Tired of waiting for warmer weather, I decided to revisit Vermont’s Green Mountain National Forest for some winter backpacking and a dose of snow camping.

The specific location I chose was the Big Branch Wilderness area. This is very close (just a bit further North) to the Lye Brook Wilderness, where I filmed my solo hike to the Stratton Pond area. This helped me to be familiar with the general area in terms of driving, but it would be my first visit to the Big Branch Wilderness, in hopes of doing some snowshoeing and getting a different Winter perspective on Vermont’s Green Mountains.

My general direction taken was the along the Lake Trail towards Baker Peak and Griffith Lake, following and crossing McGinn Brook and eventually connecting to the Appalachian Trail / Vermont Long Trail. At least that was the plan… I also also try my hand at setting up a tent in the snow, which by the way, will be my 3-season tent, so we’ll see how that goes too. Oh and speaking of that, here’s my backpacking gear for the trip.

For Full Gear List: See my previous post “Winter Backpacking Gear List for 15 Degrees – Snow Camping and Clothing Options“