Winter thru Hike Clothing
Wondering if anyone has any suggestions from ultralight winter clothing(Skin out, basically everything). I'll be leaving from Maine in early September.
-Poptart
Early September in Maine will most likely be near perfect weather.
I wouldn't do anything different.
You probably won't hit frigid temps until November although I'd be prepared for the presidentials in the Whites.
You may not hit frigid temps at all. Depends on the year.
Even if you do, if you are the kind of hiker that keeps moving, I'd just wear one layer of polypro or equiv. long underwear with shorts or rain pants while hiking.
It's when you stop.
Nights will be very long. I'd make sure you have an excellent sleeping bag because you will be spending a lot of time in it.
I wouldn't burden myself with more than my regular gear except to add a down coat and exchange my lightweight polypros for heavyweight ones somewhere along the line.
Have them readily available for someone to ship to you when you call for them.
I'd also have a bright orange hat and pack cover.
Remember hunters will see you from the front 1st. (most likely)
I used to tie plastic flourescent streamers to my shoulder straps for that purpose.
Have fun out there. It'll be great except for those long nights.
Don't let your fears stand in the way of your dreams
When I was planning my AT thru, my first thought was doing what you're doing. My second thought was to get a really good headlamp for night hiking, because I don't like spending that much time in the sleeping bag. I didn't think at all about different clothing. Fiddlehead's advice sounds good all the way.
"Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning
Thanks for the advice. Didn't even think about hunters and wearing orange
Some of the best hiking weather in New England is in Sept/Oct (my favorate time of year), but it can get really nasty too. You need to be prepaired for those strings of raw days where it doesn't get over 40 and is raining or drizziling out the whole time. The first snow in the Whites usually comes in late Sept and becomes more consistant in mid October. It will be down right chilly early in the morning, especially at elevation.
Like Fiddlehead said, you don't need much while hiking. On nice sunny days, I might have just the standard wicking T on, but most of the time I have a long sleeve shirt on also. Of course, if it's windy or raining, the rain jacket is on also. I don't normally do rain pants, but they can be handy, especially if the weather is nasty above tree line.
You need a change of warm, dry clothes for camp and sleeping in. Mid weight thermal tops and bottoms, good fleece jacket. Warm hat and gloves. Later in the winter you will likely want to get a down jacket, down booties and pile pants.
Get a good headlamp and pleanty of batteries. It wouldn't be too long before you have to hike the last few miles to a shelter in the dark, then do all your set up and cooking also in the dark.
Good Luck!
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Maybe consider getting a Jacks'r'better wearable quilt like the sierra sniveler http://www.jacksrbetter.com/Wearable%20Quilts.htm. That way, when you are tooling around camp, cooking, or making coffee in the a.m. you can wear your quilt serape style and save on having to bring a down coat. The true essence of ultralight backpacking is multi-use IMO. Fiddlehead is giving some good advice as well... you will be at the most risk when not moving.
Little by little, one travels far. - J.R.R. Tolkien
How far are you hiking? If you are starting a SB thru in september then you will definitely hit some cold weather during the trip. Smartwool heavy undies, a patagonia down shirt, a down jacket and a rain jacket/pants and a good 0* bag should get you thru the cold just fine.
geek
hey brother,
is this the same bro that was hiking w/ doppler and skid mark? if so we were planning on sobo around the same time.keep in touch.
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