View Full Version : Temperature on the AT
I was wondering how often it will be very warm on the AT compared to cold/windy/rainy and what the average temperature would be on a NOBO hike starting around late march/early april?
Those of you with tarp tents, how often did you have the vestibules pulled all the way to the top so that you could have nice views? How often might some get away with cowboy camping? Just trying to figure out what the best tent will be for a majority of the situations...
Averages are pretty meaningless. For one thing, you're in the mountains often at high elevations. Mountains make their own weather. I saw daytime temps from 35 to 75 in my first week or so (early April) including a sub-freezing night and a touch of snow.
You can expect some devilishly hot days and some that threaten hypothermia. And then up north, some very cold nights and maybe a bit of snow again.
I open or close the vestibule side of my Tarptent (Rainbow) according to the weather, typically. Closed for warmth or protection from wind or rain. Open in fair weather.
Sandy of PA
04-13-2016, 18:11
Rain 2 out of 3 days most of the time. Never cowboy camped. Most nights half of vestibule open for air. Temperature ranges from zero to one hundred.
Stevep311
04-13-2016, 18:38
Rain 2 out of 3 days most of the time. Never cowboy camped. Most nights half of vestibule open for air. Temperature ranges from zero to one hundred.
Love it!! 0 deg to 100 deg. Excellent response!
...
I open or close the vestibule side of my Tarptent (Rainbow) according to the weather, typically. Closed for warmth or protection from wind or rain. Open in fair weather.
Did you find your Rainbow was sufficient in keeping you warm?
Rain 2 out of 3 days most of the time. Never cowboy camped. Most nights half of vestibule open for air. Temperature ranges from zero to one hundred.
So much truth. The average would be 50*
Did you find your Rainbow was sufficient in keeping you warm?
No, I think it was more my sleeping bag that kept me warm at night. The Rainbow kept me dry, mostly. Disclosure: I'm a 2000 miler, not a thru hiker, and the Rainbow has only done maybe 700 miles of AT, mostly in late summer. The Rainbow is a fairly recent addition to my hiking kit (2007.) It's a decent, light tent with lots of room (by my standards.)
Spirit Walker
04-13-2016, 21:37
The average on the AT is one day in three has some sort of precipitation. Obviously that can vary by the year(drought vs. unusually rainy years) and by the month. (On my first thru, it was very dry in the early summer so there were fires on the trail, but it rained almost every day when I was in MA and VT in August.) You can get snow on the trail into mid-May, mixed with lovely 70 degree days, and it may get below freezing again in NH or Maine even in August, or it could be in the 90s. My coldest nights were in the 20s in the Smokies in April. my hottest period was in southern Maine, though NJ was also pretty warm. I tried to cowboy camp a few times, and it always ended up with rain in the middle of the night. When it's warm, the bugs can also be bad.
The nice thing about the AT is that when it's hot and humid, a front will usually pass through in a few days that cools things off. Same with cold weather. Just wait a few days and it will warm up again. The weather is very changeable.
Last weekend in Grafton Notch it was snowing. This weekend its forecast to be in the 70's.
We aren't helping much, are we?
Love it!! 0 deg to 100 deg. Excellent response!
...that would be a good day. [emoji1]
Last Saturday night we got a photo from our daughter in Boone, NC. 11 pm. Elevation 3,400 feet. The caption: "We're having a blizzard."
Prepare for Winter. Hope for Spring.
Have fun.
Wayne
peakbagger
04-14-2016, 05:25
IT has snowed every month of the year on Mt Washington in the whites. I had a week on the AT in VA one year with lows in the 20s (possibly teens) at night and no more than 50 during the day.
bigcranky
04-14-2016, 06:55
Yeah, the "average" temperature isn't very helpful, especially over several months. However, in general it'll be pretty warm from June through early September on most of the trail (exceptions for the Whites, etc.). Many hikers switch from winter gear in SW Virginia, and swap back in Hanover, NH.
If you start a thru-hike in early April, you should be prepared for below-freezing nights and days anywhere from 30 to 70 degrees (F). It could get as cold as the single digits, though that is less likely in April. By early May the weather moderates a fair amount and it gets pretty dang nice out there.
A good single wall shelter will keep you dry, and hold in some heat. With any tent on the AT, ventilation is important, since it tends to be a lot more humid than in California. Something like the Tarptent Notch, with two doors and vestibules, helps with this. I think I have cowboy camped once in twenty years of hiking the AT, and I woke up soaked with dew :) There have been plenty of nights when I could have done so, but often that's in hindsight, since the weather is so variable I generally don't chance it.
Seemed like it was freezing most of the time, except when it was in the 80's.
garlic08
04-14-2016, 09:05
After my early April AT start, I hiked through two winter storms in the high country with blowing snow and temps in the teens. My Tarptent Contrail performed perfectly during those storms. It was cold enough the snow blew right off the canopy. But it was really my excellent 15F Marmot Helium bag that kept me on the trail, not holed up in a trail town. Of course, there were plenty of pleasant sunny days too.
I also never cowboy camped on the AT. Weather was variable enough and bugs were often bad enough to make that seem like a bad idea the year I hiked.
Love it!! 0 deg to 100 deg. Excellent response!
Truth is often contained within hyperbole, sarcasm, or outright fiction.
LittleRock
04-14-2016, 09:30
The weather is more variable, changes more rapidly, and is altogether more unpredictable in the mountains compared to the flat lands. It's best to just be prepared for anything, especially late fall through early spring.
I usually create a crude forecast by starting with the NWS forecast from the nearest town, then subtracting 10 degrees F per 3000' elevation, and doubling then adding 10 percent to the percent chance of precipitation. (Basically, anything over 40% in town means it's going to rain on top of the ridges). Wind is even more unpredictable. It can be nearly calm, then when you climp up to a gap or round a bend all of a sudden you're facing 30 mph gusts. Oh, and don't trust the NWS forecast more than about 48 hours out - beyond that it's wrong half of the time.
nsherry61
04-14-2016, 09:33
. . . I also never cowboy camped on the AT . . .
Interestingly, I've only ever spent two nights on the AT, last October while backpacking in the White Mountains. Both nights were crystal clear, and I cowboy camped without issue. One night was on a tent platform at Liberty Springs and I thought it was pretty funny how many people were completely amazed that I didn't pitch any kind of shelter. I was amazed that I was the only one of about 6 groups that didn't pitch a shelter on a beautiful night with 0% chance of rain for the next 48 hours.
Hmm, I realize now it's pretty silly to ask about the average temperature over a six month period on mountainous regions... I guess the main thing I'm worried about is my Tarptent being too "breezy." The Tarptent I'm looking at is the double rainbow, and my sleep system will be an Thermarest Xtherm Max, and an EE revelation 20*. I will also be sharing the tent with my girlfriend. Do you guys think that we will have any difficulties early on with this setup in terms of warmth?
Hmm, I realize now it's pretty silly to ask about the average temperature over a six month period on mountainous regions... I guess the main thing I'm worried about is my Tarptent being too "breezy." The Tarptent I'm looking at is the double rainbow, and my sleep system will be an Thermarest Xtherm Max, and an EE revelation 20*. I will also be sharing the tent with my girlfriend. Do you guys think that we will have any difficulties early on with this setup in terms of warmth?
Don't camp on open ridges in bad weather. ;) Best protection from wind is to camp low, in the woods.
Pedaling Fool
04-14-2016, 11:48
Don't camp on open ridges in bad weather. ;) Best protection from wind is to camp low, in the woods.
Yeah, don't camp on open ridges and don't camp under trees.:D
Another Kevin
04-14-2016, 13:39
¼ of the time, too cold
¼ of the time, too hot
Something more than ¼ of the time, raining.
And we hike so as not to miss out on the remaining times.
Yeah, don't camp on open ridges and don't camp under trees.:D
And don't camp on grassy meadows because the condensation will soak the inside of your tent.
bigcranky
04-14-2016, 21:39
Hmm, I realize now it's pretty silly to ask about the average temperature over a six month period on mountainous regions... I guess the main thing I'm worried about is my Tarptent being too "breezy." The Tarptent I'm looking at is the double rainbow, and my sleep system will be an Thermarest Xtherm Max, and an EE revelation 20*. I will also be sharing the tent with my girlfriend. Do you guys think that we will have any difficulties early on with this setup in terms of warmth?
Nope, it's a good tent and quite weather worthy. Yes, it will be breezier than a standard double wall tent.
My wife and I had a Double Rainbow and traded it on a Six Moons Designs Lunar Duo - similar weight, uses two trekking poles, but a whole lot more usable space inside. (http://hikeitlikeit.com/2011/tale-of-three-duos/)
Shooting Star
04-14-2016, 22:12
I've been sleeted on (heavily) in mid-July in the Grayson Highlands in SW Virginia.
And been on the Roan balds in late November with 60 degree temps. Above 4000 ft,
the weather can do most anything any time of the year.
I narrowly missed a whiteout on top of Roan in early May. I had zeroed in town & heard about it from folks rolling in that evening. Woke up to snow in September in Maine (Chairback Mtn.) but later that same day it was sixty degrees.
Berserker
04-15-2016, 09:11
Rain 2 out of 3 days most of the time. Never cowboy camped. Most nights half of vestibule open for air. Temperature ranges from zero to one hundred.
This is my favorite response to a weather question regarding the AT...love it.
It's always hard to answer these questions because the weather can vary significantly depending on the weather patterns for a given year. I've been sectioning since '07 and have run into everything from several feet of snow, to 100+ degree heat, to super dry conditions and super wet conditions. So yeah, it's tough to answer this one with anything other than a generic response. The best advice I can give is to look at general historical weather data and compare it to what's going on currently.
Nope, it's a good tent and quite weather worthy. Yes, it will be breezier than a standard double wall tent.
My wife and I had a Double Rainbow and traded it on a Six Moons Designs Lunar Duo - similar weight, uses two trekking poles, but a whole lot more usable space inside. (http://hikeitlikeit.com/2011/tale-of-three-duos/)
Im pretty much decided on the double rainbow, because it looks to be the most weather proof out of all of them, I don't mind cuddling up to the gf.
However, I'm a relatively cold sleeper. Would it be recommended for me to go the traditional tent path and pick up a big Agnes or similar tent ?
Berserker
04-15-2016, 12:02
Im pretty much decided on the double rainbow, because it looks to be the most weather proof out of all of them, I don't mind cuddling up to the gf.
However, I'm a relatively cold sleeper. Would it be recommended for me to go the traditional tent path and pick up a big Agnes or similar tent ?
I've used a Double Rainbow, a Squall and a MLD DuoMid with an innernet. These all have very similar type ventilation setups where the fabric portion of the tent does not go to the ground, and under that there is bug netting. Most of the time this is a great setup as it keeps things dry, and can be nice and cool in hot weather. The only time this setup gets a little dicey is if you get into cold temperatures with a breeze or stiff wind. Usually that wind will be humming right through the tent as if you don't even have a shelter. I only mention this because I also am a cold sleeper, and I've had a few cold nights in these types of tents. My advice would be to buy for the conditions you'll be in most of the time, and just deal with the outlier days.
I've used a Double Rainbow, a Squall and a MLD DuoMid with an innernet. These all have very similar type ventilation setups where the fabric portion of the tent does not go to the ground, and under that there is bug netting. Most of the time this is a great setup as it keeps things dry, and can be nice and cool in hot weather. The only time this setup gets a little dicey is if you get into cold temperatures with a breeze or stiff wind. Usually that wind will be humming right through the tent as if you don't even have a shelter. I only mention this because I also am a cold sleeper, and I've had a few cold nights in these types of tents. My advice would be to buy for the conditions you'll be in most of the time, and just deal with the outlier days.
What would you recommend for a lightweight double walled tent/What tent do you use nowadays for colder weather? Since I cant get an average temp for the AT, I should probably just prepare for the worst.
I'm pretty sure you got an average temp. A single walled tarp is good enough to keep the rain off you, or you can sleep in shelters and not use a tent, but that's a bad idea.
tents don't keep you warm. They keep you dry. That's all you are looking for.
Now your real question should be "How do I stay warm when hiking on the AT?"
Tents help keep you warm, by blocking the wind and reflecting back some of your own radiated heat. Hard to say just how much, but noticeable. The wind protection by itself is a big plus.
LIhikers
04-15-2016, 21:22
Did you find your Rainbow was sufficient in keeping you warm?
My wife and I have a Tarptent Rainbow that either of us use when we go out solo. It's spacious for a 1 person tent, easy to set up, and does a good job keeping out the weather and bugs. Count on your sleeping bag, or quilt, to keep you warm. The tent's job is to block the wind and trap a bit of the heat that escapes your bag or quilt. I think the Rainbow is a good tent.
Thanks for all the helpful advice everyone! I think I've settled on getting the MSR Hubba Hubba :)
saltysack
04-17-2016, 15:01
Love it!! 0 deg to 100 deg. Excellent response!
About as accurate as most weather forecast!
Berserker
04-18-2016, 12:12
What would you recommend for a lightweight double walled tent/What tent do you use nowadays for colder weather? Since I cant get an average temp for the AT, I should probably just prepare for the worst.
If you are starting your thru in GA in March chances are you'll not run into a lot of really cold weather. The last few winters have been fairly mild, and this year was no exception. The only issue this year is the cold snap we recently got where it got stinking cold for about a week-and-a-half. Anyway, I agree with others in that a single walled tent or tarp is going to be adequate for 95% of the time you are out, and is primarily to keep you dry.
As for your question, I'm a big wuss now and don't stay out overnight if it's going to be below freezing. Above freezing I would use a single walled tent (I'm currently using a Lightheart Gear Solong). In the past when it's gotten cold and windy I've just dealt with it by doing things like laying my sil-nylon poncho over my bag while I'm sleeping...not the best solution as any sweat ends up in the bag, but that method got me through some cold nights.
Oh yeah, and one other thing I forgot is that after you are out in the elements for several days you "acclimatize" to the temperatures, and if it gets cold it usually isn't as bad as if you were to go directly out into it from the house.