Summit Fever – Winter Camping on the Presidential Range

Solo Winter Backpacking & Snow Camping in an attempt to Summit Mount Washington.

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

For this adventure, I headed up to the White Mountains of New Hampshire to do some snow camping with the goal of doing of a Mt Washington winter ascent.  My plan was to set up a base camp at higher elevation, followed by a lighter weight trek up to the top of  Mount Washington.

I went with a tent for shelter on this trip because I originally planned for the possibility of camping above treeline.  I had never done that before, but the weather forecast was rather good before I left home, so this seemed like a good opportunity to give it a go.  The Presidential Range had other ideas…

No permit is required to backcountry camp in the White Mountain National Forest, but a parking fee is required in some areas.

Trailhead Used: Jewell Trail Trailhead
44°16’01.2″N 71°21’40.7″W
Base Station Rd, Jefferson, NH 03538

This is a large parking lot with room for many vehicles.  A parking fee of $5 dollars per day or an annual National Park pass is required.

Notable Backpacking Gear

Camera and Nav Gear used for this episode

I Finally Upgraded my Winter Backpacking Gear!

I finally upgraded some of my Winter Backpacking Gear Essentials and made my picks from Backcountry’s full inventory of outdoor gear.

FTC Disclosure: This video is in partnership with Backcountry. This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through my links. Individual gear selections were made by me and all opinions are my own.

For detailed specs on the items I found most attractive, here are the
Three Pieces of Winter Camping Gear that I Ultimately Chose

Other Backcountry Gear Seen and Discussed

Winter Hammock Camping in the Smoky Mountains

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

For this winter camping adventure, I’ll be doing a Gregory Bald Loop Hike, incorporating campsite 13 Sheep Pen Gap, campsite 113 Birch Spring Gap, and a hike to the Shuckstack Fire Tower.  This is my second backpacking trip to the Smokies, but due to the shorter winter days, ice, and snow, I’ll be slowing the pace down a bit compared to my previous hammock camping experience there.

Route Overview – Gregory Bald Loop – Sintax77

A backcountry permit is required for all campsites in this area. You can reserve them for $4 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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