After looking at the weather report, I decided it was time to get out ASAP before the rain and warmer temps started killing my beloved snow! I had a 3-day weekend, but had some prior obligations Friday and Saturday night. So I headed out Saturday around 13:30 to make it to Nordhouse Dunes before dark. Usually I like to arrive after dark to hike in the night, but since I had the time I figured I would try it with a little daylight.
I arrived around 17:30 and the temperature was around 16°F, nice and calm. Lots of snow stuck to EVERYTHING! There was a good 25” on the ground. Perfect! I strapped on the snow shoes and hiked in to a nice spot after about an hour of hiking.
Nice sunny weather for the most part with steady upper teens both days. I woke up at one point during the first night and the temp was down to 12°F. There was a fresh 1-2” of snow overnight. On the second night, I woke up around midnight and checked the temp...3°F!!! That had me worried with my 20° UQ but I was cozy and warm so I went back to bed. Once again, totally impressed with my HG Incubator!!
I couldn’t believe how far out Lake Michigan was frozen. Total wasteland on the shore with 30mph wind and temps around 15° so I bundled up.
So it felt good to get in another great solo trip! Melting snow, processing some firewood, Beam & Coke, hanging out in the piney woods!
A few good and bad notes to mention:
+ Hot water bottle trick was heaven on my feet! Kept very warm for the first 5 hours or so. Feet stayed warm on their own for the remainder.
+ Didn’t even use a whole 100g canister of fuel with the JetBoil/Sumo Cup! Once again, I’m a big proponent of canister stoves in any weather – just put the canister in warm water while in use.
+ My new 9” Bacho saw will always be coming with me in the future. It’s nice to have real firewood instead of just dragging in a bunch of junk lying around.
+ 20° Incubator is amazing even down to 3°F and wind! BMJ tarp with two doors on worked well. Not much condensation. I wore Capilene 3 top and bottoms to bed.
+ 24lb pack fully loaded was really light for me in the winter. Carried very comfortably.
- Frozen boots on the second morning made for a very uncomfortable hike out.
- Broke a plastic figure 9 when taking down tarp
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