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Josh Calhoun
10-02-2012, 09:15
what was your coldest day ever on the trail? lets hear where you were and what time of year.

Lone Wolf
10-02-2012, 09:17
december of 2000. heading south in jersey. walked on sunfish pond instead of the trail

Velvet Gooch
10-02-2012, 09:23
-70°F wind chill. The Black Mountains. Winter, a few years back

coach lou
10-02-2012, 09:29
4 July 86, Long Trail, 3 days of rain, first and last UL trip!

Maddog
10-02-2012, 09:30
-6°F wind chill with my wife on Springer Mountain, New Year's Eve 2009, in hammocks!!! Maddog:eek:

Wolf - 23000
10-02-2012, 09:30
The coldest day I recall temperatures wise was with wind chill- 50. I was in the state of VT in Jan 1995 getting hit with an off season hurricane.It snowed on me 5 feet. The storm made impossible to hike because of both thewinds and snow. I stayed put for 3 days before finally making a break for itand hitting inside. A very cold 3 days.
The cold I been, was -35 with a frozen sleeping bag – my waterbottle broke inside my sleeping bag and turn to ice while in the 100 milewilderness, Maine. That was Jan 2005. I manage to walk out after spending thenext 3 nights freezing my butt off.
Wolf

Marta
10-02-2012, 09:34
December 2006. Roan High Knob Shelter. Zero on the thermometer with a brisk wind blowing. Water bottles froze solid inside my sleeping bag.

10-K
10-02-2012, 10:23
December 2006. Roan High Knob Shelter. Zero on the thermometer with a brisk wind blowing. Water bottles froze solid inside my sleeping bag.

That is one cold shelter.

Feral Bill
10-02-2012, 10:33
Christmas Eve 197?. -7 or so with a screaming wind in the Presidential Range. One of us got sick and we headed back down.

Tom Murphy
10-02-2012, 10:42
-10 deg F, Ethan Pond Shelter WMNF NH, Jan 2010

That was cold enough for me. Used a lot more fuel melting snow for drinking water than I had expected to. Since then I have learned to break the ice over running stream to get at the water in order to conserve a little bit of fuel.

Came in from Zealand TH so picked up the AT just past the AMC's Zealand hut. Had planned a loop of the Shoal Pond trail, Wilderness trail, and Thoreau Falls trail but ended up during some exploring around the shelter and then getting out the next day.

Pathfinder1
10-02-2012, 10:42
Hi...


A balmy but typical -40 F on a dogsled trail between a small Arctic community and the Yukon River. I believe it was ten miles round trip. Being dressed correctly, it was no problem staying warm.

Was almost run down by a dogsled team. Contrary to what you might see in the movies, they usually move quite silently. 1975.

The proceeding Halloween, trick-or-treaters were out in -30 F the preceding Halloween. In Fairbanks, it was only -20 F for the trick-or-treater kids there.

Turned out to be one of the coldest winters anyone remembered. Have many photos of thermometers reading 50 to 60 below. NOTE: thermometers in the lower 48 usually only go to -40 F.

Grampie
10-02-2012, 13:00
2001 thru...8 degrees at Ice water Spring shelter...Made it through the night in a 20 degree bag.

wookinpanub
10-02-2012, 13:25
On AT:
May 1990, 4 degrees inside my tent, which was set up inside the Avery Memorial lean-to on Avery Peak. (It's no longer there.) A 20 degree bag made for a long night.

Off AT:
-10 degrees, below Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park one February. Great week-long trip where I had the park to myself. I never saw anyone. I was fully prepared and the -10 wasn't that bad.

Lyle
10-02-2012, 13:50
First day of spring, 1981. Whitetop Mountain, VA. Can't remember if it was 12 or 13 below zero the night after a blizzard that dropped about 18-24" of snow. We holed up in the cabin for two days that used to be on the summit, tents up inside, melting snow for water.

SouthMark
10-02-2012, 14:18
January 2011, Roan High Knob, 4 ft snow, 30-40 mph winds, 1.8º.

Prime Time
10-02-2012, 17:20
Minus 38 degrees at Franconia Brook Campsite in the White Mountain National Forest in December, 1974. I awoke in my tent with a pile of about 3 inches of light, fluffy, odd smelling snow on my sleeping bag in front of my face. I quickly figured out that as I exhaled in my sleep, my breath would rise straight up, freeze, and fall back to my bag as tiny frozen crystals.

RED-DOG
10-02-2012, 17:28
The coldest day i have ever had is Feb-28th at the spence field shelter i was doing my Thru-hike their was 2 foot of snow and the Temps ranged from 5 degrees that night to 20 the next day the entire five days i was in the park it was fridgid but this year mild temps for the smokies. RED-DOG ( Flip-Flop 96 & GA-ME 06 & GA-ME 2012 ).

Blissful
10-02-2012, 17:34
Single digits outside Franklin in early March.

wornoutboots
10-02-2012, 17:54
December 2006. Roan High Knob Shelter. Zero on the thermometer with a brisk wind blowing. Water bottles froze solid inside my sleeping bag. WOW...... Inside your sleeping bag

wornoutboots
10-02-2012, 17:55
Last January Springer to NOC a few nights in the single digits, I'm sure it was well below with the WC

Driver8
10-02-2012, 18:17
My coldest hike ever was on the Sleeping Giant SP Tower Road and a couple of side trails on January 15, 2011, tree days after the deepest snow ever recorded in CT. It was single digits, maybe 8* F when my friend and I started. Was fun post-holing the upper 0.6 miles or so, past the chin, where most before us had turned around. The snow was a couple feet deep and mostly untouched up by the tower. Winter wonderland - got some nice pics that day. We were well clothed and didn't get cold so long as we kept moving.

kayak karl
10-02-2012, 18:29
brownfork shelter. jan '09. zero.
in a hammock :)

SouthMark
10-02-2012, 18:55
January 2011, Roan High Knob, 4 ft snow, 30-40 mph winds, 1.8º.

I should have added that this was in a hammock.

Lando11
10-02-2012, 19:32
Coldest I've ever felt non-hiking, first year I lived in upstate ny in 1996 -50 wind chill
Hiking its a tie,
Sleeping in the emergency shelter on top of mt greylock in January a few years back. -10 at nightbefore wind, which was freakin howlin!
Peru peak shelter (Vt south of bromley)this past january hit -8 before the wind but overall was a colder night inside.

And did both nights in a 35* bag. But I spoiled myself with a liner

russb
10-02-2012, 20:32
Adirondacks -22*F actual temp. Was toasty warm in a hammock.

Tipi Walter
10-02-2012, 21:18
Many many subzero nights. Several recent winter trips in the mountains of NC at -10F. My overall worst trip was in the Conehead Mts of North Carolina during the arctic outbreak of January 1985. -28F. The storm swept the Southeast and gave Knoxville -18F and Nashville -17F.

Different Socks
10-02-2012, 21:24
Zero temp, in the Smokies on my 1992 thru hike, May 9.

Another Kevin
10-02-2012, 22:19
Hmm, I've been out in -44F (and breezy) in Hanover, but wisely didn't get on the trail that day. I've probably dayhiked as low as -20F, and slept out in subzero (in a 20F bag, but wearing my puffy layer and sleeping in a debris hut or a tent banked with snow for insulation).

Red Hat
10-03-2012, 07:25
my coldest night on the AT was in a blizzard mid march 2010 near Standing Indian. Hung up my hammock early in the afternoon to get out of the wind and snow. Stayed in the hammock with a pad and my WM 20 degree bag for nearly 20 hours shivering in single digit temps (don't know with Wind Chill). Walked down to the road the next morning to dry out and warm up.

I have had many cold days, but usually managed to get to town before nightfall. In 2005 I was turned around by a ridgerunner when I left Fontana headed into snow that got progressively worse up the mountain. Spent 4 days waiting out.

Tipi Walter
10-03-2012, 07:34
I spent the Blizzard of '93 in a tipi on a 3,500 foot ridgetop in the mountains of NC---see pic. While it wasn't that cold, 6F, and I had a woodstove inside my lodge, hiking in and out on my one mile trail was tough in 3 feet of snow. Camping with a woodstove changes everything---as the Kifaru and Titanium Goat types will attest.

http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/BooneYears/Tipi-Life/i-nBkLnbC/0/L/Blizzard-of-93-and-the-Tipi-L.jpg

The Cleaner
10-03-2012, 08:01
-28*@ Jerry's Cabin Shelter,January 85', with tarp on front+inside fireplace it was a toasty 0* inside.I thought the frost beard was cool,when I smiled it kinda hurt a bit....

kyhipo
10-03-2012, 08:44
december of 2000. heading south in jersey. walked on sunfish pond instead of the trail
I was in mass heading to conn in feb.went thru sages ravine ,solid ice ended up in dalton in a blizzard on a snow moble trail.nice hike to a job,ky,2000 as well,ky

neonshaw
10-03-2012, 22:45
-28*@ Jerry's Cabin Shelter,January 85', with tarp on front+inside fireplace it was a toasty 0* inside.I thought the frost beard was cool,when I smiled it kinda hurt a bit....

I remember that cold snap. It was -8 in Atlanta. Killed a lot of landscaping plants in the metro area.

I cant imagine camping out that week. Holy crap.

Another Kevin
10-04-2012, 06:43
I thought the frost beard was cool,when I smiled it kinda hurt a bit....

I remember my daughter laughing out loud at the snotsicles in my moustache on our first winter trip. :D

Lyle
10-04-2012, 09:48
I remember my daughter laughing out loud at the snotsicles in my moustache on our first winter trip. :D

Yeah, I first experienced these in college at Michigan State. Walk across campus to class, wouldn't notice a thing. Get into class and the snotsicle would start melting, but not all at once. Had to keep a bandanna handy for the first 15 minutes of class. :-)

Kerosene
10-04-2012, 10:32
January 2011, Roan High Knob, 4 ft snow, 30-40 mph winds, 1.8º.Similar to my Roan experience, although I was hiking north: October 29, 2008, 6" of new snow, 10*F to start with 40 mph sustained winds and 70 mph gusts over the Balds. Fortunately the sky was perfectly clear and I had enough clothes on to keep warm as long as I kept walking.

Off the AT, my coldest was a Boy Scout winter camping trip near Port Jervis, NY circa January 1970. It dropped to 27 below that night, although the winds were light.

coach lou
10-04-2012, 12:46
Similar to my Roan experience, although I was hiking north: October 29, 2008, 6" of new snow, 10*F to start with 40 mph sustained winds and 70 mph gusts over the Balds. Fortunately the sky was perfectly clear and I had enough clothes on to keep warm as long as I kept walking.

Off the AT, my coldest was a Boy Scout winter camping trip near Port Jervis, NY circa January 1970. It dropped to 27 below that night, although the winds were light.

The details are lost to history, but in the same year we had our district 'Klondike Derby' and I remember we put all our baker tents flaps connecting, with a few central fires in the middle, with bails of hay on the outside of our tents due to the extreme cold. We were kids....we didn't care!

Whack-a-mole
10-05-2012, 12:35
The wife and I were on Grassy Ridge beside Roan Mtn with 40mph winds. I don't know the exact temp, but a ranger in the parking lot said it was 9 degrees at his house down in the valley. Last Feb it was 13 with a breeze at Long Creek Falls. I know this isn't nearly as cold as some of these folks, but it's still cold enough to get your attention.

Tipi Walter
10-05-2012, 12:45
The wife and I were on Grassy Ridge beside Roan Mtn with 40mph winds. I don't know the exact temp, but a ranger in the parking lot said it was 9 degrees at his house down in the valley. Last Feb it was 13 with a breeze at Long Creek Falls. I know this isn't nearly as cold as some of these folks, but it's still cold enough to get your attention.

Your post reminds me of a few fotos from recent trips.

http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2009/In-The-Citico-With-Hootyhoo/i-CdgnnwZ/0/L/trip-90-045-L.jpg
This is what camp looks like at -10F on Hangover Mt, 5,000 feet.

http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2006/Subzero-Blizzard-and-the-16th/i-zRd5mR6/0/L/adadadad-L.jpg
Here's another trip and a morning shot at Naked Ground Gap at -10F. Dang cold.


http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2006/Subzero-Blizzard-and-the-16th/i-gczGkSr/0/L/Trip-65-039-L.jpg
Before the middle pic was taken the temps started to fall the day before and by morning it was COLD as I take this shot of fellow backpackers bailing off the mountain due to the cold and the biting wind. This pic symbolizes cold weather camping to me. It's not the cold that kills you, it's the wind.

Tipi Walter
10-05-2012, 13:05
Here are a few more pics which cold weather backpackers will relate to---

http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2007/15-Days-in-the-Cold-with-a/i-RTG47zg/0/L/DSC00801-L.jpg

When a mountain side spring turns solid you know it's cold.


http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2006/Subzero-Blizzard-and-the-16th/i-qGrtk7J/0/L/Trip-65-044-L.jpg

And when you go to get water out of a spring and see this you know it's in the subzero range.

russb
10-05-2012, 20:08
How about when it is so cold the digital camera won't even turn on!

Sarcasm the elf
10-05-2012, 20:19
Tipi, awesome photos as usual, I can see why you're loyal to Hilleberg!

Sarcasm the elf
10-05-2012, 20:22
How about when it is so cold the digital camera won't even turn on!

Done that before. Keep it in innermost the breast pocket of your clothing at all times and it will extend the battery life a good bit

Papa D
10-05-2012, 21:52
Many many subzero nights. Several recent winter trips in the mountains of NC at -10F. My overall worst trip was in the Conehead Mts of North Carolina during the arctic outbreak of January 1985. -28F. The storm swept the Southeast and gave Knoxville -18F and Nashville -17F.

My friend Alana and I were on Stratton Bald in January of 2009 in the snow and wind - it was our second night out - - my thermometer on my pack read -3F but the wind was blowing really strong - - it was so cold, our mac and cheese (2-boxes) froze before we could eat it - had to be re-heated - - kept hot water bottles (2-ea) in zero degree bags with down jackets, booties, the works - - it was still butte asse cold - - can't really remember a colder night out - - even in Alaska, Wyoming, Colorado, and so forth - - Stratton Bald, NC is surely the full-treatment - even the whiskey froze.

Tipi Walter
10-05-2012, 23:23
Tipi, awesome photos as usual, I can see why you're loyal to Hilleberg!

My Hillebergs are heavy but I'm allowed to use that word. They work so good in winter that I just stick with them the other 3 seasons.

Tipi Walter
10-05-2012, 23:35
My friend Alana and I were on Stratton Bald in January of 2009 in the snow and wind - it was our second night out - - my thermometer on my pack read -3F but the wind was blowing really strong - - it was so cold, our mac and cheese (2-boxes) froze before we could eat it - had to be re-heated - - kept hot water bottles (2-ea) in zero degree bags with down jackets, booties, the works - - it was still butte asse cold - - can't really remember a colder night out - - even in Alaska, Wyoming, Colorado, and so forth - - Stratton Bald, NC is surely the full-treatment - even the whiskey froze.

I think I remember you being up there on that trip. I did a short 8 day trek there too in January and ran into a boy scout troop who passed me on their way to Naked Ground Gap. The next day they told me it got to around -5F.

http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2009/Trip-89-Backpacking/i-4GdKSWR/0/L/Trip-89-029-L.jpg

Here's the scouts on Stratton Bald right before the temps dipped to -5F. The smiling kid made my day, reminded me of a trip I did as a kid in the 1950's. I too was grinning.


http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2009/Trip-89-Backpacking/i-XtTNDwr/0/L/Trip-89-043-L.jpg

Another one of my favorite shots---this time it's of the scouts leaving Bob Mountain in the cold.


http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2009/Trip-89-Backpacking/i-QfKPfmP/0/L/Trip-89-046-L.jpg

What's not to love?

Sarcasm the elf
10-05-2012, 23:54
So far, the lowest temp night I've done was -3F in beautiful ideal conditions at Mt. Wilcox South shelter, the kind of conditions that make me wish I had a working camera at the time. The lowest temp day hike I've done was -6F plus ~30mph winds on Mt. Washington last December (again clear sky's and ideal conditions, hiking weather is one of the only parts of my life where I seem to luck out). I had the right gear on both of these trips and was quite comfortable aside from some numb toes and a quick case of the screaming barfies (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Screaming%20Barfies) when I was wearing gloves instead of my much better mittens. Both of these trips were fairly comfortable and I hope to get a few solid cold weather trips in this winter.

Now if you want to talk about my COLDEST night ever, that would be a tie between multiple boy scout trips in the 1990's. The temps were all much warmer, but I was much colder (in a couple cases, the kind of cold that makes you worry about your safety). It's amazing the difference that better gear and better knowledge can make.

http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/2/6/4/6/5/pc180036_thumb.jpg (http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=49335)

http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/2/6/4/6/5/pc180034_thumb.jpg (http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=49337)

http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/2/6/4/6/5/pc180028_thumb.jpg (http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=49340)

LIhikers
10-06-2012, 00:05
Not on the AT, but a camping trip in northern MN in Feb. of 2007. Woke up the first morning to a thermometer reading of -25 below zero degrees F.
There wasn't too much wind so I guess the wind chill didn't amount to much more than the actual temperature.

Mountain Mike
10-06-2012, 00:58
Worst was New Years night trip 30 years ago to Hancock Loop in NH. I got delayed at work several hours so drive up took us to past midnight. We slept in the back of my friends sunbird station wagon for the night & woke with the sun. My friend went to drink the other half bottle of coke from night before & it was froze solid. As we cooked up oatmeal & hot chocolate we decided to hike in for an hour & decide how we felt. 45 minuyes in I was feeling good & asked my friend how he felt. Said his toes were still kinda cold. We decided give it the full hour. After another 15 minutes I asked how he felt. He asked me to put down my ice axe first before he responded since I footed the bill for the trip in addition to having to buy a set of crampons since the ones I borrowed wouldn't adjust to my boots, but fit his fine! When I did he said he couldn't feel his toes. We did a frostbite check & even though no signs of it he swears the spots were sensitive fore years in the cold. Needless to say we aborted. On the way back I stopped for a drink of water. Grabbed a composite cup he used to hang of the back of his pack & before I could bring it to my lips the water where it was dipped in the spring was ice. We got back to the parking lot & basques in the warm of the sunshine as it glimmered off the peaks of Hancock Notch on the Kank. It wasn't till we packed up that we realized he had a zipometer on his pack. In the full sun it said 15 below 0! I kinda doubted the accuracy till we stopped at a gas station mid afternoon & it was only 10 below & thousands of feet down.

Datto
10-06-2012, 13:49
October 10 - Logan Brook Shelter ... in Maine
Milepoint 2095.5, 184 days since start of hike, averaging 11.4 miles per day

You know that part of The Plan where I said we'd be hiking out of here this morning?

Scratch that.

More than a foot of snow fell overnight and it's still coming down at dawn. A winter wonderland out there in the woods -- branches hanging heavy over the Trail. We're going nowhere this morning.

The down in my wet sleeping bag dried last night while employing the mylar emergency bag and hot water bottle treatment I'd concocted yesterday afternoon. That's the plus side. On the minus side, the mylar bag acting as a vapor barrier retained all the water vapor inside with me and I woke up this morning in a puddle of water. Here's where I do my Palmolive Madge impersonation... ehmm..."You're soaking in it!" Thank you. Good crowd. You're too kind.

Overnight the wind carried snow inside the shelter all the way to the back wall. Everything is wet again including the surface of my sleeping bag. Our first critical task is to get the open side of the shelter blocked from the wind so the snow stays outside.

Sleeping in a pool of water while drifting snow covers my sleeping bag. Geez, a fine way to wake up in the morning! What next, flying skunks? Wait...that's already happened. I'm having a flashback.

Frogger had a small tarp, Bear had twine and with the expanse of my Nomad tent we rigged a continuous nylon wall at the front of the shelter. The box of eyehook screws I was carrying was used to tie the nylon sheets back to the shelter side walls. Why am I carrying eyehook screws? Ha. Who knows? It reminded me of the story about a hiker down in Georgia a while back carrying close to a hundred pound pack. When he spilled the contents of his pack on the ground so others could make suggestions for lightening his load, radiator clamps where discovered in the jumble. No one could figure out why a backpacker would carry radiator clamps. I'd laugh out loud at that thought right now but in addition to the eyehooks, I'm still carrying Deet. Ah...would you believe I'm using it to add zing to the Lipton's?

The windblock completed, we move to the next order of business -- shoveling the drifted snow off the shelter platform.

Hey! A reason for the moat at the front of the shelter! It's all starting to make sense to me now...that's the scary part.

While rigging up the wind block I had the chance to survey our position. We're in a canyon bowl with steep mountain walls surrounding the shelter on all sides. Maybe that's why we've gotten so much snow. It's possible the snowfall outside this bowl was less severe.

After the three of us returned to the warmth of our sleeping bags, Bear announced he had a thermometer in his backpack and intended to take a temperature reading. Frogger and I wait with anticipation. Well actually, we waited because there's no place else to go.

Displaying a preponderance of perfunct, Bear announced the temperature to be a balmy twenty four degrees. Fahrenheit.

Break out the Coppertone.

This storm has thrown me for a loop. Retrieving my maps from my backpack and surveying the Trail ahead, it appears there's a possibility we could head out later today -- maybe hike the eleven miles through the snow to the second shelter north from here. Then tomorrow hike another sixteen miles to the White House Landing, a hunting lodge near the Appalachian Trail. The guidebook says the hunting lodge is open year round. Reaching that point by tomorrow evening would still put us within striking distance of Katahdin by the evening of October 14th.

As much as they'd like to make northbound progress too, Bear and Frogger are not buying into my idea of hiking out of here today. We'd be soaked in the first 100 yards and then have to find a way to get dry and warm upon arrival at the shelter up trail. The point is made that we should consider staying put for today since we're almost dry now. The current weather report indicates the snowfall should taper off this morning and the temperature might warm enough this afternoon to melt a portion of the snow.

The three of us decide to take a zero day, stay put and rest up.

It continued to snow all the rest of the day. By nightfall the storm had dropped more than a total of sixteen inches of snow.

Well at least that's got to be the end of it tonight. The weather people say so anyhow. I guess losing a day of hiking won't actually prevent me from reaching Katahdin before October 15th. That is, if I hustle and do four seventeen mile days in a row. Since we're already over Whitecap Mountain the terrain looks to be relatively easy between here and Katahdin -- seventeen mile days are possible.

Wow. Never did it cross my mind that I'd get to the point where seventeen mile days would be used in the same sentence as the word 'easy'.

I wonder how Steamroller and Chief are doing after spending last night battling the storm on the top of this mountain.

A chill runs up my spine and I shudder for a moment.


Datto

Kerosene
10-06-2012, 19:26
Datto's post above triggered me to search out his entries on TrailJournals (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=182662) to see how his hike turns out. So far I love the writing!

Datto
10-06-2012, 23:58
Datto's post above triggered me to search out his entries on TrailJournals (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=182662) to see how his hike turns out. So far I love the writing!


Thanks for the kind words. My AT thru-hike was one heck of an adventure. I'm so glad I was able to get the story of the adventure down on paper every day and then made available on the Internet.


Datto