Too warm?

[milo]

I Plan on starting at Springer on April 9th.

[milo]

Sorry. Accidentally hit enter key. Starting April 9th. For my top layers I plan on bringing short sleeve shirt, Patagonia cap 4 hoody, Marmot driclime jacket and Patagonia nano puff and a rain coat (undecided). Is that overkill for april? Thanks.

[kayak karl]

too warm on 4/9 ? maybe 50-60 days. maybe 30 nights. just a guess.

[kayak karl]

Sorry. Accidentally hit enter key. Starting April 9th. For my top layers I plan on bringing short sleeve shirt, Patagonia cap 4 hoody, Marmot driclime jacket and Patagonia nano puff and a rain coat (undecided). Is that overkill for april? Thanks.
over kill for me, but thats just me.

[Slo-go'en]

It can get real chilly right through May up at 5-6 thousand feet in NC. Maybe it will warm up a lot in the next 3-4 weeks or maybe not. So far it's been a cold and stormy spring. Do you live in a cold part of the country and spend a lot of time outside in the cold? If not, I'd error on the side of warmth. You can always send stuff home (but not too soon), but it's a lot more expensive to buy stuff on the trail if your not warm enough (and you might have to suffer before you get that chance).

[milo]

It can get real chilly right through May up at 5-6 thousand feet in NC. Maybe it will warm up a lot in the next 3-4 weeks or maybe not. So far it's been a cold and stormy spring. Do you live in a cold part of the country and spend a lot of time outside in the cold? If not, I'd error on the side of warmth. You can always send stuff home (but not too soon), but it's a lot more expensive to buy stuff on the trail if your not warm enough (and you might have to suffer before you get that chance).

Thanks. I'm from Chicago and I run, hike, climb stairs etc... outside throughout the winter so I'm used to the cold. I love my DriClime and I want the nano (or a down sweater) for camp. I suppose I could replace the cap 4 hoody with a lighter weight long sleeve shirt.

[gizzy bear]

well IMO, you can always shed clothes and there are too many horror stories about how easy it is to suffer from hypothermia on a 50-60 degree rainy day... so i would rather have it and not need it, than to be "wishing i had brought it"...

[FarmerChef]

This really depends on your approach, system, personal comfort, etc. It would be overkill for me but I tend to hike hot (read: when I hiked into SNP with my daughter one night it was in the low 20s and I had on gloves, a hat, shorts and a tshirt to keep from sweating in my warm layers). I spent 10 years in Chicago so maybe it thickened my Virginia blood! :banana

That said, if you can dial in your comfort level with fewer layers go right ahead. Your next biggest enemy will be moisture in the form of rain and if you can successfully defend against that (and confidently so, I might add) then you could probably get by with less.

For reference, I hike when the temps get down into the teens. In that case, I have a lightweight Merino Wool baselayer, with a midweight Merino top, fleece pants, and fleece top plus hat and beanie for sleeping in (often this too is overkill as I've had to strip some of it off under my quilt to keep from sweating). During the day, I'll hike with just shorts on the bottom and the lightweight merino top on (with a tshirt overtop to protect from branches and not look like I'm hiking in my underwear) :). In the 40s and 50s (nighttime temps) I'll leave the fleece at home. My wind shell is my rain jacket (tyvek) or poncho (emergency poncho).

[garlic08]

No. I left on my AT hike on April 4. During the first two weeks of my hike, I experienced two winter storms with blowing snow and temps in the teens in the high country (above 5000'). Never underestimate spring weather in the southern Appalachians, I learned. There was also plenty of very nice, warm weather.

You don't mention your sleeping insulation. I hiked all day in those conditions with essentially nothing but a thin jersey and rain coat, but night time warmth was crucial in my 15F sleeping bag. I carried a down vest and never used it, but was glad to have it as a back-up to the bag.

I think your clothing is pretty minimal, actually. It's pretty close to what I carried in April. The Driclime jacket is my personal favorite.

I learned also to keep your winter clothing until after the Trail Days weekend in Damascus, no matter where you actually are on the Trail.