BRRRR!  Cold this morning!

Weather for Monticello:

Rain and snow this morning, becoming mostly cloudy this afternoon.  High around 40, Low 26, winds NNW around 10 mph, chance of rain 60%.

Looking at the long range forecast it is calling for a warming trend and the next chance of rain/snow will be Monday of next week.  We can live with that!

Do you know what NNW means?  Let me give you a little lesson.

On a compass there is a “N” that stands for “North”, and that is where the little arrow inside the compass points.  That tells you which direction North is.  There is also an “E” for East, “S” for South and a “W” for West.  So, if the winds are going to come from the South, the weather forecast will say “S Winds”, if they are coming from the West the forecast will say “W”.  But what about winds that aren’t coming from a straight on direction like South or West, or East or North?  Well then they must be coming from some direction between those points.  Like North West…NW, or South East…SE.  And if the winds are coming at you from closer to North it would be marked as North North West, “NNW” (North of North West) or if it’s coming from closer to the West than North, West North West, “WNW” (West of NorthWest).

Now for your test.  The weather forecast is calling for temperature of 20 degrees with winds ESE at 10 mph, and you are facing directly North with nothing on but a wet sheet, what part of your body will get coldest first?

Today’s schedule will be involved with making sure everything is in the camp trailer…stuff like coffee, sugar, toilet paper and the like.

I packed the game bags yesterday in a duffle bag and those will be tossed in the truck when we leave camp to head out looking for an elk.  You never know where the elk will finally hit the dirt and if we have to pack it out, those bags will come in real handy.

I also got my “warm stuff” bag sorted out and took out the kinds of things I will never need.  Loaded up the hand warmers and made an emergency kit of sorts.  One for fire starting, with fresh “strike anywhere” matches, a small candle and a charcoal stick hand warmer.  The rest of the bag contains gloves, face masks and a pull over rain jacket.

In my “take it with me” fanny pack I cleaned out the 3 year old Tootsie rolls, made sure the Kipper Snacks were in there, as well as three hunting knives, my pelvis cutting tomahawk, a liver and heart bag, small piece of rope and knife sharpener.

This “getting ready” is kind of fun and with only a few days left before we head out I know I’m over killing everything.  But when we get up on the mountain there should be plenty for everyone.

My workout this morning was a grueling one with lots of sweat.  My legs have gotten used to the 10% inclines and so the calves are not paining me like they were a week ago, or throbbing like two weeks ago.  This working out is sort of a good thing.  You should try it!  Just Saying!

8 days!

Bears Butt

Oct. 30, 2013