Staying warm at the Sods in Nov.

**BearChaser** · 11-08-2011, 07:59

Originally Posted by HappyCamper

Not sure if it was this way for you, but the trails were boggy and wet from the earlier snow dump that melted. Still snow in lots of shady spots but mostly gone. You did have to be careful with some ice on the trails in shady spots.

Bear Chaser! Lots of hunters out with their pickups with those dog boxes in back where only the dogs' heads stick out. Those still give me the giggles. With all the bear dogs I figured I wouldn't have to worry about bears in our campsite!

Thanks for confirming the temps. We were guessing mid 20's so I'll go with a bit lower . . . Just to brag.

Yes, it was boggy. I had no way around it either. The thin layer of ice just made it that much more enjoyable to walk through also.

MuddyFeet.JPG

I had one guy over on my side with beagle dogs running snowshoe rabbits. He told me he jumped one. I originally thought they where bear dogs while I was hiking. I was just waiting for a black bear to come zooming by. Then the further I got up the trail, which was tight, bushy, muddy, and sun in my eye's, the more I thought of running upon a bear with an arrow stuck in it and grumpy.

Saw multiple sized bear tracks and scat. I turned after my mind got the best of me.
BearTrack.JPG

And yes, I bet the temps on the Sods got lower. I wouldn't be surprised if you saw upper teens. I love this time of year. My trip was kind of last second also, it was one of those, hey, I'm heading out trips.

**vdeal** · 11-08-2011, 12:45

HC,

I was up at Dolly Sods North yesterday and it was beautiful. October in November. Didn't check the temp but it had to be around 60°F. Only had a few hours but went in across the top on Bear Rocks and Raven Ridge trails. Snow still in the shadows up to 2 inches deep but nothing could dampen the great day I had. Temps can be a little deceiving sometimes. On clear, cold nights with little wind the denser cold air will run downslope and settle in the lower elevations while the higher points will actually be warmer. I live on a ridge top and the last few days I've been at least 10 degrees warmer than the surrounding lowlands in the mornings. While you certainly were at freezing and below based on the frozen water I'm willing to bet that down by the Laneville cabin on Red Creek it was much colder (and damper to boot). Glad you got out and had a great time - looks like today and tomorrow are the end of the run of great weather in the mountains for a while - maybe for the year.

**HappyCamper** · 11-08-2011, 13:12

vdeal, so glad you got there too! I guess we all looked at the weather reports and just started heading that way!

Enjoyed everyone's posts to this thread. It's so much fun to share the experience with people who relate.

**HappyCamper** · 11-11-2011, 08:14

Seems to be a problem with the my photo link. I'll try to fix it.

**HappyCamper** · 11-11-2011, 09:18

OK, hoping this link works better.

**Knotty** · 11-11-2011, 16:07

Originally Posted by jerzybears

We wanna gooooooo toooooooo!!!!!!

Gonna have to see how many hours West (by God) Virginia is from NJ!

I'm not a fan of long drives to go hiking but the trip to the Sods in September was more than worth it.

**BearChaser** · 11-11-2011, 16:37

Don't know if anyone else found this or not but here is a link to a live cam looking toward Dolly Sods. It's on the opposite ridge line from the Sods looking at the ski slopes of Timberline. Looks as though they got a little snow up there today. Also has some good weather info if your planning on going.

Dolly Sods Real Time Images

**vdeal** · 11-11-2011, 19:05

BC,

I'm sure they have snow. I live in the WV mountains (lower than DS) and we had about a 1/4" last night. Nothing like the 6" we had two weeks ago though. Last weekend and the first part of this week were a glorious time to be at the Sods.

**BillyBob58** · 11-11-2011, 21:02

Congrats to Happy Camper the cold sleeper on sleeping toasty in the 20s! No surprise with that MW4, that thing always works! More impressed to see you so toasty ( as you are such a cold sleeper) in a No Sniv in the 20s! That is very impressive. How much extra down did you have in it? Other than the hood(I'm sure that was a big help) did you have any puffy clothing worn in the No Sniv?

I'm sure you got some help from that deep winter MW4, giving you some excess bottom warmth preservation that could then rise and help you out. And the hot water bottle was- I'm sure - a big help also.

Good report!