View Full Version : Long winter nights in the woods.
How do you spend your long nights when you cant have a fire?
Enjoy the night. See the stars without blinding yourself with a fire.
Wayne
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Miles 2 Go
11-26-2016, 11:35
I get plenty of sleep.
colorado_rob
11-26-2016, 11:39
If you're alone, read; get a kindle phone app (watch out for actual kindles! They can freeze and break).
If you're with a companion, try playing games. We like Yahtzee, 5 dice and a few sheets of score pads, good to go!
Plus, already said, plenty of sleep. Luxurious, wonderful, sleep.... perfect time to get totally caught up.
Tipi Walter
11-26-2016, 11:55
** Have a tent big enough to enjoy for long periods of time.
** Keep a trail journal.
** Look thru your camera pics.
** Do yoga and meditate.
** Snack or brew tea and/or cook meals.
** Listen to your little radio.
** Plan tomorrow's trek.
** Light a stick of incense to brighten the mood.
** Dig a turtlehead "pre-hole" for the inevitable Turd Deposit into the special account.
** Walk around camp before or after dusk and pick up every scrap of litter and place in main firepit.
** Carry various forms of books and read and burn if able (without a fireban).
** Formulate a religion based upon Nature and your relationship with Nature and write it all down in your trip report.
** Record your thoughts on Man's war against Nature and write long screeds against sprawl, development, addiction to electricity or whatever else you see which is destroying America the Beautiful.
soumodeler
11-26-2016, 11:55
Kindle Paperwhite for me. If I'm on a longer hike I sometimes use the kindle app on my phone to save a little weight but I prefer the actual kindle.
Read, repair/maintain/clean gear, write in journal, ensure all stuff is stowed properly and see if critters have investigated my hung food bag.
Love the "turtle hole" idea. That is going on my list.
rocketsocks
11-26-2016, 12:14
On one hike I brought a small tin, in it were a few projects I was working on...painted some plastic model parts.
saltysack
11-26-2016, 12:17
** Have a tent big enough to enjoy for long periods of time.
** Keep a trail journal.
** Look thru your camera pics.
** Do yoga and meditate.
** Snack or brew tea and/or cook meals.
** Listen to your little radio.
** Plan tomorrow's trek.
** Light a stick of incense to brighten the mood.
** Dig a turtlehead "pre-hole" for the inevitable Turd Deposit into the special account.
** Walk around camp before or after dusk and pick up every scrap of litter and place in main firepit.
** Carry various forms of books and read and burn if able (without a fireban).
** Formulate a religion based upon Nature and your relationship with Nature and write it all down in your trip report.
** Record your thoughts on Man's war against Nature and write long screeds against sprawl, development, addiction to electricity or whatever else you see which is destroying America the Beautiful.
Tipi....your killing me.....[emoji23]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Usually I hike until I'm physically done, and then a long night with lots of sleep is welcome.
Most of my hikes until last year were done during holidays when it was very welcome to have time and opportunity to think through all the small and big problems of (business-)life.
Now that I'm part-time retired its more thinking about how to manage to get all the exciting things done.
And as I'm a extensive reader, I can easily spend days just reading (Kindle app on the smartphone).
MtDoraDave
11-26-2016, 13:16
Hike until 1.5 hrs before dark. Set up camp, make dinner, clean up, hang food/stove/pot, pee one last time (yeah, right), then go to bed and read until hands go numb, almost fall asleep then hear something that brings you wide awake again, fall asleep until you wake up having to pee again, consider getting out of warm sleeping bag or just holding it for entirely too long, finally do it, go back to bed and sleep a couple more hrs until sun comes up.
...or at least that's how my long winter nights usually go.
same as summer... sit and stare at the campfire
Lawnchair
11-26-2016, 13:31
I've been wondering about that myself. I plan on leaving Harper's Ferry WVA on a SOBO flip flop on March 1, 2017. So, I will likely be alone a good bit of the time and it will likely be cold for the first month. Given that the Shenandoah Park is going to be closed, I wonder how hard it will be to get into towns for resupply. And recharge of the battery in the phone. And a hot shower. And...:confused:
PS, I will be 66 and on my first overnight hike. So, newbie to boot. Just weighed 5 days' food at 3,000 cal/day (I'm 6'3): 144 oz! Yipes. That's 9 pounds! 4 lbs of H2O. My goal of under 30 lbs total looks like it's gonna be closer than I thought.
Other than "you are too old" or "you should not do that" - both of which I get a lot - any suggestions?
shelterbuilder
11-26-2016, 14:25
Sleep...lots of sleep.
Hike until 1.5 hrs before dark. Set up camp, make dinner, clean up, hang food/stove/pot, pee one last time (yeah, right), then go to bed and read until hands go numb, almost fall asleep then hear something that brings you wide awake again, fall asleep until you wake up having to pee again, consider getting out of warm sleeping bag or just holding it for entirely too long, finally do it, go back to bed and sleep a couple more hrs until sun comes up.
...or at least that's how my long winter nights usually go.
+1 on the getting up. Mostly paperbacks where the good guys win.
Tipi, that was one of your best posts. ;)
Listen for wildlife, the creaking of the trees in the wind, and leaves blowing in the wind. If I'm still bored I look for a big green monster Hilleberg and inquire from the occupant if I can borrow an avocado. :D
Seriously, I winter night hike. It's so beautiful. Winter time in the woods doesn't equate with winter camping in the woods. I take it as a given part of the winter experience that I plan on hiking well after dark. It's magical. I plan for it. Coming across snow covered trees and snow/ice underfoot, the clear winter skies, meteors, the sound of running water, the glowing eyes and breath of elk, moose, and deer, and the hooty hoos of owls....magical. Magical.
saltysack
11-26-2016, 16:21
Tipi...it's takes boredom,thought and planning to pre dig cat holes! Dogwood you might want to borrow some prunes from tipi! He must be REGULAR!
PS
Make sure these holes are 6"![emoji23]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
colorado_rob
11-26-2016, 16:31
Tipi....your killing me.....[emoji23]
Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkWell, not killing me, but it sure is sad to see someone like Tipi; strong, smart, hugely experienced, big hearted yet so profoundly cynical and negative at times (the USA is dying thing). I suppose this has blossomed of late due to recent, er, events....
Tipi...it's takes boredom,thought and planning to pre dig cat holes! Dogwood you might want to borrow some prunes from tipi! He must be REGULAR!
PS
Make sure these holes are 6"![emoji23]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
i've predug cat holes. It's easier and more likely to be done right in daylight than at 3AM.
i've predug cat holes. It's easier and more likely to be done right in daylight than at 3AM.
The trick can be finding it at 3AM. :banana
I liked to search out PBS radio stations, they are usually quite frequent along the AT. Can find nightly radio dramas. I remember following a Star Wars series that was a prequel to the movies. Luke Skywalker was living on his uncle's farm while growing up. They were broadcast in the evenings. Not sure if they still do that or not.
nsherry61
11-26-2016, 19:05
Frequently hike, ski, or snowshoe until I'm ready to stop for the night, often well after dark, (sometime between sunset and 9PM).
I can sleep 10-12 hours if I'm in the back-country and have no good reason to get up earlier.
Read kindle books on my phone.
Depending on who I'm with (if anyone) talk, tell stories, make out.
Many of Tipi's suggestions.
Make sure my pee bottle is handy so I don't have to get out of bed to go pee in the middle of the night.
Get up and go for a walk around the area - I love walking through the snow at night.
Use that cat hole that was or wasn't pre-dug.
Campfires can be really nice too.
The trick can be finding it at 3AM. :banana
even trickier to hit the bullseye!
If you're not into 7 pm bedtime, night hiking in winter can be great. There's usually plenty of ambient light, the trail can be easy to follow in the right conditions, and it's just plain a different experience.
Tipi Walter
11-26-2016, 23:16
Well, not killing me, but it sure is sad to see someone like Tipi; strong, smart, hugely experienced, big hearted yet so profoundly cynical and negative at times (the USA is dying thing). I suppose this has blossomed of late due to recent, er, events....
Please come to the East Coast wilderness areas and we'll talk about endless motorcycle tourism and harley roars 8 months out of the year on so-called "scenic motor loops" surrounding these wilderness areas---and the nonstop overhead jet airline traffic befouling the skies with noise from morning to midnight. We have postage stamp size wilderness areas surrounded more and more by sprawl and man's war on nature. Plus it's hard to believe that Colorado backcountry doesn't get the same amount and kind of jet traffic overhead from Denver etc. Or ATVs. Or pesky bicyclists.
even trickier to hit the bullseye!
If you're not into 7 pm bedtime, night hiking in winter can be great. There's usually plenty of ambient light, the trail can be easy to follow in the right conditions, and it's just plain a different experience.
"In the right conditions" are the operative words. Many Southeastern trails cannot be backpacked at night---heck they're hard to follow during the day.
If we practiced night hiking more maybe we'd get better at it?
Sarcasm the elf
11-26-2016, 23:24
How do you spend your long nights when you cant have a fire?
In the winter I bring Lots of insulation and good company. Maybe just a touch of Jack Daniels as well.
MuddyWaters
11-26-2016, 23:31
I night hike all the time.
Never tried in snow, dont plan to anytime soon.
Im always a little amazed at how well I can pick out faint trail by minimal headlight.
Treeless corridor in woods, subtle depression in leaves, flat areas on steep sidehill, flat dirt spots in between scattered rocks on whats otherwise steep scree or talus, rocks that appear not naturally placed. Grasses growing in a line bordering trail
Subtle visual cues.
That sense you develop of where a trail goes, works as well at night as daytime...mostly
Tipi Walter
11-26-2016, 23:56
I am very familiar with nighthiking and especially nighthiking in the snow. It's a vital and necessary component to stealth camping around towns and in forests adjacent to towns. You want to go in at night and come out before dawn. Or on trails such as the AT which are open boulevards compared to many other trails I can name.
Now do a nighthike in the Snowbirds like on Kings Meadow trail or in Citico wilderness or Slickrock wilderness like on Deep Creek or Haoe Lead or Horse Ridge or Jenkins Meadow or Slickrock Creek and see what happens. Or nighthike the Brushy Ridge trails---McNabb Creek, Long Branch, Hemlock Creek. Or pull a nighthike on the Conasauga River trail or Jacks River trail in the Cohutta. It's difficult to nighthike a creek trail which has 15 or 25 crossings because it's hard to see where the trail goes on the other side, hence where exactly to cross.
Slo-go'en
11-27-2016, 00:04
Having to do anything with your hands outside the sleeping bag when it's really cold is something you DON"T want to do for very long. Which kind of rules out reading. Best to load up with audio books or music for company. A nice, old fashion candle lantern provides a little mood lighting and heat inside a tent.
I wouldn't recommend night hiking an unfamiliar trail or one which wasn't already broken out and easy to follow. In the open woods with 3 feet of snow, every direction can look the same. A midnight snowshoe with the full moon lighting up the woods after a fresh snow is one of my favorite times. Hope we get one or two of those nights this year.
Piece o cake night hiking in those areas. There's this saint of a trail maintainer that combs those parts clearing trail with his stashed hand saws, loppers, and hand pruners. If you listen closely at night it's said that he visits lost hikers helping them to find their way. Or, so the legend goes. :p
Tipi Walter
11-27-2016, 00:21
Having to do anything with your hands outside the sleeping bag when it's really cold is something you DON"T want to do for very long. Which kind of rules out reading. Best to load up with audio books or music for company. A nice, old fashion candle lantern provides a little mood lighting and heat inside a tent.
I wouldn't recommend night hiking an unfamiliar trail or one which wasn't already broken out and easy to follow. In the open woods with 3 feet of snow, every direction can look the same. A midnight snowshoe with the full moon lighting up the woods after a fresh snow is one of my favorite times. Hope we get one or two of those nights this year.
The solution for in-tent hand comfort and reading or whatever else on a cold winter trip is to bring candles which supply heat for frozen fingers and hands. I always carry between 3 and 6 three-hour candles on my winter trips and the open flame warmth provides relief for the fingers.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2014-Trips-152/21-Days-in-the-Snow/i-SXQKVtf/0/XL/TRIP%20153%20211-XL.jpg
Just be careful and use common sense and don't blow one out but instead pinch it out with wet fingers---avoiding a blown hot ash.
ATTENTION NEWB UPDATE: Never burn an open candle flame in your shelter. It works for me but no one else.
saltysack
11-27-2016, 00:42
The solution for in-tent hand comfort and reading or whatever else on a cold winter trip is to bring candles which supply heat for frozen fingers and hands. I always carry between 3 and 6 three-hour candles on my winter trips and the open flame warmth provides relief for the fingers.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2014-Trips-152/21-Days-in-the-Snow/i-SXQKVtf/0/XL/TRIP%20153%20211-XL.jpg
Just be careful and use common sense and don't blow one out but instead pinch it out with wet fingers---avoiding a blown hot ash.
ATTENTION NEWB UPDATE: Never burn an open candle flame in your shelter. It works for me but no one else.
What's the black thing the candle is in? I've hit a candle lantern but never brought it..
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
saltysack
11-27-2016, 00:43
Got
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Tipi Walter
11-27-2016, 01:02
It's the bottom of a Blistex container---
http://www.ikatehouse.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/650x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/b/l/blistex-lip-medex-cheap-cosmetics-ikatehouse-pick6deals-ckh1188-z1.jpg
Tipi Walter
11-27-2016, 01:07
But the real secret is the type of candle you use. The best I have found are Manischewitz 3 hour candles from a grocery store---they burn clean and hot with a good flame.
http://www.shiksasguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Manischewitz-Shabbat-Candles-Passover12-count-Pack-of8-0-400x400.jpg
colorado_rob
11-27-2016, 01:14
Having to do anything with your hands outside the sleeping bag when it's really cold is something you DON"T want to do for very long. Which kind of rules out reading. Best to load up with audio books or music for company.Audio books are fantastic, we (my wife and I) have recently "discovered" the joys of audio books in the tent for the early bed times of winter. That being said, I can read just fine in frigid weather as well, simply wearing my glove liners to hold my phone just outside my bag, and the kindle app allows you to use the phone volume rocker to turn the e-pages. Or to turn actual paper pages, that works too with glove liners.
I've been wondering about that myself. I plan on leaving Harper's Ferry WVA on a SOBO flip flop on March 1, 2017. So, I will likely be alone a good bit of the time and it will likely be cold for the first month. Given that the Shenandoah Park is going to be closed, I wonder how hard it will be to get into towns for resupply. And recharge of the battery in the phone. And a hot shower. And...:confused:
SNP will not be closed, but lodges, stores, etc. will be. The first start opening late March/early April.
When you get to US522, you could hitch west into Front Royal. When you get to US211, you could hitch west into Luray. Both offer almost anything a hiker needs, and Luray has the added bonus of a hiker hostel and outfitter. Also, Luray is almost exactly the halfway point between HF and Rockfish Gap (US250/Waynesboro).
Previous hikers have commented on the difficulty of the hitch into Luray. That's because they try to hitch right where the AT crosses US211. Cars are speeding by, and there is no place to safely pull over. Walk east (uphill) about 1/10 mile to just beyond the Skyline Drive overpass. Much better odds.
When you get to US33, you could hike west into Elkton. A couple mom/pop hotels and a Food Lion, but not as much for hikers as Luray or Front Royal.
pilgrimskywheel
11-27-2016, 03:45
I search the heavens for intelligent life - then White Blaze. ;) Mostly I hatch elaborate revenge plots: "I'll be back - God as my witness I'll be back!" You know that sort of thing. After 20 miles and double dinner you'll know what to do.
Southern Colorado and northern New Mexico don't have the noise nor the congestion problems that you mention. As a matter of fact, I lost cell phone coverage while still on paved highways before I drove 30-40 miles on dirt roads to get to the trailheads.
I can't speak for areas close to Denver and Boulder. I prefer not to go there for the same reasons that you mention regarding urban sprawl.
Relative to Colorado, New Mexico is sparsely populated and Wyoming is uninhabited. Come visit!
Wayne
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
To me being in a dry,, warm sleeping bag, bit of "hooch", good meal (SPAM, whatever kind of bread, tortilla, pita, mustard paks), etc..........check for cell signal, assuming none, finish up on final snacks and settle in. Warm, cozy, listen to the outdoors and cuddle in until day break or cat-hole calling.
Doc Mike
11-27-2016, 18:26
FYI a warbonnet blackbird will fit two people and will tolerate significant bouncing..........then sleeping is better anyway....
One Half
11-27-2016, 18:36
I don't "winter hike" as I really don't like that much cold and it gets cold enough in the Whites the rest of the year. But, I hike with my hubby so we never seem to run out of things to do on long nights or any other! :banana
handlebar
11-27-2016, 19:02
I've been wondering about that myself. I plan on leaving Harper's Ferry WVA on a SOBO flip flop on March 1, 2017. So, I will likely be alone a good bit of the time and it will likely be cold for the first month. Given that the Shenandoah Park is going to be closed, I wonder how hard it will be to get into towns for resupply. And recharge of the battery in the phone. And a hot shower. And...:confused:
PS, I will be 66 and on my first overnight hike. So, newbie to boot. Just weighed 5 days' food at 3,000 cal/day (I'm 6'3): 144 oz! Yipes. That's 9 pounds! 4 lbs of H2O. My goal of under 30 lbs total looks like it's gonna be closer than I thought.
Other than "you are too old" or "you should not do that" - both of which I get a lot - any suggestions?
First, you are NOT too old----and you definitely should do that since it will improve your health both physical and mental.
Second, March 20 is the vernal (spring) equinox when the sun starts shining 12 hours and longer each day. However, just because it's spring doesn't mean than old man winter has given up. You should expect some snow and perhaps carry an emergency meal of a pack of Idahoans (instant mashed potatoes) in case you have to or want to take an unplanned zero in the woods while a spring snow storm melts. I hiked the Allegheny Trail starting in mid-March and realized what I thought would be an early spring hike starting on March 15 was actually a late winter hike when I wound up hiking in snow as well as cold, all-day rain. I experienced 18" of wet snow on April 22 in central PA on the Mid-State Trail and decided to take a zero in my tent (an SMD Wild Oasis which held up amazingly well if I slapped the snow off the sides periodically) to wait for most of the snow to melt.
That brings me around to answering the OP's question: I mostly slept, or listened to my MP3 player or radio to pass the time. If I had a book on the MP3 player I would have read that. When the days are really short (Nov thru mid-Feb), I carry extra headlamp batteries and try to be on the trail as soon as it's light enough to see the trail and to hike until dusk or even a bit after dark, although I prefer to find a camp spot (or shelter) and to fetch water for dinner, breakfast, and tomorrow as soon as I've reached camp. I then set up camp---tent if I'm going that route, or on my ground sheet in a shelter if I'm lucky enough to end up at one and it's decent. By then I'm starting to chill so I jump into my sleeping bag and cook dinner leaning out from the tent. Since I prefer an alcohol stove, I usually have time to eat my dessert, a super size Hershey's Special Dark or preferably a Cadbury's Royal Dark Chocolate, while the water comes to a boil and whatever I'm having for dinner cooks. The pot goes into a homemade cozy and I eat the main course, then rinse out the bits left in the pot with cold water. I put water for tea on to boil (and simultaneously sterilize the pot) while I floss and brush teeth, then make what I hope, but rarely is, the last trip out of the sleeping bag to pee. Returning, I send a SPOT message to allay my wife's worries, drink the tea and compose the day's journal using the smartphone notepad app. By then a couple of hours have passed and I'm usually ready to sleep. If not, I'll listen to the radio or an album or two on the MP3 player.
FWIW, I didn't have any trouble hitching into Front Royal even though I sport a long grey beard and hike in a kilt.
First, you are NOT too old----and you definitely should do that since it will improve your health both physical and mental.
Second, March 20 is the vernal (spring) equinox when the sun starts shining 12 hours and longer each day. However, just because it's spring doesn't mean than old man winter has given up. You should expect some snow and perhaps carry an emergency meal of a pack of Idahoans (instant mashed potatoes) in case you have to or want to take an unplanned zero in the woods while a spring snow storm melts. I hiked the Allegheny Trail starting in mid-March and realized what I thought would be an early spring hike starting on March 15 was actually a late winter hike when I wound up hiking in snow as well as cold, all-day rain. I experienced 18" of wet snow on April 22 in central PA on the Mid-State Trail and decided to take a zero in my tent (an SMD Wild Oasis which held up amazingly well if I slapped the snow off the sides periodically) to wait for most of the snow to melt.
That brings me around to answering the OP's question: I mostly slept, or listened to my MP3 player or radio to pass the time. If I had a book on the MP3 player I would have read that. When the days are really short (Nov thru mid-Feb), I carry extra headlamp batteries and try to be on the trail as soon as it's light enough to see the trail and to hike until dusk or even a bit after dark, although I prefer to find a camp spot (or shelter) and to fetch water for dinner, breakfast, and tomorrow as soon as I've reached camp. I then set up camp---tent if I'm going that route, or on my ground sheet in a shelter if I'm lucky enough to end up at one and it's decent. By then I'm starting to chill so I jump into my sleeping bag and cook dinner leaning out from the tent. Since I prefer an alcohol stove, I usually have time to eat my dessert, a super size Hershey's Special Dark or preferably a Cadbury's Royal Dark Chocolate, while the water comes to a boil and whatever I'm having for dinner cooks. The pot goes into a homemade cozy and I eat the main course, then rinse out the bits left in the pot with cold water. I put water for tea on to boil (and simultaneously sterilize the pot) while I floss and brush teeth, then make what I hope, but rarely is, the last trip out of the sleeping bag to pee. Returning, I send a SPOT message to allay my wife's worries, drink the tea and compose the day's journal using the smartphone notepad app. By then a couple of hours have passed and I'm usually ready to sleep. If not, I'll listen to the radio or an album or two on the MP3 player.
FWIW, I didn't have any trouble hitching into Front Royal even though I sport a long grey beard and hike in a kilt.
i would just add that i am proud of you for your planning -- a tad under 2 pounds a day is a perfectly reasonable amount of food to take. the good news is your pack will get lighter every day. it is a great adventure either way -- hitching to break your hike into two parts with the possibility of an overnight stay with shower, or going for the whole five days out. Both ways are perfectly wonderful. You might do some research on water sources... it may be reasonable to camel up in the morning and at water sources, and just carry 2 or so pounds of water, but that is a judgement call and is a personal decision.
During the winter, I do the same things that I do in the warmer months. I just have more layers on when I do it.
During the winter, I do the same things that I do in the warmer months. I just have more layers on when I do it.
Same thing heard from people in Canada, Montana, Minnesota, and Colorado. Aww no prahbleem, we jut boodle up in layers.
The Solemates
11-29-2016, 18:29
Hike for an hour in the dark usually. Then by the time I set camp, fix supper, fetch water for morning, and read it's then 9 or so. Hit the sack, and am usually up early enough that I'm hiking in the dark again before light.