VA > Mt. Rogers Winter Hang<January 21-24, 2016<Grayson Highlands State Park

**mistone** · 01-17-2016, 21:56

Yea sure is home run!! hope to see everybody and make some new friends And the most important thing is to stay safe winter camping can be fun but has its limits!

**runningwithscissors22** · 01-18-2016, 04:54

Originally Posted by dimjim

I don't have an extra TQ, but I do have a Kelty dri-down 32 degree sleeping bag that I could loan you. If you supplement it with a decent blanket or two it should keep you comfortable to lower temps. Not sure what your under-insulation is, but obviously that will be important as well.

That will be a huge help. I have a Costco down blanket and a poncho liner to supplement.

Underquilt is a 0° incubator, so I think I will be good there.

**Flash Grundelore** · 01-18-2016, 06:57

RWS22-- I was fine down to 22° with the Cosco and an OT 250... With your incubator, you should be good to go.
I knew everybody would help you out.

**Rockdawg69** · 01-18-2016, 09:25

: Rockdawg are you going to the Roan High Knob hang? You'll be missed up at the highlands for sure.:

Nope. I'm still on restricted travel from back surgery 2 weeks ago. Hoping to drive to Gorge hang at end of Feb for a day/night thing. No backpacking until late March/early April.

**slowhike** · 01-18-2016, 10:18

Originally Posted by Hickery

I reinforced all the grommets on Son of Blue yesterday with Gorilla tape. Will bring extra and some foil tape for "reflectix clinic". Have a heap of 2X4 scraps for kindling we can bust up and a bunch of new tales to spin. It's giddy time !

If you need to add any more Gorilla tape to that SOB (or anything else) I remember last Jan the Gorilla tape wouldn't stick at all to the tarp.
I'm thinking it was because the glue on the tape was so cold. I'll bet if someone kept the tape inside their coat, next to their body for an hour or so, it would probably be fine.

Can't afford to miss anymore work right now so I'll be missing seeing you guys & gals.
Hoping a grand weekend for ya!

...Tim

**Hickery** · 01-18-2016, 10:19

You boys and girls remember to keep your wet wipes inside you coat/hammock.It will make you happy.

**Home Run** · 01-18-2016, 10:56

Originally Posted by Hickery

I reinforced all the grommets on Son of Blue yesterday with Gorilla tape. Will bring extra and some foil tape for "reflectix clinic". Have a heap of 2X4 scraps for kindling we can bust up and a bunch of new tales to spin. It's giddy time !

Thanks Hickery. I got a feeling he's gonna get a workout!

**Home Run** · 01-18-2016, 11:07

Originally Posted by MarkThompson

I've signed up myself and my wife -- so you've got two more coming!

A few questions if you don't mind:

1) Park at the Overnight Backpacker's Lot, and then it's a 1.8 mile +/- hike to the group camp?
2) I'm assuming that the Camp Store will be closed, right?
3) I'm going to try and arrive (work dependent) between 3-5pm on Friday afternoon. Will I still be able to purchase some wood?
4) Will water in a cooler in the car freeze? I've never tried it but I heard talk of coolers :-)

Suggestion: Make a list on the sheet of a few things that are needed/suggested for the Pot Luck so we can bring along something useful (and mark it off if we say we'll bring it?).

Looking at the weather for my area (I'm at Sugar Mountain, NC) and if Grayson is anything close, we're looking towards a great weekend of weather!

Glad to have you both! And you are right....the weather will be memorable. But it's car camping; when in doubt, bring it.

**Home Run** · 01-18-2016, 11:11

Originally Posted by Buzzard51

Just signed up. Will be coming with 2 hammockers from work. First group hang for all 3 of us. Looking forward to the weekend. Also the breakfast we cook in a Dutch oven Saturday will be more than 3 of us can eat.

Buzzard, happy you and your friends can come! Shaping up to be a pretty good mountain get together.

**Home Run** · 01-18-2016, 11:15

Originally Posted by DavyRay

1) Park at the group site. The people hiking to Thomas Knob on Thursday are parking in the backpacker's lot for just that night. The AT is closer from there anyway.
2) Camp store will be closed. Bathrooms are closed also. We have a porta-potty delivered for the weekend.
3) We usually purchase wood as a group. It's delivered to the group site for us.
4) Depends on temperatures. A spare blanket for a water container might be a good idea. It's fairly easy to heat some water before bedtime, too.

EDIT: Take a few minutes to read the first message in this thread. It's sort of a FAQ. Lots of answers there.

Thanks DavyRay. Appreciate the help. Can't wait to see you!