Tag Archives: backpacking in the rain

Backpacking the Smoky Mountains – Wind, Rain & Solo Camping

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Join me for 3 days of Winter Camping, Backpacking & Hiking in the Smoky Mountains. 

For this winter camping adventure, I decided to do a solo backpacking loop along the Little River Gorge in Tennessee’s western region of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  The Little River is flanked to the south by Meigs Mountain and to the north by Sugarland Mountain.  By hiking trails along the ridges of both these mountains, I was able to create a 25 mile loop with 6,000 feet of gross elevation gain.

On the first night, I chose to camp on top of Meigs Mountain at campsite 19, Upper Henderson.  On day two I planned to descend into the gorge to camp along the Little River at campsite 21. On the third day, I would hike up Sugarland Mountain towards Laurel Falls and ultimately, Little Brier Gap to complete the loop.

For sleep and shelter, I packed in my Outdoor Vitals Fortius trekking pole tent, a 3-season sleeping pad and my Hammock Gear 20° down quilt.  Despite it being the middle winter, my temp range was relatively mild with lows in the 40’s and highs touching the mid 60’s.  This allowed me to leave my extra cold weather clothing layers at home, so I was still able to use my ultralight backpack instead of the larger pack that I typically use for winter.  Days 2 and 3 had a forecast of rain and high winds, so I played it safe and packed in full set rain gear as well.

Route Overview – Smoky Mountains Little River Gorge Backpacking Loop – Sintax77

A backcountry permit is required for all campsites in this area. You can reserve them for $8 per night on the Smoky Mountains National Park website here.

Full GPS track data, including campsites, water sources, etc, for this trip and many others can be downloaded on my Trip Data Page.

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Camping in Heavy Rain – Pinchot Trail South Loop Backpacking Trip

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Join Sara and I for some Spring Backpacking, Camping in the Rain, and Trail Cooking on the Pinchot Trail southern loop.

 

FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through some of my links.

For this early spring camping trip, my wife Sara and I set out to do some backpacking  with our dog and explore Pennsylvania’s Pinchot Trail southern loop.  I had done the northern loop a couple of weeks before and it was quite nice, so I was looking forward to seeing what this new section had to offer.

For shelter, we packed in our 4 person tent as well as a huge tarp to give us some extra living space during the rain storm that was forecasted to hit in the afternoon and turn into snow by the next morning.

The bottom of the Pinchot Trail South loop runs along Choke Creek, which offers a string of 6 or so beautiful waterside campsites over the course of a mile or so. Legend has it that the last of those campsites is the most picturesque, so our goal was to hike in a few miles to the creek and get to that coveted campsite before the afternoon rain started. If the weather broke early, we would aim to take one of the earlier campsites.

Route Overview – Pinchot Trail South Backpacking Loop – Sintax77

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Camping in the Rain – Sara’s Secret Campsite

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Backpacking, Camping in the Rain, and Trail Cooking in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park.

FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through some of my links.

For this overnight backpacking trip, Sara, Denali and I decided to do some early spring camping on the Shenandoah’s Rocky Mount Trail and Gap Run trail.  Combining the two would create a roughly 10 mile backpacking loop with sweeping mountain views on the first day, and peaceful babbling brooks on the second.

We had our dog with us on this trip, so we returned to using our budget tent to keep the group together.  The weather on day one had a 100% chance of rain, so I also brought along a huge tarp to give us a common area with a view of the impending storm without being stuck inside the tent the whole afternoon. More details on our gear can be found at the bottom of this post.

Off course all of this would depend on whether or not we could find Sara’s elusive secret camping spot before the rain began to really come down…

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Shenandoah Rocky Mount Loop – Route Overview – Sintax77

There is an entrance fee for Shenandoah National Park to access Skyline drive.  Backcountry camping is free, but you need to self register for a permit at the entrance station.  You can find more information on the official SNP website here.

Full GPS track data, including campsites, water sources, etc, for this trip and many others can be downloaded on my Trip Data Page.

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Lost in Linville Gorge – Hammock Camping in Heavy Rain

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3 days of Hammock Camping in the Rain and Solo Ultralight Backpacking in the Linville Gorge Wilderness.

For this backpacking trip, I headed down to North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest for some hammock camping along the Linville River.  The particular section of river I chose was surrounded by the Linville Gorge, the upper ridges of which stand an average of 1,400 feet above the river banks below.  This terrain, combined with a dense network of  unofficial trails without signage or switchbacks, and often uncrossable river, can make for some rather challenging and exciting hiking.  Add in a forecast of fog and hiking in the rain, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for some true southern outdoors adventure.

Despite the rain, my mid-June temp range for this trip was relatively warm at 70° – 48° or so.  This allowed me to get my backpack’s base weight down to around 9 lbs by leaving my puffy jacket, base layers, warmer hat, gloves etc at home.  I simply packed a long sleeve shirt and a buff and used my rain gear for supplemental warmth at camp.

I went with a fairly minimalist hammock camping setup for this trip.  There are plenty of trees and fun unofficial campsite gems to be found in the Gorge that make ideal for hammocks.   Water is obviously of minimal concern for the lower regions of the gorge.  This allows you to save some weight on trails in those sections, but make sure to stock up when your route heads up towards the ridge.  Especially if you’re looking to camp in one the beautiful ridge side campsites up there.  The extra planning and water weight is well worth the views.

A free permit is required on weekends and holidays from May 1st through October 31st each year. You can find more information on the NFS Grandfather Ranger District website here.

If planning your own trip, I would highly recommend visiting LinvilleGorge.net for maps, info and extensive GPS data including official and unofficial trails, campsites, water sources, etc. Due to the nature of my trip and the fact that their data is so darn good, I didn’t package my own GPS file for this trip, but I did make an overlay map image from their track data that can be downloaded here. Just unzip it and copy the image file to your Garmin’s /Garmin folder if you’re using a Garmin GPS like me, or follow whatever instructions pertain to your particular GPS device. 

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Hammock Camping the Dolly Sods Wilderness – Solo Backpacking Trip

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3 Days of Hammock Camping, Hiking, & Backpacking in the Dolly Sods  Wilderness.

For this 3 day, 2 night spring backpacking trip, I’ll be hiking a 23 mile loop in West Virginia’s Dolly Sods Wilderness, part of the larger Monongahela National Forest. Dolly Sods is located in the Allegheny Mountains on the highest plateau east of the Mississippi river and features some of the most varied and scenic terrain available to hikers in the Mid-Atlantic region.

For sleep and shelter system on my Dolly Sods backpacking loop, I packed in my Amok Draumr XL hammock, paired with the Amok Borg tarp and Amok Fjol XL sleeping pad.  I chose this combo based on plateau’s less aggressive terrain and the extra time I expected to be lounging and relaxing at camp.

No permit is required to camp in the Dolly Sods Wilderness, but there are rules and regulations regarding backcountry camping. You can find more information on the USFS Dolly Sods website here.

Full GPS track data, including campsites, water sources, etc, for this trip and many others can be downloaded on my Trip Data Page.

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Hammock Camping on an Abandoned Mountain Farm – Quehanna Trail Ultralight Backpacking

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Hammock Camping, Hiking & Ultralight Backpacking on the Quehanna Trail.

Yes, we’re once again camping in the rain. 🙂 For this overnight backpacking trip, I’ll be hiking a 22 mile loop in Pennsylvania’s Quehanna Wild Area, within the greater Moshannon State Forest.  Luckily, I learned from my last camping trip, and packed more adequate rain gear this time.

Itching for another hammock camping trip, I decided to have some fun and go back to more of an ultralight backpacking load-out for this adventure, clocking in at roughly 8.5 pounds base weight.

My full backpacking gear list, with weights & gear links is available on this lighterpacks.com link. A truncated notable backpacking gear list can be found at the bottom of this post.

Quehanna Short Loop – Route Overview – Sintax77

No permit is required to camp in the Quehanna Wild Area or the greater Moshannon SF.

Full GPS track data, including campsites, water sources, etc, for this trip and many others can be downloaded on my Trip Data Page.

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