Groundhog Day is tomorrow, and it seemed appropriate to give you a story that felt a little like déjà vu. Last week I told you about Kim and me and a little snow-hike that we did. And it reminded me of a snow-camping trip that my buddy Steve and I took back in college.
I don’t know why we did it. Maybe we’d read one too many adventure books. But for some reason, in the winter of 1996, we decided that we needed to go sleep outside in the snow. This coming from two boys from Florida who hadn’t had any experience with snow (I’m not sure I’d even see snow at that point in my life). So we headed out in my buddy’s old Chrysler and started driving. I think we stopped at a Walmart for some trail food and a rain jacket for me. And I honestly don’t know what I even had for warm clothes. Maybe a flannel shirt, an old jacket, and a sweatshirt? We were at school in Gainesville, so dealing with cold temps wasn’t something we had to do a lot of.
We showed up at the Smoky Mountains National Park to get a camping permit. The rangers looked us up and down, shook their heads, and spent the better part of the next five minutes trying to dissuade us from our plan. But when you are in your twenties, you can do anything, or at least you think you can. So we pled our case and walked out with permit in hand. We set up our car in the parking lot, donned our gear, and headed into the backcountry.
It’s been a long time, so I don’t remember all the details, but the first day of hiking was relatively uneventful, and I don’t remember there being much snow. It was cold, but I think it was an average day of hiking, and we eventually made our way to a clearing in the woods where we planned to sleep for the night. Even with our novice camper status we did have a tent, and it was a spacious 4-person tent, but it was definitely made for car-camping or camping in the backyard where you can bail out pretty easily if you need to. It was heavy to carry and only had a marginal rain fly. Proper backpacking tents have a cover that goes to the ground to keep the rain out. This one just had a square that sort of popped out to keep “some” of the rain off. But we wanted snow, not rain.
And, man, did we get it. As night fell, it began to snow. Lightly at first, and then heavier as the night wore on, with us shivering in our sleeping bags (which like our tent and clothes were wildly inappropriate for what we were attempting). I think the rough ratio of snow to rain is 12 inches of snow is equivalent to 1 inch of rain. So what would be a minor rainstorm can produce quite a bit of snow. And for us that night, it kept snowing. Inch after inch, until pretty soon our tent was bowing under the load. It never fully collapsed, but we kept having to fluff big piles off to keep it from doing so.
By morning, about a foot of snow had fallen. It was one of the largest snowfalls in the area in quite some time. At that point, we made the first wise decision of the trip and decided to pack out. We couldn’t start a fire since all the kindling was wet. We were cold, and, well, it just made sense to leave. We ended up in Maggie Valley and tried to go skiing, but given the heavy snowfall and holiday weekend, it was too crowded to get a lift ticket. So we ended up in a crummy little motel for the night where we warmed our boots on the radiator and stayed warm. On the way home, we did spend another night camping somewhere in south Georgia which was snow-free. But we got what we wanted, an adventure in the snow. It was memorable, and we made it out alive. Just two Florida boys, experiencing snow for the first time.
We can’t bring you snow, but we can bring you a great experience with Yoga in the Garden: get tickets here to do a little something extra for YOU this week. And of course, with the delightful cool air that we’ve had lately, it’s the perfect time for some of your garden tasks. Plant a tree, plant some seeds, and get ready for a great spring in the garden.
