I avoided most of the cold months during my hike, so I don’t have a trail tested gear list. In general, I believe a warm sleeping bag and good rain gear is important for safety. Other gear is mainly for your comfort, so it depends on your preferences. I prefer the freedom of a light pack, so I would do my best to keep it under 40, maybe 20-25 + food and water. (A light pack is a relative term during the winter.)
Making rain gear work is difficult. The waterproof/breathable fabrics work if you move at a slow pace, but when you thru hike you get into excellent shape. A comfortable climb up a hill can create as much heat as jogging, without even breathing hard (once you are in shape). If you want to test your rain gear before the trip, try jogging in it. During the cooler weather during my hike, I used a poncho with a rain hat, which was OK, but wind was sometimes a problem. I had a day with wind and pouring rain, that changed to snow flurries over night, which I was able to handle, but a little more protection might have been nice. Wind pants can provide some warmth even when wet and dry rapidly, and are breathable enough for everyday wear.
Vapor barrier:
Recommended for very cold days. (When you think it might be too cold to sleep.) Grocery bags for the feet between sock liner and outer sock, and a thin trash bag for the torso, again over a thin layer, but below the insulating layer. When I spent the night on Mt. Rogers, the temp was in the low teens with a strong wind, and a few snow flakes swirling in. My worn out 20 degree bag and relatively limited insulating clothing had me wondering if would be able to sleep that night. A vapor barrier helped extend the range of my gear during the unusually cold weather (late November). I was warm and cozy that night, and had a great sleep. (Why was I in Virginia in November? GA->Damascus,VA<-ME, 5/15/99-12/2/99)
Mosquito netting (for your head):
I haven’t heard of anyone else doing this, but it works for me. I tried using the netting during the summer, and the mosquito’s couldn’t bite me, but their buzzing kept me awake. I eventually took it off, preferring to just let them bite me and go away. It was a warm night, and when I took it off, I noticed how much cooler it was. The netting provides slight, but noticeable amount of warmth for just 1/2 oz of weight. During cold weather, it provides limited wind protection, and when you exhale, it warms your face. I only use it when sleeping.
Weather:
There is some good weather data for Grandfather Mountain, NC at elevation 4,600 ft. (www.grandfather.com). This can give you and idea of how cold it will be in the mountains at different times of the year. It gives the averages for different months, and allows you to search for the coldest weather recorded for a month. The all time low is -32 on January 21, 1985, however most years it doesn’t get much below zero. I used this site to estimate the temperature during my stay at Mt. Rodgers.
Does any one have experience using homemade alcohol stoves in cold weather? I have read that they don’t perform was well in the cold, but how cold is that? Mine seemed OK when it was in the mid 20’s.
Ted (Waterfall 1999)
Ted
They’re supposed to wick better than synthetics. Not sure though, we used capilene. But we did get smartwool socks after a while. We really liked those. Also really liked the patagonia silkweight stuff for summer. Their long sleeved one is good for a camp/town shirt to protect a bit from the bugs and the sort sleeved was nice for hiking. Dries really quickly…we usually rinsed our shirts out at night (away from the water source) and it was dry in the morning, except for some of the really nasty humid nights.