MadisonStar

To test my equipment out and get the feel of my full 30lb pack with everything I was bringing, I did 5 hiking trips totaling 60 miles. The first two, I flew out to TX with my camping gear for the holidays and camped and hiked in Guadeloupe National Park. The night temps were 25 to 30 degrees and up on top of the mountains 30 mile an hour winds. This helped me to pick the right clothing and work on my camping gear.
My clothing for the trip is going to include (all items include multiple mix and match depending on temp):
Zip off pants - wear
Wool leggings/gators – wear
Short sleeve shirt – wear
Fleece pull over – wear
Wind/Rain Pants and Jacket - wear
1 pair shorts
Fleece pants – at camp
Long sleeve wool shirt – at camp
Down Jacket – at camp
Rain Poncho – which will serve also as a tarp if out hiking and need to stop in the rain for shelter and as a tarp for the bottom of my tent and to wear in the rain.

I live in Virginia, so I have spent the last 6 weeks doing my last 3 trips right in VA. I wanted to camp in the snow, so the first trip took place at Mt Pleasant and Cole Mountain. I bought micro spikes and I loved them; as the snow melts and then refreezes they gave me good grounding. The next challenge was actually camping and hiking in 6 inches to a foot of snow. At night it got down to about 15 to 20 degrees and the wind sounded like a train going through my tent all night. In planning my gear I bought a 15 degree sleeping bag (30 oz.) and a 30 degree sleeping bag (20 oz.) thinking I was going to change them out as I got closer to summer. I brought the 15 degree on this trip and I really felt I needed both of them. The 30 degree is a reasonable weight, so I am using this as my luxury item. It can serve as a pillow, blanket around camp and then a double insulator at night. I can fit both in a med waterproof compressor cinch sac. I am thinking I will need these two in the Smokies and then again up in VT, NH and ME.
The second trip I did at James River State Park, and again it snowed that night and got down to about 15 degrees. I brought the two sleeping bags and they made a big difference for warmth. The only thing I felt like I was missing were a good pair of wool socks for sleeping. I went on line and found some Canadian Wool socks for 40 degree below temps.
The socks worked great on my last backpacking trip to Grayson Highlands in VA. The temp again got down to 15 degrees; the wind chill at times registered -2 and I felt all the little extras I have added made a difference to be completely warm. The wind/rain jacket and pants made a big difference with the -2 wind chill. At Grayson Highland the challenge again was hiking in the 6 inches to over a foot of snow, but my micro spikes were great. I think the biggest challenge will be is to keep my feet dry and that may mean to sometimes just stop and get to where I can dry out. I think what the biggest challenge I had was to pick items that I could do multiple things with and that could give me combinations depending on what the weather will be.
I am not an electronic person, but I did get the new Samsung Galaxy Note II; this will serve as my phone, IPod, camera, GPS navigator on the trail, mini tablet to read books if I want, blog on this site and use the internet if I need to when it is available. I am not planning on using it much, but its multi-purpose use I could not pass it up.