Welcome, guest [login | register]

Posted by Bill S on February 28, 2008 at 1:20:12 pm EST
In reply to weather/altimeter watches posted by Guyz on February 28, 2008 at 12:32:47 pm EST

Sounds like you are going to Philmont on one of the standard itineraries.

I would not choose the Highgear watch. Suunto has a number of different versions, ranging from a pretty basic barometer/altimeter to ones with all sorts of bells and whistles. They have a number of years of experience with such watches in the field. I would also choose the Timex and Casio versions over the Highgear.

BUT ... you really have to understand some basics of altimeters and barometers for such tools to be of any help. Recall that the barometric and altitude readings are hard-linked to each other. If you set the altimeter at the bottom of the hill, the barometric reading will drop as you go up, at the rate of about 1 inch per 1000 feet altitude gain. So to spot a drop in the barometer, you would have to recalibrate the altimeter (and hence barometer) frequently. But you just do not have known, surveyed altitude points that would be 20-30 minutes of hiking/climbing apart. You can use a GPSR to obtain an altitude within 20-30 ft, which will help (be aware, though, that the Garmin GPSRs that have built-in barometric altimeters display the barometric altitude and not the GPS-derived altitude, with no way to force it to display only the GPS-derived value).

Also, the thunderstorms you will encounter in the Sangres during your trek are orographic, not frontal, so the barometric changes are not as indicative as for frontal thunderstorms. If you do not already have a fair amount of background in meteorology and experience with using barometers and barometric altimeters in mountain conditions, I would not suggest depending on one.

You can get "lightning warning" devices that are small and portable, and are far more accurate in warning of impending lightning strikes. Philmont has larger versions of these installed at the climbing areas, although not at the popular peaks like Trail Peak, Baldy, the Tooth, etc.

You will receive lightning briefings as part of your ranger briefing at the start of the trail. You can also depend pretty well on the thunderstorms following the "every day at 2 PM" schedule, as is commonly seen in mountain areas (sometimes it seems like you can set your watch by them). So the plan is start hiking early (be on the trail by 7, and no later than 8AM) and at your next camp by noon. Plan on doing the peaks early in the day and be off them pretty quickly after lunch.

And of course, learn to read the weather - watch cloud buildups, watch the daily patterns, use the "5-second" rule (count seconds between flash of lightning and hearing the thunder - sound travels at about 1 mile per 5 seconds, and if the interval is decreasing, the storm is getting closer). Review lightning safety procedures before you get to Philmont (there is a NOAA website that discusses and illustrates the safety procedures). You will get that in your ranger briefing, plus will go through a practice drill (or they used to do the drill up through the time my son was a Philmont Ranger).

Replies

View: flat | threaded

There have been no replies

Post a Reply

Before replying, please read the complete thread.