On August 3, my monthly Transpass was stolen. I had no money to replace it, so took to walking to work 8 miles each way, Philly to Bryn Mawr. Go ahead and call me insane, all my coworkers already have. Hurt like hell the first week, loved it after that.
Nowadays I walk to work and take a trolley home in the interest of having an evening free. It takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes, which I’m hoping to get down to 2 hours. I want to keep this up- it’s far more pleasant than Septa.
However- winter is coming, and it seems like it might be a harsh one. I have a secondhand winter hiking coat that has two layers, so the coat is covered. What else do ypu recommend for 2 hours predawn walking in winter? It’s city and suburban sidewalks all the way, with one leg of the walk in a kind of ghetto area where I expect a lot of uncleared walks.
Good boots. For two reasons - firstly, so you don’t slip on ice, and secondly because cold, wet feet for two hours will be unpleasant, and possibly dangerous.
Also, be aware that if it does get icy it may take you a lot longer to do the walk.
Expect that you won’t be able to do the walk in the same amount of time. Walking in winter is far more beautiful than in spring and summer but it takes much longer. You have to move slower on the ice, you are going to run into unplowed streets that will slow you down, etc. Proper walking boots and long underpants will keep you warm but you may be out for 3 hours instead of your normal 2.
I started walking to work last year in an attempt to get more exercise. I walk about four miles a day, three or so days a week. This will be my second winter.
When it’s just cold, I have some thin gloves that I use- but those are replaced by ski gloves when it gets down below freezing. I’ve got a balaclava that I wear when it gets that low, but normally I just wear a knit cap on my head.
I found that having my coat’s hood up and drawn tight really helps with staying warm. Just make sure that you don’t sweat- start opening your coat if you get warm.
I usually wear a pair of leather boots when it’s cold, along with some long Thinsulate or SmartWool socks. When it’s snowy or icy, YakTrax really come in handy.
Make sure that your coat isn’t dark. I nearly got hit by a few cars last winter even with reflective patches on my coat.
A backpack really comes in handy- for a change of clothes if it rains, for example. I kept a pair of ski goggles in there, just in case, but never had to use them.
Keep an eye on the weather forecasts. There’s nothing worse than being unprepared for a sudden cold front.
I used to use these a lot. Plusses: they work pretty well, and they are kind of cool. Minusses: re-activating them after use is a bit of a pain, and they do not last forever - eventually they split at the seam or just generally stop working.
Hat, scarf, mittens, socks. If you have a good, heavy one of each of those, you’ll be fine.
Athena, who spent a good bit of her high-school years walking around at night in 5 degree and lower temperatures because she was too stupid to stay home instead of hanging with friends who lived 3+ miles away.
For over 25 years, I walked 4 miles to my office in Montreal winter, which is a hell-of-a-lot more severe than anything Philly has. (Well, it is true that the temperature once hit -13 in Philly in 1934, my mother never stopped talking about it, but it hardly ever goes below 0 while here the normal winter low is about -15 and -35 is not unknown.) I assume you are walking along Lancaster Ave/Lancaster Pike and the ghetto area you refer to is in West Philly.
To get back to your question. Dress warmly, very warmly, and by all means wear lined boots. Get warm gloves (artificial warmers shouldn’t be necessary–I never used them in Montreal) and a face mask for very cold weather. And don’t do it in the middle of a blizzard.
One year, when I was working in a lab at Penn, my boss (who was originally Swiss) skied in from Yeadon during a particularly nasty storm when the buses weren’t running.
It can very exhilarating walking in very cold weather. But as I said, Philly has almost none of that.
It doesn’t really get cold here, so you should be fine outside of major snowfalls (which happened the last two years but don’t usually). I’m a big walker and biker as well. I rarely even need a real coat in Philly winters - there’s usually only a couple weeks in Jan/Feb that it’s below the mid-30s. My main problem with walking in winter is that I can get chilled at first with not enough layers, but with too many layers I will get extremely overheated and sweat to death once I am moving briskly. I hate having to carry jackets and sweaters…
I’d try to get some decent winter boots - ones that are rubber/waterproof up to the anklebone, since we get more nasty cold rain and slush than dry snow/solid ice.
If your coat doesn’t have a hood, make sure you have a hat.
Also, reflective tape. You’re essentially going to be out in the middle of the night, and with snow on the ground you might have to walk in the street. Be safe.
If we have another winter like the last, you might be in for some rough times. However it probably won’t take you any longer to wade through 8 miles of snow than it would to try to take the bus, since they barely plow most of Philly. It will be intense exercise, though!
You might want to invest in some fancy sweat-wicking undershirts. You’ll discover how much heat your body generates just from walking, plenty enough to get sweaty if you’re not very quick about adjusting layers/ventilation. Hats are good because you can easily pop them off when you start warming up too much. Big thick coats aren’t so good because they’re hard to adjust (and heavy); better is a fairly light windproof shell with a couple layers or fleece or something underneath. A pair of waterproof/breathable pants might be good for keeping snow and rain off your pants.
If you’re walking through uncleared snow much, you might want a pair of gaiters: they’re basically fabric that you put over the tops/laces of your boots, and they keep snow from falling inside the tops of the boots, with longer ones keeping the laces dry, too.
Do you have a way to abandon the walk if you need to (by jumping on the bus midway or something)? If not, you might want to bring a knapsack with another warm layer, because if you get slowed down a lot (say, tweaking your ankle on a snowbank), you’ll get colder because your body isn’t working as hard.
I recommend gore-tex (or otherwise waterproof) hiking boots. They’re lightweight, made for lots of walking (obviously), have good ankle support, are waterproof, and are warm enough for 99.9% of whatever your winter can dish out.
The second half of the route follows a bus route. And yes, the ghetto bit is Overbrook on Lancaster Ave. Amusingly enough, I show up on time, while my septa-taking colleague who lives closer is usually late.
I second mack’s recommendation, but ramped up a bit like this selection of waterproof, insulated winter pac boots. I do a lot of walking around in slush and muddy snow all winter, and the women’s version of these (I bought women’s Sorels) has been a lifesaver. Plus, they’ve lasted through three winters so far, and no reason not to use them this winter. They’re worth the cash. Nothing like having warm and dry feet!
I would get some great tech underlayers - they don’t have to be expensive, Walmart carries them, and also some Yaktrax or something similar. Most days you’ll be okay, but if it’s icy, the Yaktrax will help a lot.