Irene's Shredding

One thing I love about hurricanes is the long drawn out warning of their arrival. How often do we get a week long heads up about a possibly devastating event? A massive counter clockwise storm slowly moving its way north is a breath of fresh air compared to a possible tornado in your neighborhood. Tornadoes are highly unpredictable and much more life threatening if you are not expecting one. And forget about predicting earthquakes. The only time you can accurately predict an earthquake is after the initial earthquake, because aftershocks are just smaller earthquakes. Volcanic eruptions are now easier to predict but not as precise as a hurricane. We all knew Hurricane Irene was going to hit on Sunday. With volcanoes, predictions are usually off by a few days resulting in angry villagers clamoring to go back to their homes near the base of an active volcano. You have to be tough to live along the "Ring of Fire." Good thing we live here along the East Coast. I would take sharks, ticks and hurricanes over earthquakes and volcanoes any day of the week.

One amazing thing about Hurricane Irene was how the wind literally shredded healthy green leaves and littered them absolutely everywhere. During the "peak" of the storm I rode my bike on the street to take some pictures and was glad that no one came with me. Because it's pretty stupid to ride your bike during a hurricane. At least I had my helmet on.

I rode to Frenchtown Park and expected to see numerous trees down across the trail. I counted just one. 
The wind made the water in the pond come alive as a quick downward thrust made the water quiver in all directions. That was something you don't see everyday.

 The above picture is from Beavertail Park, at the southern end of Jamestown. This is one of the best places to view waves during a hurricane.

The above picture is of Frenchtown Park pond during the peak of Hurricane Irene. 

Several times as I was riding home I heard a car's engine roar behind me. As I turned around to see the car, I saw nothing. The roaring noise of the wind as it shredded the leaves in the trees made me feel that I was being chased by a mad teen driver with a muffler problem. Sorry teen drivers. You deserve the bad rap anyway.

The best decision I made was to not ride my bike under a hanging wire on Frenchtown road. It was absolutely tempting but I decided not to "Lance Armstrong" my way under the live wire and took a longer route back home.

After heeding the warning to completely remove all belongings from our yard, I quickly rebuffed the bird feeder removal advice and put out a fresh batch of nectar for area hummingbirds. Multitudes of flowers must have been destroyed by the tropical force winds because an epic battle between five hummingbirds lasted for twenty minutes around the nectar. Zipping and zooming, whirring and chasing, it was actually cute. Like babies fighting. Not that I have seen babies fight, but if I did, I would break it up immediately. In the case of the hummingbirds, they hate sharing their nectar with other birds and are very territorial. During the past summer months though, a small bee would chase the hummingbird away and steal some nectar. I never understood why the hummingbird didn't just bite that bee in half and go back to feeding.

Overall, Hurricane Irene caught a lot of us off guard. I think one way to prepare for a hurricane is to go camping for a week. Then those camping skills will come in handy when the lights go out. Cooking on a camp stove, setting up tents and purifying your water are skills that are transferable to surviving without electricity. Unless the hurricane shreds your tent. That may call for an involuntary camping vacation at a hotel with complimentary breakfast. 

This is a Katydid on an oak tree in my backyard. It was probably wondering what was going on with the hurricane blowing through the area.

See the red fox? My kids saw it and took a picture. Probably a bit hungry after waiting out the hurricane.

12 Essentials for Wilderness Hiking

(I rode my bike during Hurricane Irene and took some photos and will share them in my next post. This was what I was working on before Irene hit us.)

Before my first daughter was born I took an intensive course in wilderness medicine and became a Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician through the outdoor organization S.O.L.O. in New Hampshire. This trained me to take care of various outdoor emergencies such as treating injured hikers to dealing with various animal attacks.

During one of our training days the instructors discussed the 12 essential items that you should bring along if you are headed out into the wilderness. I lost and found this list many times during the past 13 years as I have moved in and out of apartments. This list of  "Essential Items" started to take on a mythical quality; I thought that if I lost the list, I would be losing some vital information that could save my life someday. So I clung on to this idea as I kept on losing and finding my list over the years. But when I cleaned out my basement this summer,  I found it again and decided to put an end to this list by sharing it with you on the Internet and saving it as a Google Document.

So without further adieu, here is my mythical list of the 12 Essential Items that you need to take with you if you are venturing into the wilderness for a hike!

This list was compiled by expert search and rescue instructors during July of 1998.

1. Map
2. Compass 
3. First Aid Kit
4. Matches
5. Fire Starter
6. Food
7. Clothes
8. Water
9. Knife
10. Flashlight
11. Blanket
12. Whistle
13. Sunglasses

Now as I look at the list, being thirteen years wiser, here is what I would leave behind.

Sunglasses. What am I going to do with sunglasses? Put them on my face right before I die so my rescuers can think that I am cool when they are putting my dead body in a body bag? Sunglasses are not essential.

Blanket. No way. I am not carrying a blanket every time I hike in the woods. What am I, Linus?

Flashlight. Am I that scared of the dark? If I am lost I will find a nice, warm, dry place for shelter BEFORE sundown. I don't like the idea of carrying around a chunky, odd object that I may not use. The D batteries will probably be dead from Irene anyway.

Fire starter.  Can you say pine needles? If you can, there is your fire starter.

Compass. I know how to find Polaris, the North Star, and I can figure out the compass rose by looking at the path of the Sun. I can also make a compass using a leaf, water and paperclip.  Can you say MacGruber?

First Aid Kit. Do you know what is in my first aid kit? Band-Aids. If I am hiking with kids, I take this to cover their boo-boos. For me? Unless it's a "Hello Kitty" bandage, I will leave it in the car.

Map. This is a murky one. If you are hiking in the 100 mile forest in Maine and want to bushwhack, take a map. If you are going to Frenchtown park for the 1000th time, leave it home.

Let me tell you why the following items are essential.

Matches. Small yet powerful. When I see free matches at the gas station I take them and throw them in the glove compartment of my car. I saved two people from horrible birthdays by running out to my car for matches so they could light their candles. All I asked for in return was for their birthday wish but they refused.

Food. You can survive for around a month without food but a nice hike in the woods is a good excuse to munch on a dark chocolate candy bar. It's for the energy of course.

Clothes. I'm not a lawyer, but I think if you hike naked you will go to jail. I would rather wear my clothes than jail clothes. And anyways, it's an extra layer of protection against ticks and poison ivy.

Water. When I was in Idaho catching mountain lions I foolishly thought that I could rehydrate myself by eating snow. Little did I know that I had to eat a "Blizzard of '78" amount of snow to keep me hydrated.

Knife. Right now get a small pocket knife and put it on your key chain. I guarantee that you will use it within 24 hours. You will use this for a variety of things from cutting annoying tags off clothing to cutting bananas apart at Dave's. And don't forget about striking an attacking grizzly bear directly in the eyeball for defense.

Whistle. Another small but powerful one. If you are yelling for help you will lose your voice. So a little whistle and a short breath will combine for a noise loud enough to be heard by a rescuer.

So there you have the Wilderness Essentials list! But remember to always use your brain and use caution. In addition use technology. GPS receivers and charged cell phones and smart phones can go a long way to help you survive. In a smart phone alone, you can have a flashlight, map and GPS. Remember to always tell someone where you are going. And if you can, bring five or six friends and maybe a six pack. (a six pack of soda of course!)