[squeakytrees]

Hi all, new here, found my way over here via a blog (I think), this looks like a great community! I'm thinking about starting a little winter hiking & am concerned about making sure I have the correct gear for it. I'm not planning on anything like Washington or any 4000ers to start with - maybe Monadnock and/or other moderate mountains, and some parks near me. I've read up on crampons & microspikes and snowshoes, and I've found a few trail conditions websites. My bigger concern w/ gear is clothing & outerwear... I get hot really quickly once I start hiking, but I get immediately cold if I stop & it's cool or breezy out. I feel like I would overdress but obviously I don't want to get cold & put myself at risk. Any advice or suggestions anyone has on this or any other winter hiking topics would be super appreciated thanks!

Liz

[iClimb]

hey liz,

this site is okay, but doesn't have a ton of activity. I would post both here and in another site, trailspace.com in order to receive the best information possible.

I have a ton of info I could give you on this topic, as I hike and climb exclusively in the Whites right now, and I do a ridiculous amount of research myself in order to get as much information as possible.

head over to trailspace and you'll find people who hike in NH, as well as people who have been to Everest. It's a bigger community and has more info at your fingertips.

i've posted here before to not get a response for days.

[squeakytrees]

iClimb, on 12 Jan 2011 - 11:16 PM, said:

hey liz,

this site is okay, but doesn't have a ton of activity. I would post both here and in another site, trailspace.com in order to receive the best information possible.

I have a ton of info I could give you on this topic, as I hike and climb exclusively in the Whites right now, and I do a ridiculous amount of research myself in order to get as much information as possible.

head over to trailspace and you'll find people who hike in NH, as well as people who have been to Everest. It's a bigger community and has more info at your fingertips.

i've posted here before to not get a response for days.

Oh my, I now see that, lol. Thanks for the advice, I'll check out trailspace!

Any advice for a novice winter hiker?

[Andrew]

Quote

i've posted here before to not get a response for days.

I hear ya. I've done as much as I can to promote the site, but it just does not seem to catch on.

[squeakytrees]

Andrew, on 13 Jan 2011 - 09:28 AM, said:

Quote

i've posted here before to not get a response for days.

I hear ya. I've done as much as I can to promote the site, but it just does not seem to catch on.

That's too bad. This is exactly the kind of site I'd been looking for to connect with some other local/New England hikers. I'll keep coming back, maybe activity will pick up. I'm new here so I don't know the members or anything, but another board I'm pretty active on goes through periods or a month or more sometimes where activity just flatlines, I think it's a part of the lifecycle of forums, lol.

btw, you're on the north shore Andrew? I'm in Beverly. We're probably neighbors

[Majer:Danjer]

squeakytrees, on 13 Jan 2011 - 08:30 AM, said:

Any advice for a novice winter hiker?

Dress warm.




Sorry, couldn't resist.

[squeakytrees]

Majer:Danjer, on 13 Jan 2011 - 12:55 PM, said:

squeakytrees, on 13 Jan 2011 - 08:30 AM, said:

Any advice for a novice winter hiker?

Dress warm.




Sorry, couldn't resist.

I was planning on it! I'm just going to have to find a happy medium between overdressing and making sure I have enough layers. I have one of the Columbia convertible parkas, but it's big & bulky (and long on me), and wouldn't be conducive to comfortable hiking for me. I have a softshell that's pretty warm with some fleece & a thermal under it, and I have long underwear I can wear under hiking pants (or rain pants) for warmth. It'll just have to be trial & error at first, which I can live with since I won't exactly be doing 20 mile trips over 5000' summits to begin my winter hiking with

What do y'all think of the Kahtoola microspikes, anyone here have them? Worth getting? I'm thinking about giving them a shot. They seem like a good place to start for traction on moderate snow & ice, and $60 is pretty affordable.

[Majer:Danjer]

Wearing items that "wick" moisture away is advisable as a base layer, like Under Armour for example. Overdressing then sweating is a bad combination.

The best advice anyone can give you about winter hiking is use common sense. Don't go above your abilities.

I always feel that I bring more than I need. But my philosophy is, it's better to be safe than sorry.

[squeakytrees]

Majer:Danjer, on 13 Jan 2011 - 02:20 PM, said:

Wearing items that "wick" moisture away is advisable as a base layer, like Under Armour for example. Overdressing then sweating is a bad combination.

The best advice anyone can give you about winter hiking is use common sense. Don't go above your abilities.

I always feel that I bring more than I need. But my philosophy is, it's better to be safe than sorry.

I agree, on all points. I usually bring too much, but I would rather be safe than sorry too.

I may go to a nice reservation near Boston next week, the hiking is very moderate & the highest point, Great Blue Hill, is only 635' or so. Would be a good test run for gear & how warmly to dress. Depends on the snow conditions though, since I don't have snowshoes.

[Majer:Danjer]

Post up some photos.

[iClimb]

Andrew -

I wish it would catch on too...there's something better about the responses being local so you know people really know the areas.

[Andrew]

Yeah, I'll do what I can.

I think it just needs to be "seeded" with activity and will take off.

I want it to be a great resource. The problem is, there are two or three sites out there that seem to corner the market. I've talked to people on those sites, and they all have some reason that they don't link them. Either the people are rude, or the user experience stinks.

I'd say just keep talking, and hopefully others will jump in. Also, if you are super-cool, you can link to this site from others. Or, you can suggest it to your friends.

Facebook is a great place to start. Incoming links is what really helps get page content out there.

Cheers!
-a

[squeakytrees]

I added a link here from my blog, but I just got that off the ground. I'm hoping for more traffic eventually but I'll plug it where I can!

[Andrew]

I'll make a links page to reciprocate.

It's funny. I watch the analytics of this site, and the traffic is actually pretty decent. Just a lot of window shoppers I guess.

[RichNH]

Darn, I typed in a long note and then lost it all, have to start over.

I hike Monadnock and North Pack on a regular basis. If you are just getting started the Wapack Trail (north trailhead) is a very nice start (http://www.wapack.org/). It has some nice views on it and doesn’t take too long. I always use it to snap myself back into shape if I haven’t gone out for some time and also to check out new people who haven’t hiked that much before heading over to Monadnock.

As far as hiking in the winter I have always found the winter more uncomfortable than the other three seasons, but more rewarding too. Yesterday’s hike on the Wapack yielded the best snowshoe hare track I’ve ever seen (see attached pic of hare tracks). When you pay attention the forest tells you its story.

Nice thing about the Wapack is that the trail gets packed down fairly quickly. The net result of that for me yesterday was that I only put on the snowshoes for traction and that was when I got to the steep parts and needed them. Until then I just had regular boots. I met several hikers on the trail yesterday and most just had ice creepers some of which are fairly inexpensive. I had Stabilicers, crampons and snowshoes with traction on them and only used the snowshoes because they were easier to get to. Anyway…

What I usually do when ascending is carry my outer windproof layer in the pack. I wear polypro as a base layer and then fleece over that. Yesterday I had polypro, then fleece pants and fleece sweatshirt and a fleece vest with a fleece knit cap and some EMS fleece gloves. By not having a windproof layer the sweat evaporates a lot faster and I shed excess heat. Once I get to an area where the wind is getting through the fleece I start putting on the outer wind proof layer but leave all the vents open. This will give lots of protection from the wind but still allow you to dump heat if needed. If it’s not enough then start closing vents. Yesterday I didn’t have anything extra on until I got to the summit and then I put on a heavier fleece jacket and the windproof pants and jacket. Plus I replaced the lighter cap with a heavier, dryer cap.

Going down hill I usually keep most of my layers on until I start to get too warm. But usually, by the time I start downhill my base layer is pretty wet and the extra layers keep me comfortable.

In the winter, the pack gets heavier because of the extra clothes and such so I do sweat more.

If you are looking for additional ideas/suggestions or have more questions, just ask.

Rich