3 Days of Winter Camping, Backpacking & Campfire Cooking in Pennsylvania’s Pinchot State Forest.
FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through some of my links.
For this late winter backpacking trip, I decided to challenge myself to cook “real food” using only fire for the duration of my trip. If you know anything about my patience for making fires, you’ll know this will truly be a bit of a challenge. 🙂
For shelter, I went with my minimalist camping hammock and ultralight backpacking tarp set-up. I also utilized a grill grate, a folding saw for harvesting campfire wood, and some extra cold weather clothing layers, as the temps were forecasted to head down to around 15° F or so. There was also a chance of snow, sleet, and even rain, so I brought a full set of rain gear for warmth at camp and keeping dry while hiking.
Full Route Overview – Pinchot Trail North Backpacking Loop – Sintax77
3 Days of Winter Hammock Camping and Backpacking in the Roaring Plains Wilderness during Snow and Freezing Rain.
FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through some of my links.
For this late winter backpacking trip, I decided to head back down to West Virginia’s Monongahela National forest to do some ridge hiking and cold weather hammock camping. Due to temperatures forecasted from the low 20’s to the low 40’s, I needed to pack in some heavier warm clothing layers for this trip, along with some camp tools, so I used my larger winter backpack. For sleep and shelter, I used my go-to ultralight hammock and tarp set-up with winter grade down quilts (full gear list below). As it turns out, I probably should have used that extra pack space for a larger tarp too, but live and learn I guess…
The 6,792 acre Roaring Plains West Wilderness is a remote federal wilderness area located about 3 miles south of the more popular Dolly Sods Wilderness Area. It boasts a healthy network of trails, which are unmarked and often, grown in and hard to follow. Official paper maps are hard to come by, and by some accounts, not very up to date. Based on my personal experience, I would highly recommend using a GPS with appropriate data while hiking here. You can also find good trail info and map print-outs at MidAtlanticHikes.com and HikingUpward.com. I also recorded my personal GPS data for this trip, which can be found here.
Hammock Camping, Trail Cooking and the search for an Elusive Hearth in the Woods of West Virginia.
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 February hammock camping trip, I set out to hike a 3 day hike with a nostalgic goal – to find a giant campfire hearth that my friend and I had built five years ago, somewhere off of the Appalachian Trail near the town of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. I had always wondered if it was still standing after all these years, and thought it would be a great excuse to spend some time in the woods a cook some hearty camping meals.
My weather conditions were forecasted to have a pretty wide range during this trip, from the upper 50’s down to 30 degrees each evening. I had a rough idea of the hearth’s location. We built it at camp not too long after leaving the Harpers Ferry National Historic Area’s boundary while heading south on the Appalachian Trail. My goal for the first day was to get myself to a legal camping area in this general area so I could search for it first thing the next morning. If I found it early, I would then have the option to do a day hike to Loudoun Heights and Split Rock for views of the Shenandoah River and Potomac River below the ridge.
For sleep and shelter on this trip, I went with a simple hammock camping and ultralight tarp setup (gear list below). I used the extra space in my winter backpack to load up on extra clothing layers, a saw for harvesting firewood, a stool for working in my makeshift camp kitchen, and my white gas stove system paired up with a fry pan and diffuser to try my hand at baking some trail bread at camp. The cooler temps also allowed me to bring some “real” food, so I brought along some ingredients to make some smoked sausage one day and pasta with a slow cooked meat sauce the next.
This trip video was sponsored by Anker and their model 521 and 535 Portable Power Station.
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.
