3 Days of Winter Hammock Camping, Backpacking, & Snowshoeing in the White Mountains Pemigewasset Wilderness.
This trip was sponsored by Backcountry, who gave me the opportunity to upgrade three of my essential winter backpacking gear items for this trip. A gear list can be found at the end of this post.
FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through my links, at no additional cost to you. Individual gear selections were made by me and all opinions are my own.
For this 3 day, 2 night spring winter camping trip, I’ll be hiking what amounts to a sort of “Half Pemi Loop”. While a full pemi loop consists of the Franconia Ridge on one side and the Bondcliff ridge on the other, my plan was to use the lesser used Franconia Brook trail to go straight up the middle of the loop. This would take me above treeline right near the summit of Mt Garfield, with the option to take either the Franconia Ridge to the west, or the Bondcliffs to the east in order to return to the Lincoln Woods visitor center where I had left my Jeep.
Even during “regular” backpacking season, the White Mountains are a quite challenging area to hike due to notoriously rapid changing weather conditions and steep, rugged terrain. Add in some deep snow, ice, rain, high winds and a freeze / thaw temp range of 40° to 16° F, and things can get even more fun. I had a great time, but it was probably the toughest solo winter backpacking trip I’ve ever done.
Winter Half Pemi Route Oveview – Sintax77
No permit is required to camp in the White Mountains NF, but there are rules and regulations regarding backcountry camping. You can find more information on the USFS White Mountains website here. Some parking areas, such as the one I used for this trip, do require a vehicle fee of $5 per day.
3 Days of Winter Hammock Camping, Backpacking, & Snow Hiking in New Hampshire’s White Mountains using the Amok Draumr XL Hammock.
For this 3 day, 2 night spring snow camping trip, I’ll be hiking a section of trail in northern New Hampshire to setup a winter base camp in the remote Mt Cabot & Unknown Pond region of the White Mountain National Forest.
For sleep and shelter I packed in my Amok Draumr XL hammock, paired with the Amok Borg tarp and Amok Fjol XL sleeping pad. I had never used the Amok hammock on a winter trip before, so I figured this would be a good opportunity to test it, as the forecast called for a decent amount of snow and temperatures a little bit below it’s recommended temperature range of 20°F. More details on my winter backpacking gear can be found at the end of this post.
Unknown Pond Route Overview – Sintax77
No permit is required to camp in the White Mountains NF, but there are rules and regulations regarding backcountry camping. You can find more information on the USFS White Mountains website here.
3 Days of Hammock Camping, Hiking & Backpacking on the White Mountains Presicat Loop.
For this 3 day, 2 night summer backpacking trip, I’ll be hiking a 30 mile backpacking loop in New Hampshire’s White Mountain National Forest. I call this the Presicat loop because it’s comprised of the Carter Range and Wildcat Range on one side, and the northern section of the Presidential Range on the other.
This route creates a grand tour of the northern White Mountains with a section of the Appalachian Trail and Mt Washington as it’s centerpiece. Along the way we’ll hit 9 major summits (NH48’s) and 8 subsidiary peaks, while racking up 15,228 feet of elevation gain on some pretty rugged trails.
For sleep and shelter I chose a minimalist ultralight hammock camping system. This allowed me to get my base weight down to 9 lb. Notable gear can be found in the gear section below. Or check out my full printable list with weights and links on LighterPack.
Presicat Loop Route Overview 2019 – Sintax77
No permit is required to camp in the White Mountains, but the trailhead I chose did require a self payment of $3 per day. Rules and regulations regarding backcountry camping can be found on the USFS website here.
Sintax77 T-Shirts – Limited run Sintax77 “Cheeseburger Time” shirts are in the works and will be announced soon. 🙂
Congrats to viewer Scott for hunting down the northern lights on a recent Iceland Trip!
Z-Bird recently paid a visit to the Pinnacle in PA, where Mike and I camped on a fall backpacking trip many moons ago.
Viewer TheSkyttis used to own a SOL Escape Bivvy, like the ones we used on our recent Snow Trench Camping video, but eventually switched to a V3 Trifecta Thermal Bivvy by ‘2 Go Systems’.
Viewer Mike is getting ready for a backpacking trip on the Pinhoti trail in Alabama.
Viewers Sean and Kelly sent me a book called ‘Where You’ll Find Me‘ about Kate Matrosova, who perished on the Presidential Range during a winter ascent in 2015.
Another book I really enjoyed – ‘Not Without Peril‘, about the many tragedies of the White Mountains.
Join Mike & I as we Attempt to Winter Camp in a Snow Trench at -15° F, Deep in the Woods of the White Mountains.
For this winter backpacking & Snow Camping adventure, we’ll be heading into the austere terrain of the Dry River Wilderness in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Our main challenge for this adventure will be to sleep without the comforts of a tent of hammock. Our goal is to use bivvy sacks to protect our sleeping bags from the elements as well as extend the range of our sleeping bags. The latter of which is of particular importance because we’ll be packing in sleeping bags rated for around 15° to 20° F, in temperatures of around -15° F. Our secondary objective will be to hit the summit of Mt Crawford, replete with stunning, 360° views of the White Mountains. Oh, and we’ve got some pretty fun backpacking food on the menu as well. We’ll be camp cooking all “real food” on this trip, thanks to the sub-zero temps, no traditional dehydrated backpacking food.
Route Overview – Snow Trench Camping – Sintax77
Topics Covered in this Episode
Winter Campsite selection, via topographical maps, and well …pure luck.
Winter camping snow shovels (see gear list below for further details)
The complications of cooking backpacking food in sub-zero winter conditions.
Digging a winter camping shelter in the snow, along with tarp setup, should you be lucky enough to have one available (we did).
Building a fire on top of snow (not nearly as hard as you might think it is – even on the 6+ feet of snow that we had to deal with).
Sleeping in a snow trench with a SOL Escape Bivvy sack.
The balance of hitting a winter summit, versus well, not eating, hydrating or, you know -surviving.
Trailhead Parking
Davis Path Trailhead, Crawford Notch Rd, Bartlett, NH 03812
Setup camp in the flat area found around 2,500′ along the Davis Path Trail.
Elevation Profile Day 1 – Snow Trench Camping – Sintax77
Day 1 Mileage: 2.0 miles Day 1 Elevation Gain: 1,725′
Stats & Trails Used, Day Two
Wake up, get a campfire going, and cook some soup for breakfast to get fueled up.
Grab some essential items (snacks, water, camera gear) and leave the majority of gear at camp to keep things fast and light for the upcoming high winds summit attempt.
Rejoin Davis Path Trail and head north.
At the junction, take the Mt Crawford Spur Trail, towards the summit of Mt Crawford.
Head back down the same way, to return to base camp and pack up the bulk our remaining items.
Elevation Profile Day 2 – Snow Trench Camping – Sintax77
Day 2 Mileage: 3.1 miles *0.65 miles to the summit of Mt Crawford, 2 miles from camp to the Davis Path Trailhead Parking Lot. Day 2 Elevation Gain: 974′
Trip Totals Total Elevation Gain: 2,699′
Total Mileage: 5.1 Miles
Notable Gear Used / Seen on this Backpacking Trip:
Traction & Traversal
MSR Denali Ascent Snowshoes *No longer in production, I got them on Ebay. A modern equivalent would be something like the MSR Evo Ascent Snowshoe. Kahtoola Micro Spikes *I didn’t end up using them, as I had my snowshoes on most of the time, but I always throw these in the pack for snow trips to deal with icy terrain. Trekking Poles – CNOC Outdoors Carbon Fiber Vertex Trekking Poles
Join me for 3 days of Winter Camping, Hammock setup, Snowshoeing, Camp Stove testing with multiple Fuel types for Snow Melting, Cold Weather Clothing tips & more on this mega episode.
For this solo winter backpacking and snow camping adventure, I’ll be heading into the deep snow of the Sandwich Range Wilderness in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. If you’re serious about geeking out on the finer details of camping in deep snow in temperatures below zero F, this video is for you. We’ll be spending a lot of time at camp experimenting, demonstrating and discussing a lot of winter camping topics in detail, including –
Snowshoe types and usage
Campsite selection
Using the Outdoor Vitals Mummy Pod System
Snow melting for drinking water
Extensive testing using the Optimus Polaris Optifuel stove comparing several camping fuel types for winter cooking & snow melting – LPG canister fuel, white gas, and diesel fuel. Liquid fuel stove priming, inverted canister mode, fuel efficiency, etc.
Winter hammock camping tarp setup in the snow.
Trekking poles for winter hiking
Staying warm on winter camping trips – clothing layer management and strategy, sleeping bag choices, hot water bottle for supplemental warmth.
Traction & Traversal
MSR Denali Ascent Snowshoes *No longer in production, I got them on Ebay. A modern equivalent would be something like the MSR Evo Ascent Snowshoe. Kahtoola Micro Spikes *I didn’t end up using them, as I had my snowshoes on most of the time, but I always throw these in the pack for snow trips to deal with icy terrain. Trekking Poles – CNOC Outdoors Carbon Fiber Vertex Trekking Poles