least one extra pair in my pockets so I always have a dry pair to slip on.

While not waterproof these are great for working around horses or anything where you need a good grip. I machine wash mine in warm water and hang to dry.

http://gloves.lfsinc.com/content/?p=908

When it gets real cold I switch from Smartwood socks to Filson socks in either the medium or heavy weight. I've never found any socks that beat Filson when it's cold.