The Beginning Stages of Planning for my Solo Winter Backpacking Trip.
For part one of this series, I’ll be discussing my upcoming plans for a solo winter camping trip. I’m currently in the very first stages of planning this trip. In fact I haven’t even decided on the actual location yet! Got any ideas?
I plan to do continued updates throughout the whole process of planning this winter hiking trip. All the way from location selection, specific route planning, getting there, doing the actual trip, and whatever else may come up in between, so check back for updates!
Join Mike and I for for a “Train to Trail” Winter Camping, Backpacking, Campfire cooking, & Hiking adventure in Harpers Ferry, WV.
We tried something a bit different for fun on this winter camping trip – instead of driving, we decided to take an Amtrak train directly to the trailhead. This is actually and idea that Mike and I had been kicking around for a while now. The first challenge was finding an interesting trail that was actually close to a train station, without a need for secondary transportation or an excessive walk. After a bit of research, we determined that Harpers Ferry, West Virginia fit the criteria quite well. The train practically dumps you right on the Appalachian Trail. We booked our tickets, packed our bags, and hit the trail, er, I mean, train station.
With 4 days and 3 nights off, we had a decent amount of time to play with on this trip. The challenge however, would be that we needed to plan an out and back trip that didn’t put us to far away from the train station on our final morning, rather than doing a loop like we normally prefer. Fortunately, we quickly realized that to be a perfect excuse to do a a laid back, more camping, less hiking kind of trip.
The plan? After leaving the train behind,we would hop on the Appalachian trail for a few miles – just long enough to feel the seclusion of the deep winter woods, and set up a base camp for the duration of the trip. Other than that, we really had no hard set plans, other than relaxing, having a good time, and brushing up on our campfire cooking skills. Did we succeed? I guess you’ll just have to watch and see…
Trails Used
Leave Harpers Ferry via Appalachian Trail South After around 3 miles, bushwack West to unofficial campsite.
Return via Appalachian Trail North
Debating and discussing a classic question – what’s the best backpacking season?
Fresh off a fun, hot, and humid trip to Kentucky’s Red River Gorge, I’m inspired by a nagging little question: what’s the best season for backpacking and camping? In this video I try to find my own opinion, but more importantly, what’s yours?
Join me as I attempt a winter ascent of Mt Washington, while hammock camping in the Huntington Ravine.
For this trip, I’ll be heading up to the White Mountains for one more winter backpacking trip before the season ends, and spring arrives. This will also be my first attempt to climb Mt Washington in winter. Okay, climb may be a bit overzealous of a term, but it will be pretty aggressive compared to my other winter hikes. Which brings up an important topic – additional gear needed. I’ll get to that a little later, but first lets take a look at where exactly I started off from and the general route I took. Full GPS track data for this trip can be downloaded on the Trip Data page.
Parking Location: Pinkham Notch Visitor Center near Jackson, New Hampshire.
There were a couple of nice things about parking at Pinkham Notch Visitor Center. First, there was no parking fee, so that’s always nice. They also leave the pack room, bathrooms and changing area open 24 hours, which I was quite happy to discover upon my arrival at 2 AM.
List of Trails Used, in Order
Start at Tuckerman Ravine Trailhead (located right behind visitor center)
Follow the Tuckerman Ravine Trail.
Stop at the Fire Road Junction. Do not continue up Tuckerman Ravine! You should see a sign stating that it is closed in winter due to avalanche danger.
Take Huntington Ravine Fire Road towards Harvard Cabin.
Arrive at Harvard Cabin to setup camp and get organized. The cabin is open from December 1st to April 1st and a caretaker is on site. It is $10 to stay in the cabin, complete with wood burning stove, or $15 to camp in the surrounding area. A big bonus of staying here is the water hole behind the cabin, which is maintained daily. This allows you to get water directly from the stream below, without the chore of melting snow. Registration is done at the Pinkham Notch Pack Room. Click here for more details on the Havard Cabin.
Once setup and geared appropriately, backtrack a bit down the Fire Road.
Before getting back to the junction, take the Lion’s Head Winter Route on your right.
Follow Lion’s Head Winter Route. This is a very steep trail opened as a safer alternative to Tuckerman Ravine Trail during avalanche season. Be prepared to use both hands as well as your ice axe for support. While I did not carry one, a rope could be quite useful and convenient on the way back down.
Rejoin the Tuckerman Ravine Trail (you’re above of the avalanche zone now).
Continue on Tuckerman Ravine Trail, crossing the summer Auto Road and on to the summit.
Follow course in reverse to return to Harvard Cabin to camp for the night.
On day two, hike back out via Huntington Ravine Fire Road and Tuckerman Ravine Trail.
Extra Gear used for my Mt Washington Winter Ascent
There were two pieces of gear that I brought on this trip, that I’ve never previously felt the need for on other White Mountains winter trips: Crampons and an ice axe.
The ice axe is not to be confused with an ice tool, specialized for actual ice climbing, supported by ropes and typically headed straight up a wall of ice. The ice as, or mountaineering axe as it’s also often called, is longer and straight with a pick for self arresting on one side (this is the primary reason to bring it out on the ice fields of Mt Washington), and an adze on the other side for digging and chopping tasks. The adze is mostly used for more advanced mountaineering techniques than may be required on a Mt Washington attempt, but it does come in handy around camp for setting up a home for the night.
The crampons I chose were universal strap-on crampons, so that I could use them with my regular, flexible winter hiking boots, as opposed to the typical Automatic or semi-auto crampons that require a traditional hard plastic climbing boot, which I do not own. It should also be pointed out that my usual winter traction choice, Kahtoola MICROspikes, are not crampons, nor are they in anyway comparable. I love my micro spikes, but if I had them as my only option on this trip, I probably would have been in some trouble. Or at the very least, it would have taken me twice as long to complete the route.
As seen in the video, there are some other pieces of gear that are essential for a Mt Washington winter climb. I should also reiterate that no matter how favorable the forecasted conditions are, you should always pack and carry worst case winter gear. This includes the ability to have all skin fully covered, no exceptions! Conditions can change on a dime in the Whites. Below are some highlights of gear I brought for the above treeline portion of my hike (other gear was left at my base camp below treeline).
EMS Packable Pack (small daypack)
EMS Ascent Mittens with fleece glove liners
Synthetic Ski Hat
Seirus Innovation Neofleece face mask / scarf combo
Bolle Mojo Snow Goggles (Lemon lense color)
Spare hat and gloves (in case others get wet or blown away)
Garmont GTX Snow boots
CAMP Stalker Universal Crampons
Black Diamond Raven Ice Axe
Nalgene 1 Liter wide mouth water bottle
Clothing worn was pretty much exactly what I’ve used on my previous White Mountains snow camping trips. I cover some of the details later in the video as well. You’ll also notice that I do not have snowshoes listed on my above treeline list. I brought a pair of MSR Denali Ascent snowshoes that I left at my base camp, and in fact, that was the only place that they were necessary. I did not find them to be need on the wind blown, ice covered summit cone of Mt Washington – crampons took care of that nicely. The section of Tuckerman Ravine trail approaching Harvard Cabin traversed daily via snowmobile by rangers checking avalanche conditions, so I really didn’t need snowshoes on that portion of the hike as well. A few steps off the trail though, and you’ll quickly find yourself in waist deep snow or more.
Join us for some frigid winter camping and backpacking along King Ravine in the White Mountains.
For this overnight backpacking trip we’ll be heading up towards Mt Adams, along the Presidential Range in New Hampshire’s White Mountain National Forest in early February. This trip was done almost a year to the day after our High Winds Hiking trip during the previous season. Only instead of temperatures in the 20’s to 30’s, we had a dramatically different temperature range the low teens at it’s warmest, down to roughly 20° below zero at night. Ouch. Luckily, we didn’t have the extreme winds that we encountered on that last February trip. One or the other is one thing. Both together, now that’s what you don’t want.
As you’ll see in the video though, things still didn’t go – how should I say – well, as planned. Thankfully, we were able to make the best of it and play things by ear. While I certainly would have like things to have gone a bit closer to our anticipated itinerary, I think it still ended up be a quite memorable trip. When things go as planned, that’s a vacation. When things go awry and you have to react and adapt, that’s an adventure. And that, after all, is what we’re truly after. As long as know one get hurt, or suffers too much mental trauma, I’ll chalk it up as a win.
Below is a list of trails used, in order, as well parking info and other logistical items. Unfortunately, due to the sub-zero temps, there was no full gps track recorded for this trip. After ripping through two sets of Ultimate Lithiums in my Garmin Oregon 650 GPS on day one, I made the call to reserve my remaining rechargeable batteries for emergency route fining only. On my last winter trip to the Dolly Sods, with temps in the low 20’s, I was able to go the entire 3 day trip on one set of lithium with juice to spare. My performance was quite different at 15 or so below zero, though. Once it warms up a bit, we’ll get back to recording full track data as usual.
Parking Location
Appalachia Trailhead
44.371470, -71.289391
(Not too far from the intersection of US Rt 2 and Dolly Copp Rd, in Gorham NH)
Trails Used Airline Trail to
intersection with Upper Bruin Trail, just above treeline in the Alpine Zone
Planned Campsite: Valley Way Tentsite or nearby vicinity, via Valley Way Trail
Actual Campsite: Back below treeline, along the Airline Trail.
Our plan was to summit Mt Adams the following day and return cheerfully to our previous night’s campsite, base camp style. As seen in the video, things got a bit more complicated, due to extreme snow drifting along King Ravine’s Alpine Zone, heading towards Madison Hut and the intersection with the Appalachian Trail towards Mt. Adams. The plan was to save Adams for day two and to use Upper Bruin Trail to head back below treeline to establish a base camp, after getting some brief views in the ravine above treeline. Despite having been to this area twice before in milder weather, the high snow drifts and unbroken trail made navigation, umm, complicated, to say the least. Add Mike’s little ordeal to the mix, and you’ve got yourself a very interesting little winter camping trip. But I’ll let you find out how all that goes in the actual video…
A Quick Overview of some of the Gear Used
Big Agnes 6p tent (yes, is a car camping tent.) Split three ways.
EMS Longtrail 70 Backpack
MSR Denali Ascent Snowshoes
Kahtoolah MICROspikes (the plan was to feel things out while ascending Mt Adams, and turn back if it felt like crampons were more acceptable)
CAMP Snow Shovel
MSR Rapidfire Stove (Inverted canister stove, no longer produced)
*Mike carried an MSR Whisperlight Universal, rigged for white gas, which we ended up using at night due to the colder temps.
Big Agnes Q-Core SL Sleeping Pad
Hammock Gear Burrow 0 Top Quilt
GSI Halulite Tea Kettle, 32 oz, for snow melting
Vargo 450ml titanium cup
Sea to Summit Alpha Light cutlery set (knife, fork, spoon)
Camera Gear Used
Sony Handycam HDR-cx380, primary cam
GoPro Hero 3, Black edition, secondary cam.
RavPower 10,000 mAH usb battery pack recharger
Join the crew for 3 Days of Winter Camping, Backpacking, & Campfire Cooking in Dolly Sods, West Virginia.
For this adventure we decided to revisit the Dolly Sods Wilderness for some early December winter camping and backpacking. Full GPS track data for this trip is available on the Trip Data page for those who like to follow along at home. Waypoints for campsites and water crossings / sources are included in the GPX file.
List of Trails Used, In order:
Day 1 Park at Red Creek Trailhead, N38° 58.372′ W79° 23.847′ Red Creek Trail TR514
Cross Red Creek at junction with Big Stonecoal Trail Big Stonecoal Trail TR513
Set up Camp at “Tj’s Moustache Camp”
Here’s how to find it: Heading north on Big Stonecoal, pass the intersection with Dunkenbarger trail on your left. Not to far ahead, Big Stonecoal will make an abrupt right turn to make a water crossing across Stonecoal Run. Instead of making the turn, continue straight along the banks, towards the woods. The camp should quickly become apparent.
Water is obviously plentiful. Firewood is probably another story, as this looks to be a popular area in warmer weather. We were equipped with hatchets and saws to process down tress, so all was well. However, during a warm weather trip without tools, I doubt we would have found much smaller stuff just laying around.
Dolly Sods Winter 2104 Day 1
Day 1 Stat Totals
Mileage: 5.85 Miles
Gross Elevation Gain: 1,444′
Gross Elevation Loss: 453″
Campsite Altitude: 3,613′
Day 2
Backtrack a little bit to previous day’s water crossing.
Continue on Big Stonecoal Trail TR514
Arrive at the junction with Blackbird Knob Trail and Breathed Mountain Trail
Continue on Breathed Mountain Trail TR553
Turn left at junction with Red Creek Trail TR514 ** Shortly after heading out on Red Creek Trail, we found a decent supply of running water on the trail, which was much appreciated, as there would certainly be no water up towards Lion’s Head, where we intended to camp. As it was running in December, I’m thinking this may be a good option in other months as well. No guarantees though. It’s possible this was just snow melt run-off from up above. If all else fails, you could bushwack down to Red Creek, as we had actually planned to do, prior to finding this little gem on the trail. Continue on Red Creek Trail TR514 Bear to the right on Rocky Point Trail TR554
Turn abruptly right at the unofficial spur trail to Lions Head at N38° 59.243′ W79° 22.062′ ** This is not an official trail and will not be found on maps, however, it is marked with a cairn (pile of rocks). Head straight up from the cairn. There is a false summit a little ways in, but you need to actually bear to the left in order to navigate towards Lion’s Head and the eventual campsite. If you go straight towards the false summit, you’ll know it, as there is no where else to go but straight down. No worries, relax, enjoy the view and retreat towards whence you came. You’ll have to hop down some rocks, but the path should be apparent.
Head north on the Unofficial Spur Trail Towards Lion’s Head
Pause to “ooooh and ahhhh” at the sights
Continue north towards camp
Setup Camp on the ridge beyond Lion’s Head
Dolly Sods Winter 2104 Day 2
Day 2 Stat Totals
Mileage: 8.6 Miles
Gross Elevation Gain: 1,083′
Gross Elevation Loss: 1,099′
Campsite Altitude: 3,678′
Day 3 Bushwack Northwest towards Rocky Point Tr
Continue on Rocky Point Tr TR554 Turn left to head south on Big Stonecoal Trail TR514
Take Red Creek Trail TR514 Back towards Parking lot and vehicle
Find a cheeseburger!
Dolly Sods Winter 2104 Day 3
Day 3 Stat Totals
Mileage: 3.6 Miles
Gross Elevation Gain: 127′
Gross Elevation Loss: 1,332′
backpack
stove
with fancy lightshow
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/ Plate
tanto blade pocket knife
