Winter Hiking - Epic Failures... A Noobs Hard Lessons Learned

[Joey]

Keep the blogs rollin'! As winter approaches and folks begin to pop on here and ask questions we'll have an easy cut and paste link to your blog for the answers!

I'm learning a lot too, and am anticipating winter and some cold weather hikes with confidence this year.

[Raul Perez]

Really enjoyed that. I don't hike in your 11º like you had on Bear Mountain often, but I do find my self hanging in sub 40º probably 7-10 nights per year. Relly liked the demo on the Black Momba. I just picked up a TQ, and though it is different, you demonstrated very effectively how to use it properly. Thanks for all that.

It actually got down to 3*F but my watch thermometer crapped out at 11*F

I checked accuweather for that area a month later and I was like... WHOA that was cold.

Glad you liked the attached videos and they helped you with your new purchase.

Thug life!!

[Raul Perez]

Keep the blogs rollin'! As winter approaches and folks begin to pop on here and ask questions we'll have an easy cut and paste link to your blog for the answers!

I'm learning a lot too, and am anticipating winter and some cold weather hikes with confidence this year.

I'm glad some of my info is helping my peeps. Especially the noobs. Dont be fooled winter hiking is definitely a lot more work than the other seasons. But, to me, it's also a lot more peaceful and beautiful too.

Practice is the key. Get familiar with your gear and definitely know the gear's limits.

Stay Gangsta!

[DuctTape]

I'm looking to do the NJ winter hang this January 2012. Hope to see you there!

Unfortunately that is an 8 hour drive for me. I would only be able to just get there, sleep and leave.

[Shug]

Good stuff you learned there Water Monkey.....seriously, the only way to know your way around the winter chill is to get your butt out there and learn the hard way.
You did. Whooooooooooo Buddy.
I am looking forward to some serious cold and more fun in the frosted woods. And more condensation on my frost-bib and a way less frosty TQ.
S-S-Shug

[Raul Perez]

Unfortunately that is an 8 hour drive for me. I would only be able to just get there, sleep and leave.

Yeah its about a 6-7 hour drive for me as well. I'm planning on staying a couple of days to break in my multi-day winter camp routines.

Good stuff you learned there Water Monkey.....seriously, the only way to know your way around the winter chill is to get your butt out there and learn the hard way.
You did. Whooooooooooo Buddy.
I am looking forward to some serious cold and more fun in the frosted woods. And more condensation on my frost-bib and a way less frosty TQ.
S-S-Shug

I agree the only way to figure this out is to do trial and error. I still dont know how you do the -25*F and below trips. 3*F was cold enough for me!!!

[lazy river road]

Awesome write up. A lot of great info in that blog. Those tips will certainly help keep me toasty warm in the winter.
LRR

[Raul Perez]

Awesome write up. A lot of great info in that blog. Those tips will certainly help keep me toasty warm in the winter.
LRR

Thanks glad you liked it.

To help those out later on down the road with research I added another category on the right side of my blog labeled "Winter Hiking" which will have all my blogs about this particular season.

[FLRider]

Thanks for the information. I already knew some of it (the water purification, extra calories, batteries, and frost on gear), but some of it was new (down not so good to wear when sweating, keeping your water bottles upside-down, three-layer system for gloves/mitts in addition to normal layering).

While it's unlikely I'll need the majority of it hiking here in FL, anywhere else I go, well...thanks for saving me some uncomfortable nights!

Another tip about "cold" weather from Florida (not really hiking-related, but still...): your flip-flops' adhesive will vaporize out between the sole and insole before the bottom of the sole melts/catches on fire if you're warming your feet next to a fire. Sucks to walk a half-mile in flip-flops with no adhesive holding the insole's heel in place. Sucks worse to have the sole's rubber melt. Especially after a couple of adult beverages...

[beep]

Good information! As we know, there is no substitute for actually trying this stuff out.