Tag Archives: cold weather camping

A Strange Find in the Forest – Wood Stove Camping at 9,000′

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Backpacking & Solo Camping in the Snow Covered Mountains of Utah.

For this 3 day fall backpacking trip, I headed to the Wasatch Range to explore some snowy higher elevation trails in the mountains overlooking Utah’s Great Salt Lake.

The Wasatch Mountains span roughly 160 miles from the Utah-Idaho border down through central Utah, forming the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains, and the eastern edge of the Great Basin region. I chose to do an end to end hike for this trip, starting near Ogden, UT and utilizing a portion of the Great Western trail to hike along the ridge overlooking the Great Salt Lake nearly 5,000 feet below.

Route Overview – Wasatch Mountains Backpacking Trip – Sintax77

With a daily temperature range in the upper 70’s down to a bit below freezing at night, I decided to try my luck and still keep my backpacking load-out relatively minimal with just a 3 season sleeping pad , sleeping bag, and a light weight trekking pole tent. There’s nothing quite like wearing a t-shirt to keep cool during the day, only to wonder if you’ll be melting snow for drinking water later that night. Those desert like temperature swings really do keep things interesting.

To deal with the cold nights and mornings I packed three supplemental clothing items – a pair of synthetic base layer bottoms, puffy jacket, and lightweight knit hat. I also made the smart decision to hike wearing mesh trail-runners. I may have regretted this once I ascended past 8,000′ and into the heavily shaded pine forests…

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Camping in the Middle of Nowhere – Jeep Tank on Empty

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Cold weather backpacking and hammock camping in Central Pennsylvania’s Tiadaghton State Forest.

For this adventure, I decided to grab my tarp and hammock and hike into the woods with not much of a plan other than to do some random exploration, find a suitable basecamp, and maybe have a little fun with some campfire cooking. Instead of relying on dehydrated backpacking foods as I usually do, I packed in a bunch of “real” food and a frying pan with the intention of skipping the backpacking stove and cooking exclusively on a good ol’ open campfire.

My backpacking load-out for this trip was relatively lightweight and minimal, but I did spend a few extra pounds on some fun camping items like a hatchet, cooking gear, and some cold weather clothing to deal with the forecasted 20° temperatures at night.

In addition to the camp food, I’ll give you a full look at the items that I pack in on a typical colder weather backpacking trip as well as my go-to tarp and hammock camping setup.

While I didn’t really use an official trailhead for this trip, I did stumble upon Pennsylvania’s orange blazed Mid-State trail before going off trail to look for my campsite for the night. The nearest town was Waterville, PA, which does have a very nice general store and parking for anyone interested in doing a proper backpacking loop with Pine Creek as the center piece. It’s an awesome area for fishing, hiking and backpacking.

In my case, I ended up on the upper ridges of gorge instead of down along the creek where I usually go, but it did make for a memorable experience somewhere deep in the woods of Pennsylvania…

3 Days Winter Camping with NO STOVE – Cooking with Fire!

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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

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How to Survive an Ice Storm – Hammock Camping the Roaring Plains

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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…

This trip video was sponsored by Magic Spoon.  You can try their variety pack and get $5 off by using this link and the code Sintax77.

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.

Route Overview – Roaring Plains Backpacking Loop – Sintax77

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Winter Camping on Mt Washington – Deep Snow, Below Zero

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Backpacking & Winter Camping on the side of 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 back up to the White Mountains of New Hampshire to do some snow camping and make another attempt at doing a Mt Washington winter ascent for some frozen views of the Presidential Range.  I tried this about a year ago, but a stomach bug and 85 MPH winds kind of put a damper on things.  This time around, I also brought a hiking partner, Frank.  We’ve done several winter trips together so far, but this would be his first time in the White Mountains.

Similar to last year’s trip, the plan was to set up a base camp at higher elevation, followed by a lighter weight trek up to the top of Mount Washington if weather conditions and visibility were agreeable. If the conditions were questionable, we made a back-up plan to scurry up the side of the nearer Mt Monroe.  And of course, if the weather really got bad, we would just play it safe and stay below tree line.

Trailhead Used: Ammonoosuc Ravine 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.

Trails Used

  • Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail
  • Appalachian Trail (Crawford Path)
  • Mt Monroe Loop Trail

Campsite

  • Camp along Ammonoosuc Trail 44.26398, -71.32182
    • This was a small unofficial campsite located in a hollowed out spot not too far before entering the Lakes of the Clouds Forest Protection Zone.

Notable Backpacking Gear

Camera and Nav Gear used for this episode

Winter Camping in Pennsylvania’s Most Remote Forest

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Backpacking, Hiking & Winter Tent Camping with Snow in Pennsylvania’s Hammersley Wild Area.

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 December backpacking trip, I set out to hike a 3 day, 20ish mile loop in the mountains of north central Pennsylvania.  I created my loop by using a portion of the Susquehannock Trail System, some off-trail bushwhacking, and a ridge hike along the adjacent Twin Sisters Trail.

My weather conditions were forecasted to have some fresh snow, temps mostly in the 20’s and a potential for freezing rain as the temps rose further into the trip.  While this was a pretty wide range of possible conditions, it also wasn’t terribly cold, so I was still able to pack somewhat ultralight and minimal.  My camping target for day one was down in the hollow along the banks of Hammersley Fork. On day two I planned to head up to the ridge and camp in the area devoid of trees due to a forest fire back in 1962.  Due to the potential lack of trees, I swapped out my typical hammock setup for a single person tent and sleeping pad to keep my campsite options flexible.

The Hammersley Wild Area is the most remote swath of public land in Pennsylvania, with some spots over 5 miles from the nearest road, which combined with the season, I hoped would make for some rather secluded camping.  Conversely, this area is also a haven for public hunting, so I made sure to wear some blaze orange and remain somewhat quiet and on the trail until I got further away from any road access, as it was the middle of PA deer hunting season.

This trip video was sponsored by Dr Prepare. You can get 10% off their 178Wh Portable Power Station by using code STDP10 with this link.

Route Overview – Stratton Pond Vermont Backpacking Loop – Sintax77

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

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