View Full Version : Christmas on the trail...
tjkenney67
12-15-2012, 20:15
Just wondering if anyone else will be spending Christmas on the trail??
I'm planning to do Springer to Unicoi Gap during the holiday. Having trouble finding a freeze dreid turkey for one though... LOL. Happy Holidays!!
LIhikers
12-16-2012, 00:15
Cook and then freeze a regular turkey. Put the amount of meat you'd want for a meal into a freezer bag before putting it into the freezer.
It'll keep for a while in your pack this time of year.
Then when your ready to eat it heat it up using the freezer bag method. My wife and I did a whole Thanksgiving meal that way a few years back and it worked out well.
I've spent more than one Christmas, a couple of Thanksgivings, a few New Year's Eves and Days, and far too many Fourth of July's to recall on a trail, on a summit, in the back country woods, in remote sections of deserts, on lava fields, and on beaches. The different perspectives that can be experienced on the trail or in the outdoors when thinking and living outside the traditional seasonal "this is the way it's usually done" box is a great asset in my mind. It's a main reason why I seek off trail, liittle used trails, l or out of season treks and experiences.
As I realized long ago when I was still a child and as Santa Claus said in MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET, "Christmas isn't about a day it's a state of mind." We can live everyday with the BEST that Christmas can be!
Drybones
12-16-2012, 10:28
If the weather's nice I'll stay home, if it's nasty I'll be on the trail, spent last Christmas on the Pinhoti with the wife with a heavy snow fall and 20 degree weather, perfect Christmas weather, the wife really enjoyed it too (surprise!), she did make me get up and make coffee before she got out of a warm sleeping bag.
The Cleaner
12-16-2012, 10:38
If I can get rid of some back pain issues I'll go up to Jerry's Cabin shelter to clean up after the bear hunters.Since there is an inside fireplace maybe Santa will stop by:cool:....
Lone Wolf
12-16-2012, 10:40
i'm goin' to a chinese buffet on xmas
Not Christmas but will be out for new years. Have been out on a trail some where on new years since 1976
daddytwosticks
12-16-2012, 14:29
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I'll be with family. I am planning a day hike for sometime the weekend before. Have a great hike. :)
max patch
12-16-2012, 14:31
If the weather's nice I'll stay home, if it's nasty I'll be on the trail.
My plans are exactly the opposite of yours.
i'm goin' to a chinese buffet on xmas
Perhaps, you'll go to the same Chinese Restaurant and enjoy the same type of singing performed by the same Chinese Restaurant staff as depicted in A CHRISTMAS STORY. LOL Fa ra ra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46WcFObgYhI
Drybones
12-16-2012, 14:59
i'm goin' to a chinese buffet on xmas
Didn't realize they served freeze dried food...but that's a thought, dehydrated General Tso's, might try that.
Mountain Mojo
12-16-2012, 15:22
I'll be on it somewhere between Partnership and Damascus... Happy Yule!
Different Socks
12-16-2012, 23:19
Not this year, or the next or the next or the next. But I will be on the Florida trail for X-mas 2015, then the AT for 2016.
wcgornto
12-17-2012, 01:55
On Christmas day I begin a seven day trek to the 19,300 foot summit of Mount Cotopaxi in Ecuador.
wcgornto
12-17-2012, 01:56
Just wondering if anyone else will be spending Christmas on the trail??
I'm planning to do Springer to Unicoi Gap during the holiday. Having trouble finding a freeze dreid turkey for one though... LOL. Happy Holidays!!
Mountain House Turkey Tetrazzini
joshuasdad
12-17-2012, 14:13
Will be somewhere between Erwin and Damascus section hiking. May be a short (10 mi) day though.
Freeze dried turkey, freeze dried ham, whatever your carnivorous heart desires. :)
http://beprepared.com/category.asp_Q_c_E_66_A_Freeze+Dried+Meats_E (http://beprepared.com/category.asp_Q_c_E_66_A_Freeze+Dried+Meats_E)_
I'll point out I only recently placed my first order and have not yet received it (mixed veggies for this vegetarian) but a co-worker has ordered from them a number of times and is happy with the products and service.
Not hiking on Christmas. If the weather is not horrible, I should be out at Morrow mountain SP
this weekend, Fri and Sat for 1 or 2 nights. On New Years again if the weather is not horrible,
I will be somewhere close to Charlotte, NC.. Last year, I saw Fireworks from the summit
of Morrow Mountain at midnight. That was cool. Maybe this year I will go to one of the other
State Parks. They are all virtually deserted for the next 3 months.
This year both my kids will be home for Christmas, so I will stay pretty close so I can
see them.
Seatbelt
12-17-2012, 14:39
The plan right now is to be on the AT in the Smok Mtns starting day after Christmas.
Seatbelt
12-17-2012, 14:40
That would be "Smoky"
Spending Xmas Eve and Christmas Day at the 10th Mtn Division Hut
http://www.hutski.com/hut-routes/10th-division/10th-division-hut.html
New Year's at Chaco Canyon (including a full moon on the 28th)
http://www.nps.gov/chcu/index.htm
Drybones
12-17-2012, 14:44
The plan right now is to be on the AT in the Smok Mtns starting day after Christmas.
Rolllll another one, just like the other one.
ATMountainTime
12-17-2012, 14:55
spent this past Thanksgiving in Fort McAllister State park, not exactly roughing it, but the fried turkey came out perfectly, perfect weather and no family drama.
WingedMonkey
12-17-2012, 19:20
Ten days in the woods, starting where I left off after the ten days over Thanksgiving. Hoping for weather not in the 80's.
I just love theses pagan holidays.
:sun
Spending Xmas Eve and Christmas Day at the 10th Mtn Division Hut
http://www.hutski.com/hut-routes/10t...ision-hut.html (http://www.hutski.com/hut-routes/10th-division/10th-division-hut.html)
Ahhhh, lucky dog. What's the snow level like up there right now at 11k. Mags, will you shoe or skin it up to there? Going in from Tennessee Pass or Camp Hale along the CDT/CT or up W. Tennessee Crk or ??
The Cleaner
12-17-2012, 20:23
The plan right now is to be on the AT in the Smok Mtns starting day after Christmas.
You must have that old small&thick blue guidebook printed by the Sierra Club "Smoker's Guide to the Hikies" :eek:
Wise Old Owl
12-17-2012, 20:39
Its not the weather - its the thing to do - spend time with the ones you love, reach out and turn off the electronics.. Mabee leave on a little Lou Rawls.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4VOKdB4xuU
Hoping for weather not in the 80's.
Well, it's not a holiday unless cold, snow, sleds, stockngs, flying rendeer, and fireplaces are involved. LOL
1/2 the world who do recognize some type of December Holiday whether it be the winter solstice, Hannukah, Christmas, St Nicholas Day, Bodhi Day, Kwanzaa, Ashura, grand galactic alignment season, Los Posados, atheist appreciation month, whatever, etc do so in the southern hemisphere when the seasons are opposite those of the northern hemisphere. Those holidays, for those that do observe some type of December holiday, celebrate when it's warm or when it's summer. It can bring new meaning to what's a traditional north western hemisphere Christmas.
I just love theses pagan holidays.
LOL
Right you are WOO.
Mele Kelikimaka.
HikerMom58
12-17-2012, 21:23
Shining Rock Wilderness for us on Christmas Day... just a few miles... :)
WingedMonkey
12-17-2012, 21:31
Hoping for weather not in the 80's.
If you’ve felt like temperatures have been warmer than normal for December, they really have been — especially in Palm Beach County.
This month’s average temperatures for the county were around 74.9 degrees — 5.7 degrees higher than normal, said Chris Duke, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com
HikerMom58
12-17-2012, 21:39
WM... it's supposed to "cool down" for us in VA, in the next few days 2. The Great Lakes region is supposed to get dumped on with the white stuff later this week.
Ahhhh, lucky dog. What's the snow level like up there right now at 11k. Mags, will you shoe or skin it up to there? Going in from Tennessee Pass or Camp Hale along the CDT/CT or up W. Tennessee Crk or ??
Central mountains are supposed to get hit HARD in the next few days! Woo! :)
Plan on skinning up with Nordic gear.. I suspect we'll take the most direct route. My buddy's wife and Adrianna want to get there sooner rather than later. That's OK. The skiing around the hut should be awesome.
Planning to spend Christmas XC skiing in Glacier NP. No Christmas tree for me. Living in the Park, with a million acres of snow-covered firs around me it seems silly to bring one inside.
Your holiday plans also sound quite jolly, Mags.
Roan Mt. back to Erwin the 23rd/24th. 25th at home with the family.
January 5th starting at the southern end of the AL Pinhoti heading for the BMT in GA.