By What the Hill?

Tales from the frozen road

Nov 26, 2010 | 12:50 PM

I hate being cold, my heaters are always cranked up, my boots and jackets are lined and I sleep with a heating pad.

Even more than that though, I truly hate traveling on snow and ice. Over the past couple of years I’ve learned to drive on those roads, but being passenger makes my stomach hurt. I’m usually okay until I feel the wheels slip or hear the ABS brakes start.

So please, do not ask me what I was thinking when I agreed to go for a drive with a friend, the other night.

Part of me was excited at the prospect at getting out of the city, but the reality is I was looking to get out of finishing some work. I could have been distracted by something shiny.

I was thinking I’d go out for an hour, be back by 10 p.m. and finish my work.

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When am I going to learn that I should not plan?

It started as a trip out of town on Highway 302, but a left and a few rights later and we definitely were not anywhere near where we started.

The snow was getting deeper, and my knuckles started to get whiter.

My sense of adventure decreases with the temperature.

One more left and there was a big hill, well big by Saskatchewan standards and the road started to narrow. Movements later we slid in front of a place where a ferry would usually run. Apparently you need to cross a river if you drive far enough to the east. Who knew?

In a weird twist the scene, in -30 C, was rather beautiful. Ice had not formed all the way across the river so steam was rising from the water that was still flowing in the middle.

That should have been my indicator that it was too cold to get out of the truck. If the water in the freezing river is warmer than the surrounding air temperature, one should probably stay inside.

However, never one to resist a photo op, even when I only have my cell phone in tow, I hopped out. It was also a chance to have both feet on the ground versus being in a truck.

It was really, really cold and really, really late. By the time I made it back to the truck, I was shivering so badly I couldn’t talk through my chattering teeth.

The good news is by the time I got home and warmed up I was so tired that my insomnia was gone. I curled up with my heating pad and slept like a rock … for the five hours left before having to be up for work.

Next week I promise to write about something warmer.
 

ahill@panow.com