This time, on the way back from WVU after the winter break, I decided to
try out some of my gear and techniques for cold weather hiking. The
temps were forecast to be in the teens and did not disappoint! Once
again, I parked at the I-66 trail-head parking at Manassas Gap but this
time decided to hike south an easy 3 miles to the Jim and Molly Denton
Shelter. Thank you Smell-N-Roses for the video of this area a couple
weeks ago! The I-66 parking is very nice with a great trail head on the
AT. I brought 2 sleeping pads with me. One is the closed cell foam
Therm-a-Rest Z Lite (R 2.6) and another is a Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm
inflatable (R 5.7). It is suggested that 2 pads are carried for very
cold weather. An inflatable, although comfortable with high R value, can
deflate and leave you in a risky situation, so a closed cell foam
backup is also needed. Combined, they provided very good insulation (R
8.3) from the cold ground. My sleeping bag was a BOG Standard Kelty
Cosmic Down 21. My tent is a 2 person North Face Talus 2. With temps
outside around 9F overnight, the tent held temp around 18F with me
inside. Between the pads and the sleeping bag, it was just barely enough
to stay warm. The addition of my Sea to Summit Aeros Premium inflatable
pillow, cheap base layers, mid layer, and a hat kept me
warm/comfortable. Problems I encountered were cooking after stopping
hiking and setting up the tent. These were difficult because I had to
remove my gloves for those tasks and it was wicked cold! I’m glad a
brought a Zippo hand warmer, as that made for quick recovery after those
tasks. All my water froze. I knew this would happen ahead of time, so I
filled my cook pot the night before to make it easier to cook in the
AM. Butane Canister Stoves have difficulty in cold weather. See my
canister stove hack video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HiTr... Because
it was so cold, I did not explore the site as much as I normally do and
did not locate the spring. The guide says it was a little ways (few
hundred yards) south. I’ll find out when I continue south on the AT…
