(Catskill) Winter backpacking tips

[Bantu Boy]

Hi,
Me and four friends are going on a 3-4 day backpacking trip starting on 12/26 from Phoenicia to West Saugerties, we all have a lot of summer hiking experience and have all done some winter hiking/camping before and have experience with the things like sonwshoes and that sort of winter gear. I would like to know if you have any tips for winter camping? Any things that could make things safer or easier?

I know its a bit broad but I'm looking to see if there is stuff we don't know about.

Thanks!

noah

 

[Chip]

do yourself a favor and sleep outside this weekend, even just 1 night, to see how you do. Balaclava's, gloves, tops and bottoms can all be worn at night.
Fleece, polyprop, wool, down, nylon, fleece gloves, skiers face masks - NO COTTON, ANYWHERE ! Wear a Speedo if you don't have nylon undies.
If you don't have winter bags, get some $20 fleece "sleeping bags" at
walmart to line your current bags with. normal white gas stoves will work,
but it gets dark quick and early, so get set-up by 3pm or so.
Plenty of raman, jerky, gorp and oatmeal.
Sleep outside this week-end. Do an afternoon hike in the neighborhood with all your gear, set-up, cook, hang-out and sleep. Local mistakes are just learning, woods mistakes can be inconvenient, at best.

"Tricks" - stay dry, keep the tent and bags dry. eat meat to generate heat in your sleeping bag. bring a pair of slippers or booties for the tent. bring a small pillow. have "bail-out" plan options. don't over-extend your plans.

 

[Jay H]

Specific to the catskills? I think you can look through this website and find many good tips on winter camping. For the catskills, it's a good place to learn about camping and such as there are a lot of leantos near roads (hence, a natural bail out place) or for tent camping, you could easily walk into the woods and set up a tent.

Get used to boiling water for endless periods of time to get enough water. Be prepared for a backup plan if stove isn't working or so. Know how to field repair a stove. Bring a filter to filter melted snow to save gas/time.

Gets dark early in winter, a light source, extra batteries, etc. etc.

many good places in the catskills to practice winter camping... Pick a nice spot or your backyard like Chip mentions and have fun.

Jay

 

[DougPaul]

Bring a filter to filter melted snow to save gas/time.

Warning: filters freeze. This can destroy (crack) a ceramic filter element. Woven filters supposedly survive freezing.

Any frozen filter can clog with the ice. You may need to keep it warm in your sleeping bag at night and under your insulation next to your skin during the day to keep it from freezing. If you thaw it using warm water, make sure that the water has been boiled to prevent contaminating the filter.

I, personally, leave my filter at home in winter and just boil the water as a primary method of sterilizing and use iodine as a backup method.

Doug

 

[Chip]

Other winter camping "tricks" (who else can add some ?):
- I carry 3 nalgenes. 1 is ALWAYS only the water from home or boiled & filtered water. Another is "dirty", yet to be boiled or filtered and the third is usually empty, waiting to be filled in a stream.
-Boil water at night, fill a nalgene or 2 and leave them in the bottom of you bag, as long as they are sealed and dry.
-Gator-aid powder is nice and light. Near boiling gator-aid in a nalgene won't be frozen half way through the day. carry nalgenes upside down, as water freezes top down.
-extra care is required for down bags on multi-nights as they take on moisture. line the stuff sack with a heavy duty plastic kitchen-size trash bag and seal the bag in the plastic in the stuff sack.
-VBL's (vapor barrier liners) are about $20 at campmor and are good for emergency back-up or lining your bag (to keep it warmer and dryer), regardless.
-I carry VBL socks and bag liner for winter emergencies/comfort.
-bring more fuel than in the summer.
-I like MRE's, as they don't need water or to be cooked if you just need to eat.
-use gaiters to keep your legs and feet dry
-bring a couple sets of fleece and wool gloves and hats or ear-bands as they will freeze at night, after wearing them all day, if they aren't quite dry

what else ?

 

[mudhook51]

If your trip includes the Devils Path?, plan on steep, icy sections this time of year. With a full winter pack, this can be challenging at the least.

 

[paul ron]

Eat well, hydrate and stay dry.

At the end of an active day, change all your damp sweaty clothes. Put on fresh dry underlayers and to dry out the damp stuff, put that over your dry. The heat flowing through will dry em out nicely.

Dry socks are very important to keep your feet from freezing up, also use toe warmers. I like to put em in and keep my laces loose so the amount of warm air and better blood circulation will help the rest of you feel warm as well.

The coldest and hardest part of winter camping is the after the sun goes down, hanging around, inactive hours. That is when you feel it most. Plenty of layers and eat well.

Hydration is important. Although you may feel you didn't sweat much, your body has used tremenous amounts of energy keeping warm. Poor hydration can lead to hypothermia and that can sneak up on you fast getting progresivly worse. Drink plenty of water in any form, with gaitoraid or any electrolyte replenishing drink.

Eat well. Cheese and peparoni is our choice snack, even before bed after a nice night hike. The energy will keep the furnace going for many hours.

Your first trip out, stay close to the trailhead so you can bail if anything goes bad on you. Don't be tough guys the first time out. You need to try out different things before getting comfortable enough to tackle a long hard trip.


Search this forum and others like it to find all you can get on winter camping. Everyone has refined their "systems" to their needs and all are not alike, maybe similar but not to the untrained eye.

PS don't breath inside your sleeping bag, the moisture will freeze up in the insulation, you'll feel very cold.

 

[youngblood]

Winter backpacking tips

Wow, lots of people have mentioned some good stuff... I haven't done a done of backpacking in extreme winter conditions, but generally speaking; you may spend a great deal of time in your sleeping bag. It's either some of kind of entertainment at night (cards, reading books, listening to music, etc...) or getting ALOT of sleep. It can be VERY helpful to make sure your body is warm when getting in your sleeping bag. As I understand, the bag traps your body heat, it doesn't neccessarily "warm" you up. As others have said, when you arrive at camp, IMMEDIATELY get out of your wet clothes (use the "dryer method" of dry clothes next to your skin, damp/wet clothes over top of them) get warm if you've chilled down (run around, push-ups, jumping jacks, etc...) and GET IN YOUR BAG.
It seems like it takes forever to do things in the winter (as compared to the warmer months) If your planning on tenting, tent poles may freeze up at night and getting them apart could be just another little challenge. Often blowing warm air on them may aid in the "defrosting" process. I haven't seen many people use filters/purifyers in the colder months because they can freeze up. Start your trip well hydrated (as true in any hike in any season), use iodine (allow longer times because the water is that much colder), and be careful if you bring a bladder kind of carrying system for your water. I've seen the hose freeze up solid in very short time (even the insulated ones) Nalgenes work well because you can put boiling water in them. Ah.... here's an idea, boil water at night, put in nalgene (make sure lid is on and doesn't leak!!!!!!), put in sleeping bag to pre-heat bag while you're out taking care of nature's call and believe it or not, you've not only purfied your water, but got some heat going in your bag. Speaking of the call of nature, how does one abide to the rules of Leave No Trace when "dropping the kids off at the pool" ie, taking a dump. Seriously, digging through lots of snow, digging a 4-6" dia. hole, 6-8" deep away from water sources in frozen ground, something to think about.. We're tallking about some work here, for sure!!! Is this possibly why when the snow melts in the late spring one can find TP and brown turds lying on the ground? Not to be crude here, but what do others do about this matter? Personally, I try to "take care of my business" in privies when I can.
As others have stated, you develop a "system" that keeps you comfortable and in really bad situations, ALIVE... No joke here, traveling/camping in the winter can be EXTREMELY dangerous... Lots of people have perished in the mountains (I live in the NH's White Mtns.) because of poor judgement, fatigue, and lack of knowledge, among other reasons. It sounds like you're going with a small group which is an excellent idea for emergency reasons. As in any hiking/backpacking trip, leave a iternary with a friend/family member and tell them you'll call them when you get back.
On the flip side, traveling in the winter can be a total blast with the right kind of attitude (and traveling campanions). It's very rewarding, makes for great stories, and can be a great workout. Have fun, stay safe, and post a thread as to how things went for you and what "systems" you developed for yourself.

Youngblood

 

[Bantu Boy]

Thanks guys,

sadly there's not much chance of sleeping out over night in brooklyn.
but all the advice is well taken, we will try to use it and see what wors out.

noah