They are expecting it to drop below zero Saturday night in the higher Appalachians. It is currently 9 degrees on top of Mt Mitchell and the forecast for Saturday night is for it to be -5 to -10 there.
I hope those out there are okay are prepared for this.
nrkybill
A good third of the NOBOs will not be prepared for this weekend’s temps, even if they’re at lower elevations. So many of them want to cheap out on their sleeping bags, or try to get by with a 32 degree bag. They are the Darwin Award candidates of the AT, and there are plenty of them.
Point North
I have a 20 degree bag, and I won’t be warm enough (lots of folks in the hotel at Franklin tonight), but I don’t think I deserve a Darwin Award for it. These are record cold temps, and we can’t be expected to be prepared for that.
G-Smurf
27* here in Central Maryland this Easter morning. Concerns about the effects of freeze on plants, etc.
mm
25 Degrees @ 7 AM here at my garden center in NJ. Wanna talk about cold/frost damage on plants? I would happily take a few freezing nights hiking in the southern appalachians right about now over the mess this cold makes for us green industry folk…:smokin
Tribes
Well, it is 40 degrees here in Portland, Maine. G-smurf is right. These hikers were preapred for cold weather, and were preared to suffer a little, but you can not be expected to be prepared for record cold. You can only be prepared for what is normal. These hikers will do their best to keep warm, and i hope a lot of them are in towns and out of the mountains, and I hope that there is no hardy sole trying to stay in the mountains. Thru hikers are never prepared for -0 temps. I hope all of them are safe, and warm. To say they deserve a Darwin Award for not being prepared for record cold temps is attacking all thru hikers, past and present. Once again, I hope all the current thru hikers are safely out of the record cold temps.
Kirby
You can be prepared for unusual weather by not going light until it’s late enough in the season to rule out a late blast of winter. There are many out there who try to skimp and get by carrying a 32 or 40 degree bag in April. They are fools who are asking for trouble. Perhaps with a good 20 degree down bag and a warm jacket and insulating layers and a wool cap you can suffer out a night at 5 or 0 degrees, miserable but survivable, but with a 40 degree bag you’re just being stupid and courting danger.
There are plenty of hikers out there like that, who have already sent their winter bags home or even more likely, did not bring one in the first place. They are properly termed Darwin Award candidates.
Point North
A fool is his own worst enemy, and a fool is the last to realize when he’s entering the danger zone. I expect to hear reports of casualties from this weekend, of grieving loved ones, of toes and fingers having to be sawed off. Do not underestimate the trouble you can get into by not taking the proper gear.
Chestnut