Winter camping.

It’s been a year since my first winter camping experience. With the weather doing what it’s doing in The States, it’s looking like I will be in for a chilly start! Time to reflect on what I learnt on my Scotland trip and handy hints I've picked up since to help me stay warm.

Clothing

 1)      Be bold, start cold. Set off in the morning a little bit chillier than is comfortable. Within ten minutes you will have reached a nice temperature.

 2)      Don’t rotate your clothing daily. With the possible exception of socks, wear your wet gear for walking and have a dry pair to change into in camp.

 3)      Nothing will really stay dry. After a few days in the wintery wonderland most of your kit will be at least a bit damp. Even kit stored in dry bags will suffer due to condensation build up. Do your best to keep hike/ camp clothes segregated and dry out clothing at night (by hanging in your tent/ in your sleeping bag).

   4)      Pull your insulation layer over everything. For example if you have been wearing a shell during the day, rather than take it off and lose all that precious heat build-up, sling your insulation layer on over the top to create a layer of warm loveliness.

   5)      Mitts are awesome. Take along a nice thick woolly (or insulated) pair. Definitely worth the extra weight.

Sleeping

 6)      Liners are good! It’s like having a base layer in that it’ll trap and extra layer of heat around you; the extent of this depending on the fabric. Liners will also protect your down bag. They will trap moisture which would otherwise affect the down fibres and cause them to lose their loft.

 7)      Pillows. I often use my down jacket as a pillow. In the time between waking up and getting up I pull it into my sleeping bag. Then when I’m bimbling around camp in the morning it’s pre-warmed.

 8)      A metal water bottle (e.g. Sigg, Primus) acts as an excellent hot water bottle. By morning it will also be a nice drinking temperature rather than a block of ice.

 9)      If you need a wee, have a wee. I read this in a book recently; A lot of bodily warmth will be lost to heating a bladder full of urine. So if you need to go, go. You’re better off braving the cold for a few minutes than holding out until morning.

 10)   Store batteries for your camera, e.t.c. in your sleeping bag overnight as the cold will drain them quickly.

 11)   If you are using gas cylinders to cook with, try to keep them warm so your stoves pressure doesn’t drop too much. You could bring them into your sleeping bag or store them on your person for a little while before cooking. If you are using liquid fuel stoves with a rubber seal on the pump, this will likely need lubricating a bit more regularly in a cold environment.

 12)   Enjoy it! Camping in a winter environment is incredible as long as you are prepared and organized. There’s nothing quite  like waking up nice and cosy to a fresh dumping of snow.

Kit

Finally got round to laying all of my kit out and seeing what's what. It may seem strange for me to be doing this pretty late on in the game, although in practicality my kit list doesn't vary all that much from what I used in Scotland ad Iceland last year; minus a few bits and swapping a few things.

So here's how it looks:

My beautiful Osprey Aether pack has been dismantled, cleaned, and TX-Direct'ed so is beading water very nicely indeed. I have never felt the need to use rain covers but instead separately dry-bag everything.

I've gone for Rab MeCo base layers (short sleeved T and boxers) as they have the usual benefit of merino wool garments but are tougher wearing and dry a bit quicker. A long-sleeved Powerstretch top and micro-baffle down jacket should keep me warm on those chilly mornings and evenings bimbling around camp. I've also thrown in a set of synthetic leggings which I can wear with my short-shorts for that super sexy winter hiking combo.
I'm taking 3 pairs of socks; two mid-weight pairs I can rotate, and one spare snuggly heavy weight.

Rain gear- possibly taking my good old-fashioned Berghaus over-trousers, definitely going to be using my Rab Latok Alpine. Slightly heavier than other options but is absolutely bomb-proof and eVent breathes exceptionally well.

For my sleeping arrangement: will predominantly be sleeping in my Hennesey Hammocks Expedition Asym. Been getting on really well with this over the last 6 months or so. It pitches in literally seconds ad never has to touch the floor, and the tarp provides enough cover to cook under if the weather is grim. I'll be using a Rab Ascent 700 down bag. This has been excellent in winter conditions, and comfortable enough over the summer; could possibly be tempted to swap out with something lighter as the months progress; we shall see! A last little luxury is the Pacific Outdoors sleeping mat. It has wings so wraps around me very nicely in my hammock, and will also be comfortable if I decide to sleep in lean-tos.

For my boots, after much deliberation I've gone for the Salomon Cosmics. Firstly, they fit my narrower feet nicely and feel not a lot different from their XA Pro trail running shoes. They flex comfortably whilst providing the lateral stability I need for carrying a pack over the terrains I will encounter. And they're bright green.

The last major piece of kit I'm waiting on is my stove. After chatting to folk with more experience than myself I've ordered an MSR Whisperlite International liquid fuel stove. It's not the lightest thing in the world, but is reassuring rugged and run efficiently at lower temperatures. I've used one previously with Primus liquid fuel and petrol; either one will be fine combined with the Primus Eta pot. There is also the added bonus of cheaper and more widely available fuel.

And that's just about it. The main bulk of my kit is sorted, apart from the odd alteration here and there which will undoubtedly occur until my departure date. Constructing my kit list has been a very fun process; there are so many factors to consider with each and every item. Overall I'm pretty happy: there is a nice balance between weight and comfort. Many items of equipment I have used before so I am confident that they will perform for me. Oooooh, I'm getting excited now!

71 days...

Hope you've all had an awesome Christmas and New Year! Been pretty busy over Christmas but things are beginning to quieten down again so I've got chance to get the last few bits sorted. So... to re-cap!

My visa has been approved, flights have been booked, and my shuttle from the airport and night in the hiker hostel (http://www.hikerhostel.com/prices.php) booked. I've been browsing through data and guide books so have a good idea of where replens and town stop-overs are for the first few weeks walking. I've decided against food drops purely because of the logistics of sorting them out from here in the UK; depending on how I get on without them I might consider getting a bounce-box going a bit later on.

Kit-wise I'm just about there. I've bought my boots (settled for the Salomon Cosmics in the end: reviews to follow!) and worn them to the point of being nicely broken in. An MSR Whisperlite International liquid fuel stove is on order which should work very efficiently indeed with the Primus Eta Pot. Just got to get a few dry bags and put together a first aid kit and I'm sorted!

Going to lay out all of my gear tomorrow and see what I need/ can get rid of.

Committed!

Booked my flights last night, so I'm now fully committed to the trip! It feels good to have an actual departure date set. I'll be heading down to London Heathrow on the night of the 16th March and jumping on a plane to be in Atlanta by 2pm on the 17th. From there I'm going to get a shuttle to somewhere I can get food and gas for my first leg and find a hostel close to the trail head. Then it'll be an early night to sleep off any jet lag and time to hit the trail!

Prices weren't as high as I'd been expecting; only £510. I opted to book a return flight as it was a lot cheaper than two one-ways or an open return. It's a bit of a gamble but I'm confident that I've given myself plenty of time to finish. Any later my visa will expire anyway! Altogether I'll be in The States for 156 days, a maximum of 150 of which I can devote to being on the trail.

As for getting back from Katahdin, there are plenty of (surprisingly cheap) options available which I'll look into closer to the time. Exciting times!

A couple more reviews...

Evening! A couple of more reviews have been uploaded to the Gear Talk section of the blog. The first is of the new Gore-Tex Pro-Shell which I was fortunate to have the chance to test on a winter skills course in Glen Coe, Scotland, last January/ February. The second is of the Osprey Aether 70, the pack which I'll be using on the trail. Enjoy!

Oh, and here's a nice photo from said trip I just found on my laptop:

Glen Coe, February 2013.

Night on the beach

We managed to get another over-nighter in this week: We stayed on a beach near Dodman Point on the south Cornwall coast. I used the hammock, this time set up as a sort of bivi/ tarp shelter, which is what I'll be doing on the trail should there be no suitable trees to pitch between and no room in the shelters. It was a perfectly clear night so I ended up rolling most of the tarp off of me so I could see the stars through the mosi net. I awoke to this view...

and even managed to get a sea swim in! Good old South West Coast Path! One day I'll get round to walking the whole thing in one go...

Update: what's been going on/ budget breakdown.

Budget breakdown...

Nothing much exciting has been going on lately. Now I've got my visa, it's just been full on working and saving to reach my target budget! Money is an exceptionally boring, unfortunately vital subject. Here's a quick breakdown of how much I reckon my hike will cost...

There seems to be a huge variation in budgets for AT thru-hikers. Those living in relative luxury and eating exceptionally well could pay several thousand pounds, although most seem to do it for much less. An often quoted 'golden rule' says $1 a mile is about right for money-conscious hikers. This would mean that once I started walking the trip would cost around £1300 or about £65 a week (assuming I take 5 months to finish). Adding the cost of flights/ travel to and from the trail-heads (I guesstimate £850) gives a base cost of £2150 (~$3400).

This figure looked decidedly optimistic. From past experience there are always unforeseen circumstances or over looked factors (unexpectedly pricey hostels, broken limbs, mangled feet e.t.c) which end up costing more. My current savings are on track to give me £3350, which after flights e.t.c. leaves me with with £2500 (~$4000). So I'll have £125 (~$200) a week to play with.



So if all goes well, I should be all good! I can't imagine food costing more than £50 a week, and from what I've read and talked to people about I can pay as little or much as I like for accommodation. My savings plan should give me enough to live pretty reasonably with a nice buffer for those unexpected costs.



Cornwall bimblings...

Brown Willy summit, Rough Tor in the background.

Although I seem to have been living at work recently, I did manage to get a couple of days off to go and meet the family in Boscastle. Whilst I was up there I had a walk up to the highest point in Cornwall; Brown Willy. Its only 420m, but in the relatively flat Cornish landscape it gives quite an impressive view. Or it would do if it wasn't misty. Still, I'm glad I finally got to do it. Seems ridiculous it's taken me this long considering I've been visiting Cornwall for about 12 years and living here for 4!



One observation I made when we got to the top. People like putting bunting on summits!

Left: Brown Willy, Right: Everest. Photo from http://www.vmeverest09.com/2009/06/08/the-summit-push-2-%E2%80%93-all-the-pictures/ check it out, there are some cool photos on there from their '09 Everest expedition.