Wisenber, LDCakes and myself met at Bob's Dairyland in Roan Mountain. Kim stopped by to meet with us. She does a lot of local trail maintenance and knows the area well. Her suggestion was to go to Over Mountain Shelter via Minneapolis, NC, which turned out to be excellent advice.

We hiked in, ate dinner, hung out in the loft of the barn/shelter, and turned in relatively early. Temps were 25*F all night long. At about 2am, it started snowing. We awoke at about 8am, packed and departed. On the way down the mountain, I slid into a ditch while taking pictures, but a local fellow was right behind me. He had me out in minutes. After lunch in Elk Park, we separated. At Wisenber's suggestion, I visited Valley Cruces and did some Christmas shopping at Mast's General Store and Annex. On the way home, I bought a Christmas tree.

The weather was perfect for testing gear for Mt Rogers. I was snug in my rig: Speer Snufit, Speer IIIA hammock, Speer Top Blanket, Speer Winter Tarp, mil-surplus felt booties and Jacks R Better Down Hood.

LDCakes had an ENO hammock, a DIY SPE, a prototype Molly Mac Gear IX Hammock Sock with an EVA pad inside, and a 20* down bag TQ. She was under a Kelty Noah diamond tarp.

Wisenber was in a Speer Peapod and under one of Gargoyle's diamond tarps.

This was a very nice hang, inadvertently well coordinated with the weather. It was near perfect conditions for testing my Anorak and Poor Man's Mukluks (Tingley's Overboots with felt liners). LDCakes had a nice eVent Packa. Wisenber had lots of warm clothing, including down pants.

VIDEO: Over Mountain Shelter 12-10-10