crosscreekgator
10-04-2011, 14:53
My girl friend and I will be hiking a sec of the AT in north Ga this Jan and I need some info on what the weather will be like in that time of year ( the last week of Jan ) this will be her FIRST hike. and want it to go well for her !!! Thanks !!!
max patch
10-04-2011, 15:03
My crystal ball :) says to expect cold temps, possibly snow flurries, probably a constant cold drizzle and with conditions like that your gf's first hike may very well be her last. Good luck.
Cold.....You really need to be prepaired for below 0 degrees even if it doesn't happen. The last couple of years has been brutal that time of year with lots of Snow. Others here can affirm this and give you more details. The first hike for her? I would change my plans if it were me!
My girl friend and I will be hiking a sec of the AT in north Ga this Jan and I need some info on what the weather will be like in that time of year ( the last week of Jan ) this will be her FIRST hike. and want it to go well for her !!! Thanks !!!
http://www.weather.com/
January for a first hike? Seriously?? Don't shoot me, but gauging that you're from FL, specifically Gainesville, and that you yourself probably don't have experience in the cold in GA on the AT, I think its a wicked bad idea. I wouldn't take a newbie on a January hike on the AT in GA unless I had a ton of experience in that kind of weather and could outfit the newbie properly. Chances are good that if you're asking, you don't have that experience and based on my assumptions, you probably don't have the equipment needed. I'm sorry if I'm wrong, just calling out what seems to be the case in my eyes.
Now, day hiking can be fun in January... or not. Its on average the coldest and wettest month... snow is spotty, lot of freezing and thawing and freezing again. Cold sides of ridges will have permanent ice spots which are slicked over from the thaw-freeze process. The cold can really sap a lot of your energy, especially if you've camped out overnite and never truly warmed up. Chances are good your first-timer is not prepared to huff and puff enough to make herself warm enough, or to keep pace enough to keep you warm.
That said, some January sunny days are glorious, not too different than some of these October days. I would plan on staying at some of the hostels, and then maybe giving an overnite camp a try to see how you do. Hey, if you guys do well, then make it a whole trip, but hiking/camping should be fun and I think you want to ensure your gf first-timer has fun, right?