Winter Backpacking, MD Appalachian Trail (Feb. 2019)

Mid-winter is a challenging time for outdoor adventures in the DC area.  By February, trout aren't hungry, deer season is over, and it's cold...but rarely snows enough to inspire skiing.  For these reasons, I ventured out on my first winter backpacking trip on a section of Appalachian Trail along the Maryland-Pennsylvania border.

Half the fun was gear-planning for a situation I'd never been in before --- overnight camping in four inches of snow and below freezing temps.  Armed with my friend's adage "there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear"...I attacked my gear supply to build a pack light enough to carry 25 miles through snow, but with the right clothes to sleep in the woods.

My main gear deficiency was my lack of a winter sleeping bag.  I tried to compensate for my 30-degree bag by packing extra layers of down clothing and wool socks, figuring I would just bundle up inside my bag.  More on that later.  My other deficiency were my summer hiking boots, which had minimal waterproofing for trekking through snow.  I packed extra socks and donned a pair of gaiters to try and keep my feet dry

Heading out Saturday morning - clear and cold 

Despite temps in the mid-20s, we quickly warmed up ascending the ridge we planned to camp on.  This presented another challenge -- trying to maintain a level body temperature.  Too many layers while hiking, and we would sweat, and then freeze when we stopped.  We opted to "be bold, start cold"...wearing minimal layers from the outset, and waiting to slowly warm up as we climbed.

Hiking was beautiful.  The woods were empty and quiet, smelling of fresh snow.  Animal tracks were everywhere and easy to spot. After 12 miles, we reached camp.  Another lesson I quickly learned about winter camping -- there's no time or reason for idling about.  If you stop moving, you're cold. With sunset at 5pm, we immediately cleared snow off the tent platform, melted snow for water, and changed into our evening attire -- namely endless down layers.

Dinner was freeze-dried beef stroganoff from Mountain House.  Not wanting to waste any opportunity to get warm, we took turns zipping the hot bag of food into our jackets as it cooked.  We were treated to a spectacular sunset that turned the snow light purple.

 Melting snow for water, which we gathered in a garbage bag

Sunset at the campsite 

Within 15 minutes of finishing dinner, the woods darkened and we were left with only one option -- to crawl in our tent and sleeping bags.  Here's what I wore inside my sleeping bag.

Feet: two pairs wool socks
Legs: 3 pairs long underwear, then sweatpants
Torso: 2 pairs thermal layers, then a fleece, then 2 down jackets -- 5 layers!
Head: balaclava, then hat, then down hood

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I wasn't cold in my sleeping bag.  If anything, I had so many layers on, my real discomfort came from being a sort of marshmallow man in a straight jacket crammed into a tight sleeping bag.  I was stiff as a board.  Glancing at the time, I realized it was only 5:30pm...14 hours to kill.  My friend and I chatted the evening away...though we had to yell to hear each other through the multiple layers covering our ears.  I eventually fell asleep.

All in all, I was happy to finally have had a winter camping experience.  Was it comfortable? Not really.  But it was a rich experience with a good friend, good conversation and easy laughs that I'll remember forever. 

Furlough Hikes: Old Rag and White Oak Canyon (January 2019)

January 2019 will forever be remembered as the month of government shutdown.  The month of sleeping until noon...the month of waking up to a empty calendar...for 35 days.  While we certainly had our share of sleepy mornings in Arlington, we got out to Shenandoah twice for winter hikes.  With the rare luxury of mid-week hiking, we chose two routes that get notoriously crowded on summer weekends -- Old Rag and White Oak Canyon.

This was our first time hiking Old Rag's famous rock scramble route.  Last summer, we night-hiked the much-easier horse trail, so we were stoked to see what the scramble was all about.  

"Ima climb you!"

We pulled into the Old Rag parking lot under overcast skies, with temps hovering around 40F, hoping to speed up the mountain to avoid the rain forecasted for the afternoon. After an hour of steady hiking, we began to hit the rock scramble.  We were both impressed by the scrambles, which were more technical than we had expected.

The Park Service was nice enough to leave one open potty!

Getting technical!

Halfway down, the gray skies finally gave in, and a light drizzle began to fall.  Still riding our summit high, we happily covered our packs and drew our hoods...listening to the pat-pat as we descended.

Finally a little rainy on the mountain

A week later, still furloughed, we spotted an unseasonably warm day forecasted and set out to hike White Oak Canyon.  It's easy to see why this trail is so popular.  Almost immediately, we began passing waterfall after waterfall.  The further we climbed into the canyon, the more spectacular the falls became.  This valley is home to the tallest falls in Shenandoah National Park.  Each fall came complete with a crystal clear pool, almost surely holding native brookies.

One of countless falls 

View from White Oak Canyon 

Once we'd had our fill of waterfall spotting, A strung her hammock to read, and I put together my fly-rod.  Right on schedule, the sun and springy weather was chased away by a drizzly cold front.  After sticking out the fishing long enough to remind myself how terrible I am at nymphing, we packed up and headed to Taco Tuesday in Arlington.  Happy Hour still exists for furloughed Feds! 

The cold front appears out of nowhere