Clothing worn hiking in March/April in GA

[tarantolk]

What clothing/layers did you wear to hike/sleep through GA in March/April?

[hikerboy57]

i wore a columbia s/s wicking tshirt under a patagonia midweight capilene. over this i layered an ems polarguard midweight fleece, and ems micropuff pullover, and a marmot mica rain jkt.the layers varied with the temps. i wore marmot scree softshell pants, sometimes with ems polarguard longjohns.
darntough socks, and la sportiva trail runners.used marmot softshell gloves, and a fleece beanie.

[4shot]

a pair of the rei or equivalent convertible pants, a poly short sleeve t shirt from target. Also had a target poly long sleeve shirt to layer over the t-shirt. I wore good socks and carried 2 extra in my pack. also in my pack was fleece gloves and hat, extra pair of pants and ss t-shirt, I pair of lightweight long john top and bottoms (didn't need the bottoms ever), a pair of cotton boxers to sleep in, rain coat and pants, and an inexpensive down puffy coat from Land's end. This went the whole way with me because it made a great pillow stuffed inside a small cotton pillowcase.If I were to start again, I would take this (minus the l.j. bottoms)

[HooKooDooKu]

Shorts, wicking t-shirt (that's about all that is needed while hiking), long-sleeve sweat shirt, rain jacket, rain pants, to-bogon, gloves.

[4shot]

Shorts, wicking t-shirt (that's about all that is needed while hiking), long-sleeve sweat shirt, rain jacket, rain pants, to-bogon, gloves.

to the OP: a word of caution when asking questions like the one you asked on this site. there will be posters who respond with facts and others will respond with opinions put forth as facts (or a mixture of the two). for example, the poster quoted above says that shorts and wicking t-shirt are all that is needed while hiking. this, on the surface, looks to be factual but, when examined closer, is nothing but his/her opinion. others will need more than that, depending on one's personal tolerance for cold and/or weather conditions during the year of one's hike. You should consider any reply to your question that answers your question with facts and take the opinions with a grain of salt.

[Davos]

Shorts, wicking t-shirt (that's about all that is needed while hiking)

+1...........

[Spirit Walker]

I have had problems in the past with hypothermia, so I like to have a set of dry clothes to put on at night and a set to hike in, so for me in spring that means I'll have 2 t-shirts, 2 long underwear shirts, 1 pair long pants to hike in, 1 pr. shorts for sleeping, 1 long underwear bottom to sleep in when cold. Also rain jacket, warm jacket, gloves, wool hat, socks and underwear.

[tarantolk]

I'm concerned about the lower temps. I hiked the 100 mile wilderness in ME with lightweight leggings & ss wicking shirt and was fine but it wasn't below 55/60. I'd like to be prepared for the colder temps without having too many clothes. Thanks for the input.

[bigcranky]

The temperatures can vary widely in Georgia in March, even day-to-day. I've had temps in the teens overnight and in the 30s during the day, and highs in the 70s with lows around 50, sometimes during the same hike :).

I have light wool base layers (150-wt merino) -- short and long sleeve tops, boxer briefs and long johns for the bottom. Nylon hiking shorts all the time. For warmth I have a 3-ounce single layer windshirt, a microfleece pullover, and my UL down parka for the top, and my rain shell and rain pants (which are usually my only pants and are pretty warm over my long johns in camp.) A very light fleece beanie and light softshell gloves for hiking, and a warmer fleece hat and windblock gloves for camp. A couple of pairs of light wool crew socks for hiking, and a warm pair of socks for sleeping.

I can mix and match these depending on the weather and be comfortable most all the time. In warm weather, shorts and a s/s wool top is plenty. If it's cooler, add the wind shirt. If it's downright cold, wear the long johns under the shorts, and add either the fleece pullover or the rain shell. Throw on the down jacket on breaks and in camp, and use it to extend the range of my sleeping bag.

One thing I always try to do for spring hikes is lay out all the clothing I think I'll need based on the weather forecast, then add one more light but warm layer. Maybe a midweight long john top, or a light fleece vest. Coming from lower elevations where it's nice and warm and sunny makes it more of a shock to find winter in the Georgia mountains. I don't always follow this advice, but then I wish I had :).

[Starchild]

For hiking: A med-light weight fleece, a poly pro t-shirt, Frogtog rainjacket as a shell, regular underpants, convertable zip off hiking pants. Frogtog bottoms, Hiking socks, fleece gloves and hat

For sleeping/camp/emergency warmth: a down jacket (plus hiking or other clothes)

Other*: A second polypro t-shirt, bathingsuit, socks

* - Other was incase the hiking stuff got wet and I needed the ability to get dry and into the sleeping bag and did allow some gear rotation.

While hiking I found that the above set up worked well into the teens, though setting out in the morning I commonly wore my down jacket till I got warm enough. But I did notice that others were wearing more clothes then I was and was colder. I live in upstate NY and acclimated to the cold temps before the thru, other people not so much.

While sleeping/ at the shelter, the down was great to have, as well as a 18F bag, but in the really cold nights in the shelter I also wrapped my tent over my sleeping bag and that helped quite a bit.

[Kerosene]

I sectioned Georgia in early April 2004. It was extremely windy the first day, and the temp dropped into the mid-30s that evening. By the end of the week it was 75 during the day and 40s at night.

For the first two days I hiked in thin nylon pants and a thin long-sleeve CoolMax T-shirt, adding my rain parka and/or fleece if I needed to cut the wind or add a bit of warmth. Later in the week it was back to shorts and a wicking T.

The first night I wore everything I had to bed, to the point that I think I compressed the loft of my brand-new WM UltraLite 20-degree bag and slept colder! After that I simply wore long johns to bed and was fine.

[1234]

March 25 ,2013 this past spring temp 20 wind 40-50, going over Blood mtn was death defying. Had everything on and not near enough. If you were in shorts and tshirt I will say you would have died. A lot of folks quit after this day, they were that frozen. Be prepared in the spring it can be 80 on Monday and all is great and the next day you can be caught in a blizzard unprepared. the good thing is you are never more than 2 days out from a road so you can hunker down and make it to a road and get out of the mountains till the storm is gone.

[PapaGarrettP]

I do most of my hiking/camping in late March/April and late November (around school vacations). My packing list:
1 pair sliders (nylon underwear)
2 wool s/s wool shirts (I sweat lot and alternate them)
1 long sleeve "hiking shirt" -- polypro
1 fleece top
1 down jacket (use as pillow at night and in camp)
1 set light long underwear - doubles as PJs
1 pair zip off pants
1 rain parka
1 pair light gloves and a wool hat
1 pair rain pants -- never used, always say I won't take next time (always take ;~)
On my last trip in March there was snow at elevation so I added a closed cell foam mat to my blow up and it kept me A LOT warmer at night. I sleep cold and have a 20 degree down bag.
On a 4-5 night trip my pack weighs 46 lb with food and water, but I am comfortable.

[4shot]

March 25 ,2013 this past spring temp 20 wind 40-50, going over Blood mtn was death defying. Had everything on and not near enough. If you were in shorts and tshirt I will say you would have died.

+1. I often wonder if the folks who say shorts and t-shirts are sufficient have hiked the southern mountains in the spring. Or perhaps they think the one year that they hiked is a large enough sample size on which to base their opinions..

[Old Hiker]

2012 was above normal (+5-10*) supposedly. I wore a short sleeved wicking shirt and convertible pants. Didn't see snow until almost to Damascus in 18(?) Apr. I thought it would be very cold, but it turned out to be fairly warm. It got down to 20* a couple of nights, but I slept warm pretty much in a dry t-shirt and shorts and clean, dry socks. Sent a LOT of heavier cold weather stuff home.

I usually wore a BDU jacket liner backwards across my front, as my pack kept my back toasty warm. When I got warm, I just took it off and carried it. Had a pile cap that was too warm at times, but I wore it. Picked up a baseball cap in Franklin to keep the sun out of my eyes. Wore the pile cap over it. Had to put my bandana across the left (usually west) side of my face to keep the wind from freezing my cheek.

Had rain pants for high winds with lower temps. Worked well. Have full zip legs for ventilation as needed.

I had to change out my 0* bag in Hot Springs for a 20* bag - I was TOO hot at night regardless of the temp.

Rumors in Erwin about an impending cold front with freezing temps and snow made me buy another light weight thermal top.

[yerbyray]

I live in western NC and Ga should be about the same. In my 44 years I have seen March range from 70's to below freezing with wild swings each year.

My parents always drilled in my head a year here, I think it was 1959, when it snowed every Wednesday in March. Sort of really put a damper on spring around here so I have been told.

I would wait and see what trend is going on at a closer date.

FWIW - I wear polypro long underwear with shorts over them, a long sleeve t-shirt of wicking material and carry a 300 fleece pants and 1/4 zip top along with shell pants and a golf wind shirt to keep wind off. I do fine till it drops below 30.

RY RAY

[Venchka]

The Cliff's Notes version. Applicable just about anywhere in the southeastern U.S. in March and April.
Elevation changes everything relative to conditions in the low lands or forecasts aimed at the low lands.
Clothes to wear while living in the outdoors:
1. T-shirt & shorts.
2. Everything you're carrying and maybe a few things you forgot or left behind due to Lightweight OCD.
Be prepared!

Wayne

[swjohnsey]

LS poly T-shirt, poly shorts, 100 wt fleece top and pants, Precip top and bottom, fleece hat, mittens w/shells.