The cold weather is a big topic everywhere right now, and lots of folks are staying indoors because of the cold right now. I thought it might be fun/interesting to share stories of when we've been really cold.
Last night it got down to 31 briefly here outside of Corpus Christi. That was darn cold for here! We feel cold, but then laugh about what wusses we've become. Need to toughen back up. Here's my two "coldest" stories.
First was about when I was a senior in high school. Hunting elk with my dad in the South Fork of the Flathead. Thermometer read -40 F when we left the house at O dark-thirty. About mid morning dad gets the bright idea we should get out of the truck and go poke around in the brush and see if we find any critters hiding out. I'm spitting blood chewing threw my tongue thinking this is stupid. Not only cold, but it had snowed just before the bottom fell out of the thermometer so we had to strap on snowshoes. Yeah, 40 below, snowshoes, in the thick alder brush and Devil's club. I must have needed more "character." Took him about 45 minutes to realize it wasn't worth it and we headed back to the truck. Took over an hour for the truck heater to make us feel warm again.
Second. About 2005, I was a FedEx courier working out of Kalispell, MT. My route took me down the East shore of Flathead lake every day to Polson. I'd been complaining about the heater in my van for weeks, but the genius outside vendor mechanics kept telling me I didn't know what I was talking about. Night time temps were between 30 and 40 below. Daytime highs were "up" to -20. You guessed it, the heater in the van went out completely. 60 miles from the station, 20 below zero and no heat. I had to put on every scrap of clothing I had with me and drive back....and those big delivery vans you see driving around; those sliding side doors don't seal well at all. Gets a bit drafty. I almost got that vendor's contract with FedEx cancelled. I probably should have pushed a little harder to make it happen.
That's how cold I've been. What has anyone else got?