View Full Version : The Cold's A Comin' Boys!
Tipi Walter
01-11-2009, 10:05
Get your gear squared and take a week off cuz there's an arctic blast about to hit east Tennessee/North Carolina and only the lucky few will get to be by Miss Nature's side for the festivities. But before you head out the door, post your favorite winter trip fotogs and then have at it. Here's a few of mine.
Rockhound
01-11-2009, 10:47
We'll get it out of the way now so it will be 70 and sunny for SoRuck right?
"Get your gear squared and take a week off cuz there's an arctic blast about to hit east Tennessee/North Carolina and only the lucky few will get to be by Miss Nature's side for the festivities. But before you head out the door, post your favorite winter trip fotogs and then have at it. Here's a few of mine."
Yeah Walter, I wonder how many people won't pay attention to the forcast and end up getting it trouble? I was at Russell field a few years and a group showed up that had those square cotton sleeping bags with cowboys on them saying "It's supposed to get in the single digits tonight". I said you better hope not, you're going to freeze. Well long story short, they did freeze.
rainmaker
01-11-2009, 12:33
Madame and I are planning a short "play" hike to Icewater via Kephart Prong on Saturday and on to LeConte on Sunday and down to Sugarlands Monday via Bullhead. We've both hiked in the Smokeys during the winter before but were younger and dummer. Now that we have matured we play closer attention to real and percieved dangers. With that said take a look at our gear list and tell me what you think. Thanks.
Sleeping Bag- WM 0 degree for her, Northface 0 degree for me
Sleeping Pad- Ridge Rest for me and a Thermarest Prolite 3 for her
Clothes: capilene silk wt tops and bottoms for walking
capilene md. wt. tops and bottoms for sleeping
nylon shorts for walking if the temps get above freezing
fleece pants for camp
fleece sweater for walking or camp
down sweater for camp
fleece gloves and overmitts with fleeceliners,
smartwool socks for walking and fleece socks for camp
Vasque Breeze boots for walking and some sort of camp boot
Gaiters
Marmot Precip pants and jacket.
Balaclava along with a billed cap and watch cap
All the rest of our stuff is standard, Simmerlight stove with extra fuel and extra food.
Do you see anything we need to add. What about instep crampons or something similar?
Do you have a camera that tolerates freezing weather? I am nervous about killing my LCD.
Any tips to share?
Ramble~On
01-11-2009, 13:11
Do you have a camera that tolerates freezing weather? I am nervous about killing my LCD.
Any tips to share?
Leave expensive camera at home and take a "trail" camera that you won't be overly hurt by if it dies a horid trail death.
I carry a AA battery Olympus point and shoot for winter and it takes nice shots...the only problem when it's "really" cold is that you have to keep the batteries warm. On a recent trip I was lucky to get 2 exposures before the batteries were pooped. There is a little point and shooter that I saw the maker boasting was good in the cold.
Also be aware of lens condensation taking a warm camera out into the cold or taking a cold camera into a warm place. This can get inside the lens and inside the camera.
Rainmaker, I would take a pair of yaktrax with me. The boulevard can be pretty icey. We have had a ton of rain lately. I would bet there will be many yards of pure ice on the trail. Some of the spots there will not be any way around the ice due to the trail dropping off the side of the mountain. The rest of your gear list looks great. If you have some donw booties, I would take them.
mkmangold
01-11-2009, 13:18
Rainmaker: that looks good to me. You might want to consider silk bag liners (light, can add 9 deg to your bag) and hand/foot warmers during sleep. If you use them, put them on top of your hands and feet since the blood supply will carry the heat TO your finger and toetips.
Cookerhiker
01-11-2009, 14:38
[quote=Rcarver;756179 Yeah Walter, I wonder how many people won't pay attention to the forcast and end up getting it trouble? I was at Russell field a few years and a group showed up that had those square cotton sleeping bags with cowboys on them saying "It's supposed to get in the single digits tonight". I said you better hope not, you're going to freeze. Well long story short, they did freeze.[/quote]
Robert, it's a wonder they survived under those conditions. You didn't have to haul out any cadavers, did you?
I'm heading out with a buddy next weekend to Shining Rock for a 3-nighter. I'll have to decide if my 0 degree bag is going to be warm enough!
At least the forecast right now has little precipitation.
Ramble~On
01-11-2009, 15:29
I'm heading out with a buddy next weekend to Shining Rock for a 3-nighter. I'll have to decide if my 0 degree bag is going to be warm enough!
At least the forecast right now has little precipitation.
I'm heading up there tomorrow morning.
Shoot me an email and let me know how your trip goes. I'll be starting out at the boyscout camp on Thursday and just wondering around for the weekend.
Ramble~On
01-11-2009, 15:48
I'm heading up the Little East Fork Trail from Camp Daniel Boone and meeting up with some folks up there. A 2 day jaunt. The moon is still pretty full and Shining Rock is a sweet place. There's a nice little loop there using the Little East Fork and Art Loeb - starting and ending at the scout camp.
It's a great place to wander around in.
I'm just doing a quick overnighter to shake down some new gear and meet up with friends but I'll let you know how it went when I get back.
Tomorrow night I'm hoping to watch the sunset from here : http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=28591&catid=member&imageuser=2785
Cookerhiker, no one lost their life. But, they sure did leave really early. Luckily they were parked at Cades Cove. They were supposed to go to Spence the next day. They went home instead.
I'm heading out with a buddy next weekend to Shining Rock for a 3-nighter. I'll have to decide if my 0 degree bag is going to be warm enough!
Should be if the brand is WM, MB, FF, Nunatak, but not if it's TNF
hootyhoo
01-11-2009, 20:49
I will be out there, somewhere. My good old winter photos were before digital. Here's all I got for snow.
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/1/2/4/8/4/unexpected_snow_thumb.jpg (http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=29837&c=member&orderby=title&direction=ASC&imageuser=12484&cutoffdate=-1)
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/1/2/4/8/4/citico_thumb.jpg (http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=29831&c=member&orderby=title&direction=ASC&imageuser=12484&cutoffdate=-1)
jonesat11
01-11-2009, 21:31
It Is Nice And Sunny In Florida...good Place To Hike
Slo-go'en
01-11-2009, 22:44
2 degrees in Berlin NH at 9:40PM. Clear skys so will be well below zero by dawn. Was out snow shoeing yesterday when it was a balumy 12*. About 5" of new fluffy snow here overnight.
Cool AT Breeze
01-11-2009, 23:06
It Is Nice And Sunny In Florida...good Place To Hike
Too hot to hike for me.
I love this weather!!! I live in west TN and it is supposed to be cold for at least a week with temps as low as single digits. I hung a deer late this afternoon and plan to leave it for over a week before processing it. Should be about right by next Sunday. Savory venison is hard to beat.
Day hiking near home this week. :p
I call this "tent in a tent" weather. I have a small tent that I erect in a large family tent. It stays remarkably warm. And I will be camping this weekend.
SouthMark
01-12-2009, 14:32
Im a dedicated wimp.
Saw Tipi out in the Citico Creek Wilderness yesterday. He had 20 pounds of food with him. We had some laughs and went our separate ways. He is one hardcore backpacker!
we've got some bitter cold weather coming in later this week (PA). highs in the 20's. lows of 5-7. well, bitter cold for me - not for some of you crazies and canucks
Nice walk to work again this morning at 0degF, across the ice and up the hill. Up here in Saint John it was -10F last night, backup to 15F today, forecast for -13F on Saturday. I am going to head out for the -13F, but just for the night, not like the Tipi. There is a little island out on the Kennebecasis River about 2km from my house. I will hope to see some eastern coyotes, and test out a bigger better hobo stove than last year.
Should be if the brand is WM, MB, FF, Nunatak, but not if it's TNF
Hmmm. It happens to be a NF. But I've had pretty good luck with them so far.
If its not warm enough I have a liner. If still cold I can start piling on clothes including a good set of midweight thermals. If still cold I bought a few of those chemical hand/boot warmers.
hootyhoo
01-13-2009, 21:25
I love this weather!!! I live in west TN and it is supposed to be cold for at least a week with temps as low as single digits. I hung a deer late this afternoon and plan to leave it for over a week before processing it. Should be about right by next Sunday. Savory venison is hard to beat.
Day hiking near home this week. :p
My grandmother lives right up the street from Ray Blantons moms house. I love West TN.
Hootyhoo, I live on Fire Tower Rd. in north Selmer. We're neighbors! I am in Adamsville a lot. My dentist, Dr. Hoover is there. Next time you're down this way give me notice and we do some visiting, hang out, or something, like hiking for example.
Happy hiking. :sun
Cool AT Breeze
01-14-2009, 00:12
we've got some bitter cold weather coming in later this week (PA). highs in the 20's. lows of 5-7. well, bitter cold for me - not for some of you crazies and canucks
Same forcast for SORUCK this weekend.
Yea, me and Ekul are leaving for Neels to Unicoi on thursday evening. Supposed to be 11 that night. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like any snow is forcasted until Sunday, and that's just flurries. We both really enjoied hiking back from Springer along the approach trail just after Thanksgiving. We had probably 2 - 3 inches of virgin powder that day.
Tipi Walter
01-19-2009, 17:41
Saw Tipi out in the Citico Creek Wilderness yesterday. He had 20 pounds of food with him. We had some laughs and went our separate ways. He is one hardcore backpacker!
It was good seeing you guys out on the trail. When you saw me I was on my second day of a nine day trip and I just got back today in some howling white conditions and arctic temps. The worst was around Jan 15-16 with near -10 degrees below zero at 5000 feet. A group of quick moving Ohio boy scouts told me the temp was minus 1 two mornings ago but after the 10 below it felt almost balmy. I gotta get my fotogs downloaded and will probably post a short trip report.