View Full Version : re:hikers shedding winter gear too early on the AT
It seems, each year there are hikers getting rid of their winter gear too early on their northbound AT hike. Is this out of ignorance? are they not whiteblaze regulars?
I was fortunate enough to spend a lot of time on white blaze along with correspondence with AT encyclopedia Baltimore Jack, Knew enough to hold on to my winter clothes untill well after Damascus.
In 2006, the year of my hike, we had 80 degree temps and higher in North Carolina, great weather in the smokeys, then horrible hypothermic windy drizzly weather going up Mt Rogers just north of Damscus. Thank God I still had my warm sleeping bag and fleece until Perrisburg!
This year, 2007, I read that temps where in the 70's+ in NC causing some hikers to sned winter gear home. That was followed by a snow storm on Good Friday. A white blaze post has a link to an article about this.
People can only be told so much. I guess they have to learn the hard way. Too bad though, time spent on White Blaze, at no cost to them, could save them lots of discomfort!!
DavidNH
It seems, each year there are hikers getting rid of their winter gear too early on their northbound AT hike. Is this out of ignorance? are they not whiteblaze regulars?
I think it happens every year. It is the sunny south afterall! ;)
Personally, I would not get rid of winter gear on an AT NoBo hike until AFTER the Grayson Highlands. After that? I think you are over the hump.
But, as you mentioned, you can only tell people so much. Experience is a great teacher...the tuition can be damn expensive though!
SGT Rock
05-01-2007, 14:45
I've seen it too, people going light and freezing at night.
They get over it.
Gives them a chance to snuggle-up to share the "warmth" of the Trail! FYI - I, like David, kept my gear until Pearisburg. Even then, I kept a pair of longjohns to help keep me warm in my summer bag when temps dropped unexpectedly.
I saw a lot of that in 2002 also. I sent SOME of my winter clothes home from Pearisburg, but kept a couple of warm pieces to get me by if I needed them. I'm a cold blooded person and hate being cold. I was glad I had them because we hit a cold spell in Pa. We had temperatures the third week of May getting below freezing. I was glad I still had some warmer clothes. It was rough on a few people.
SGT Rock
05-01-2007, 15:44
Lets see if I remember this right: "Wait until at least Pearisburg"
Does that sound familiar. BTW, the guy I saw freezing was north of Pearisburg LOL ;)
Gray Blazer
05-01-2007, 15:49
This spring has been a cooler one for N Fl. Temps are still in the 50's at night when it could just as easily have turned to summer in March and stayed that way till October. The last time the weather was like this down here, I saw snow on Mt Pisgah on the parkway in June.
Moon Monster
05-01-2007, 16:24
Is this out of ignorance?
Yes.
Very few low-landers understand micro-climates. It can be frozen and white on top of Roan High Knob by the shelter, but above freezing on the Bluff or on Grassy Bald.
Grandfather Mtn (below 6,000 ft) in North Carolina (not on the AT) has never recorded a temp above 83 and its record low is -32 F. April 7 this year had a high of 17 and a low of 7 with 9 inches of snow up there. Might Roan have been worse?
Lets see if I remember this right: "Wait until at least Pearisburg"
Does that sound familiar. BTW, the guy I saw freezing was north of Pearisburg LOL ;)
The rest of the quote is "and wait until Memorial Day."
Footslogger
05-01-2007, 16:32
Dumped my tent and warmer sleeping bag in Pearisburg (2003) in favor of a hammock and summer sack. Really regretted it for the first couple weeks. Days were warmer but still plenty of cold nights. Didn't mind the switch to lighter weight clothing but in retrospect it would have been wiser to hang onto the tent and warmer sleeping bag at least.
'Slogger
Fannypack
05-01-2007, 23:25
all 8 thru-hikers I saw near Waynesboro, VA last w/e still had their 20 deg bags. A couple of ultra-lighters had no fleece.
I would expect some cold nites in SNP thru mid-May...
I see next week's forecast for Waynesboro area is highs: 60 to 70 and lows: low 40s...
Good luck all of u w/o tents, u maybe moving fast but sometimes i think u are counting on the kindness of others at the shelters.
SGT Rock
05-02-2007, 05:11
The rest of the quote is "and wait until Memorial Day."
It was after memorial day! :eek:
Learning point: those fleece sleeping bag things at wal-mart are still not warm enough for hiking with on the AT. Decided to become an ultralighter at Pearisburg and sent his stuff home. He had absolutly no long pants, used one of those fleece things to replace his sleeping bag, and a wal-mart vinal tarp to replace his tent. He went light without thinking it through. The rest of us pittied him but didn't give him any of our stuff.
Pokey2006
05-02-2007, 05:20
I wished I had kept my 15 degree bag for the whole trip. Sent it home from Pearisburg, and, ya, had a really thin summer bag to replace it with. Big mistake. I couldn't wait to get my "real" sleeping bag back! It did get very cold in Shenandoah a few nights.
SGT Rock
05-02-2007, 05:36
Just a quick story about my experience with mountain weather. While I was growing up we had our family reunions on my uncles property in the Nantahala mountains (that is souther AT area - about 150 miles north of springer). One July 4th (can't remember the year) morning we got up after there had beed a lot of rain and the temperature on the thermometer was 36F. I reckon that is one of those micro climates Moon Monster mentioned. If it can get that cold in July down south - I imagine almost any section with altitude north of that can get abnormally cold just like that.
We have talked here about not getting rid of your cold weather gear too early. It is also important to get the cold weather clothes back soon enough.
I don't care if it's early August and 90 degrees in Hanover, NH, hikers damn well better have warm clothes and warm sleeping bag back before going into the whites (Have them mailed to Hostel in GlenCliff). From this point you go above tree line at Moosilaukee and then are up high again in a couple days. I wetn over the Franconias and the Presidentials Somwhweres around Aug 20-25 last year. temps in low 40's clouds, winds 40 mph and I was glad for everything I had.
Sometimes I think the obession with going ultra light has gone a bit far. I mean carry 10-15 extra pounds and be warm and dry and well fed, hey I'll do it!
DavidNH
fiddlehead
05-02-2007, 08:58
I've seen hikers send their sleeping bags home after VA. I think this is not very smart. I would never hike without my sleeping bag. Sgt Rock, you and i had a discussion about the 10 essentials a long time ago and I would include my sleeping bag in those! I've been caught out with nothing already and wished for my bag more than anything. If you have a water bottle, you can always build a fire and water (providing you have a lighter) you have the option of making a nice hot water radiator.
Now the whites is a bit different story and whiteouts can make you stop and that's where you can have big problems.
Crazy_Al
05-02-2007, 10:00
What do you mean by FLEECE ????
[quote=Fannypack;358741]all 8 thru-hikers I saw near Waynesboro, VA last w/e still had their 20 deg bags. A couple of ultra-lighters had no fleece.
I would expect some cold nites in SNP thru mid-May...
Wolf - 23000
05-02-2007, 10:22
David,
I was out there too in 2006, hiking southbound Hot Springs, NC to Springer. I've seen both whiteblazer members and non-whiteblazer member all trying to travel lighter but end up freezing because they did not have the equipment to stay warm or the right experience.
SGT Rock: "I've seen it too, people going light and freezing at night."
I was traveling with at least 10 pounds less then any hiker out there and was fine, even when I got snowed on. A hiker can still hike thru-hike ultra light in March or earlier if they have the right experience. What I saw were many hikers trying to travel lighter than they were ready for. Most as you said will get over it but it can be dangerous.
Wolf
As far as cold weather clothing, what do you suggest for the Mt Washington area? I know from experience (I was born in Mass) that it can get mighty cold up there.
Being in the Whites I'd like to think you'd need something of the sort because of the quickly changing weather.
Fannypack
05-02-2007, 11:56
What do you mean by FLEECE ????
all 8 thru-hikers I saw near Waynesboro, VA last w/e still had their 20 deg bags. A couple of ultra-lighters had no fleece.
I would expect some cold nites in SNP thru mid-May...
I mean they were carrying only a light "nylon jacket" and no jackets made of , e.g., Polartec, 100, 200, or 300 weight... Btw, since i am not a gearhead, I may have used the Polartec reference incorrectly or maybe i should say look at this page for fleece jackets of various weights, http://www.altrec.com/outdoors/jackets/fleecejackets/ .
NOTE: the "nylon jacket" I mentioned above may also serve as a rain jacket.
I am not :rolleyes: trying to bash ultra-lighters but just stating facts...
When I walked in 1993, White Blaze didn't exist, and I figured April in Georgia must be about the same as Miami in January, so I never carried winter gear. I quickly learned that was a mistake.
But I usually carry more stuff than I think I need. I made do by wearing a down jacket to supplement my 50 degree sleeping bag, wool socks on my feet and all my clothing on below freezing nights.
Most of my starting gear stayed with me the whole six months, though I did switch my six pound tent for a 2.5 pound bivouac tent around Harpers Ferry.
I thought of shipping home the 1 pound down jacket, but I found it periodically valuable for cool nights, after days of chilly rains.
My gear kept me a bit chilly in Maine in October, but not seriously so.
Weary
As far as cold weather clothing, what do you suggest for the Mt Washington area? I know from experience (I was born in Mass) that it can get mighty cold up there.
Being in the Whites I'd like to think you'd need something of the sort because of the quickly changing weather.
When I was passing through in early August last year, it was 28 degrees with winds from 60 to 80 on Mt. Washington. Even down on lowly Madison it was just above freezing and very, very windy. The potential for bad weather in the Presidentials can hardly be overstated.
Marta/Five-Leaf
Appalachian Tater
05-03-2007, 00:25
As far as cold weather clothing, what do you suggest for the Mt Washington area? I know from experience (I was born in Mass) that it can get mighty cold up there.
Being in the Whites I'd like to think you'd need something of the sort because of the quickly changing weather.
You need something wind and water proof and an insulating layer as well as a hat even in the middle of summer. The gusts can be so strong that you can't stand up without holding onto a rock. Combine that with rain and cold and you can be uncomfortable or dead in a short period of time without proper clothing.
oldsoldier
05-03-2007, 09:53
I've seen it too, people going light and freezing at night.
They get over it.
HAHAHA! I havent heard that one in a while...old unofficial ranger saying, isnt it?
SGT Rock
05-03-2007, 15:26
Yes, Jump light - Freeze at night.
This year, 2007, I read that temps where in the 70's+ in NC causing some hikers to sned winter gear home. That was followed by a snow storm on Good Friday. A white blaze post has a link to an article about this.
People can only be told so much. I guess they have to learn the hard way. Too bad though, time spent on White Blaze, at no cost to them, could save them lots of discomfort!!
DavidNH
This year, I hiked into the Low Gap shelter just north of Neels Gap to find a potential thru hiker who had a Kmart-type tarp strung up to create a little cave inside the shelter. He said they'd had great weather to Neels Gap so he'd sent home his tent AND his sleeping bag. Was out there in shorts with 2 emergency blankets and taking a zero day at the shelter, waiting for better weather. Claimed he had 3 years of experience outdoors but listened to "others" when they said he'd have good weather all the way to Cloud9 where he was picking up his summer sleeping bag and hammock. Hmmm....