Took me an hour to walk home last night. Normally just 15 minutes.
Sidewalks were the most dangerous. Fresh, smooth wet ice.
I walked on the roads, because with the snow and ruts from the cars, could get a better grip
That worked on the busier streets, but once I was in residential areas with little vehicle traffic, the wet ice was on the roads as well.
Finally got to the back alley on our street and there was a lot of snow beside the alley, so walked on that. Trespassed across our neighbour’s snowy front lawn to avoid the sidewalk and made it up our treacherous front steps
Made it without falling once, yay me! But there were several “whoa! Slippery!” moments when I thought I’d lost it.
When it was raining last night, temp was just around 0 C.
This morning, a hard freeze: -15C. That ice ain’t going anywhere soon.
School buses aren’t running and schools have indoor recess. Other things are cancelled.
I doubt we’ll get the post today. Just too dangerous to be walking rounds on ice-covered sidewalks.
Stay safe. We got just a smattering of rain before the chill set in. The sidewalks are a bit slick but the streets are fine and we appear to have mostly escaped this one.
Freezing rain is just the worst. We had bitter cold temps for the past week here after a big storm and nothing melted up until now. Fortunately we’ll be keeping warmer temps for a few days now including rain on Friday. Unfortunately, we’re getting rain on Friday.
There are things you can put on your shoes to facilitate walking on ice (they essentially give you cleats). I wonder if they work well enough to make walking the rounds on ice-covered sidewalks doable.
Things like YakTrax are good for walking on icy streets and driveways. Despite what they advertise, all versions of YakTrax are useless for any other activity.
Hey, you’re in Canada. You get ice, you break out the ice skates and play hockey. It’s only natural.
A number of years ago, I was living in a hilly area and the driveway to the house was even steeper than the roads. And we had an ice storm once, coated everything with a half inch or so of ice. No way was I going anywhere, but the next day was trash day, so I had to get the garbage can to the curb. My landlord (I was renting part of his house) didn’t think the garbage man would come by because of the ice, but those big heavy trucks can get traction where smaller vehicles can’t. So I figured I’d better put the can out anyway.
So to get the can down the driveway, I just grabbed both handles but didn’t lift the can. And then slid down the driveway. The combination of the bottom of the can and my feet was stable enough that I didn’t fall down. Went out into the road a ways, but there was no traffic at all, of course. To get back up, I climbed though the “lawn”. Well, we didn’t have a lawn there; it was more of a forest: dense trees and bushes. So I pulled myself up using all the branches.
Turns out the garbageman did come by, so it was good I put it out.
Yep. I tried them on a winter hike once. The broken and useless remains were returned to the store the very next day. MICROspikes have worked a lot better. I wouldn’t even bother with YakTrax for sidewalks.
Wintry mix is hellish. How are the kids getting to school for indoor recess if the buses aren’t running? Around here, no transportation, no school. They don’t actually expect parents to drive the kids do they? I love my Canadian neighbors, but that’s just batshit crazy!
My experience is that they work pretty well on flat terrain. Once you have to climb or the terrain gets rough they act like skates. Some models (and some knock-offs by other brands) have had quality issues, and they just don’t stay on unless sized exactly right.
Yeah, it’s a mess. I couldn’t get my van up my driveway into the garage, because I just kept sliding too much. Maybe not a bad thing; someone down the street had their garage door opener rip off the door this morning, because the door was frozen to the ground.
Surprisingly driving isn’t too bad, but the sidewalks are a disaster.
