Winter Hiking by a Chunky Middle Aged Woman

First of all, let me say that I have not always been a fan of winter hiking.  In fact, up until a few years ago, as soon as that first cold wind blew, I went into hibernation mode, staying inside nurturing other hobbies like reading, sewing, drinking hot chocolate…embracing the chunky until Spring came around again.

I don’t know when it changed.  Trail Dames had something to do with it for sure.  I found out I could and would hike in winter IF I just signed up to attend a hike with Trail Dames.  Fast forward to NOW!  I love winter hiking.  The silence, the crunch of snow, the briskness of the air, NO BUGS, NO STICKY HOT HUMID AIR!!!

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Along the Appalachian Trail in Maryland

And the views! I can see through the trees and see the distant mountains!

No "green tunnel" here!
No “green tunnel” here!

And anyone for waterfalls???

White Oak Canyon in SNP
White Oak Canyon in SNP

But to love it I had to figure out how to happy in the cold.  That was my challenge!

Layering:

Everyone tells you to layer in the Winter, but what does that mean?  Well, don’t buy any cotton layers, that is for sure.  No cotton tshirts, no cotton long underwear…Cotton gets wet with sweat, which will chill you beyond belief and possibly right into hypothermia!  No cotton!!!  Here is how I layer…

  • Start with a moisture wicking base layer on both top & bottom.  I have a lightweight base layer and a heavyweight base layer.  If the temps are 30 – 50 I use the lightweight, anything below 30 and I choose the heavyweight.  It is a matter of choice…and only experience will tell what is comfortable for you!
  • For my legs, after the base layer, I put on wind pants (like gym pants).  This is enough on bottom for 99% of my hikes here in the MidAtlantic.  For the other 1% (when it is God-awful skin lashing cold) I put fleece pants on after the base layer, then the wind pants.
  • For my core (top), I follow the base layer with a typical short sleeved hiking shirt.  Then a long sleeved hiking shirt with a hoodie, then a fleece jacket, and finally a wind breaker.  That wind breaker is a key piece of the layering for me.  Wind can flippen freeze me to death…Do not underestimate the power of wind chill.
  • Okay, now let’s talk about head wear, and yes, you better have a good hat.  Not some chintzy piece of crap made out of fibers that won’t keep you warm.  Try a good wool hat…know why? Because wool will insulate even if it gets wet!  Also, make sure that hat pulls down over your ears, or even better, invest in a balaclava because you are going to need something around your neck!
  • My hands are covered with glove liners as well as a heavy glove.
  • For my feet, I just use my usual wool hiking socks with silk liners and a waterproof hiking boot.  My feet generally stay plenty warm (sometimes they even get hot).

So you are all layered up nicely and ready for your first winter hike!  Where do you go? My advice, so you can try out your layers is to pick a route, either on a trail or in the neighborhood, that is around two miles.  In two miles, you will know whether your layers need adjusting.   You do NOT want to find out that you have inefficiently layered on a long hike!!  If you get too warm, that is fine…because you can shed a layer or two as you warm up.  But if you are too cold, then you need to start off with better layers…either heavier weight or more layers.

View from Washington Monument, Boonesboro, MD
View from Washington Monument, Boonesboro, MD

Water:

Okay, the layers are working, yay! What’s next?  Let’s talk about water and staying hydrated.  In the winter you may not feel as thirsty as you do on a hot summer day. You might need to force yourself to take a drink of water as you hike down the trail. Camelbak has a neat hydration calculator you can use to give you an idea of how much water you should be taking in as you are hiking.

Sidekick Pauli and BoobOnARock at Possum's Rest along the AT in SNP
Sidekick Pauli and BoobOnARock at Possum’s Rest along the AT in SNP

Food:

Yes. Yes, take food.  Yummy stuff high in calories…you get to splurge here!  On a five mile hike I usually take a pb&j sandwich on multigrain bread, trail bar, m&m’s, and something salty, like pretzels.  Sometimes I carry a thermos with a hot beverage, which makes my break extra nice. If you hike with a canine companion, then bring snacks for him/her as well.  🙂

Not all winter hikes are snowy...30 degrees...Sidekick Pauli takes a break in Gambrill SP!
Not all winter hikes are snowy…30 degrees…Sidekick Pauli takes a break in Gambrill SP!

Take Breaks:

Definitely!  I usually hike on the Appalachian Trail, so there are shelters where I can stop, get out of the wind and relax while eating my lunch.  Try to plan your hike so there is a good break place in the middle somewhere.  If it is super cold, an emergency blanket can keep you comfortable so you don’t have cut your break short.

Jim & Molly Denton Shelter on the AT in VA...Nice break spot.
Jim & Molly Denton Shelter on the AT in VA…Nice break spot.

In addition, take little breaks along the way.  You might want to take along a pad to sit on…otherwise you could find yourself sitting on an icy log or in the snow!!

Sometimes I get so warm hiking some of the layers come off...like my hat and gloves.
Sometimes I get so warm hiking some of the layers come off…like my hat and gloves.

That’s it!  Seems like a lot, but with each hike out the prep gets easier!  I usually keep many of these items handy, either in my pack or a designated drawer in my dresser so they are ready to go when I am.

Have fun, stay safe and Hike on!

The AT Summer Series Through Maryland

Last winter, as I sat in my comfy chair, cat on my lap, dog at my feet, and a cup of hot coffee within reach, I began to plan the AT Summer Series.  Having completed the AT through Maryland twice, once in a series of day hikes and once as a backpack with fellow Trail Dames, I could think of no better way to pay it forward than to host a series of day hikes on AT from Harper’s Ferry, WVA to Pen Mar, MD!

ATC 32

We kicked off the trek north on June 7, 2014 in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia.  Beginnings are so exciting, especially when it is the start of something big, like completing the AT through Maryland!  We left most of our cars at Weverton, and then shuttled down to the ATC in Harper’s Ferry to begin our hike.  It was a busy morning at the ATC but Python found a break in the action to take a picture of all of us embarking on this journey north!

ATC 1

The thing about walking through Harper’s Ferry is that there is SO much to see that it is hard to make yourself stop looking at stuff and continue to make forward progress!  Good thing we are Dames who aren’t in any hurry and love to take time to enjoy the moment!

Wonderful day that left us all looking forward to the next section…which was RAINED out!  Can you believe it?!!  Weverton to Gathland State Park ended up at the end of the series.

So we reconvened a few weeks later for a hot and humid hike from Gathland State Park to South Mountain Inn (Old Rt. 40).  One of the Dames making the trek with us on this section was Victoria.  If you all haven’t had the pleasure of hiking with Victoria aka Queen V aka Bag Lady, then you are missing out!!  After hiking up the first hill, which rises steeply leaving Gathland, we were already breaking a sweat.  A few steps further brought us to the blue blazed trail down to the Crampton Gap shelter, the exact place where Victoria earned her trail name “Bag Lady” on another Trail Dame adventure.  She was gracious enough to reenact that moment and had us doubled up, pains in our sides, laughing so hard we could barely catch a breath!  Well, with a hike that starts like that…whew!

ATC 5

A few miles later we were taking in the hazy view from the rock outcropping at the top of Lambs Knoll, and then happily descended to the new Rocky Run Shelter for lunch.  We met a thru hiker at the shelter who told us we should go down and check out the old shelter as it was his “favorite place on the AT so far”.  Wow! That is an endorsement! So off we went to check it out.  It was a beautiful spot with a spring flowing in full force right in front of the shelter…and (insert squeaky voice) there was a swing!!!  Oh, it was lovely…thank goodness Dames are not in a hurry and enjoy being in the moment!

We finished off our hike together by grabbing ice cream at the South Mountain Creamery…every hike should end this way!  Shortly, thereafter the skies opened up letting loose a slew of dangerous thunderstorms in the area.  We timed that one just right!

Next trek was from South Mountain Inn (Old Rt. 40) to New Rt. 40.  The Dames climbed South Mountain…did I say that loud enough?  CLIMBED.  It was hot, it was humid, we huffed and we puffed and we blew that mountain down! Or something like that…the thing about writing this in late October is that I hope the Dames have now forgotten any pain associated with the hard climbs and just feel victorious in the memory!

We took a break after reaching the Washington Monument at the summit.  This is not the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C….just for clarification! Now, just so you know…you cannot hike the AT across Maryland with learning a little bit about the Civil War.  Ground zero right here!  So it was not a big surprise to find Civil War soldiers hanging out in the shade and taking in the view from the top of the monument!  And what do Dames and Civil War Soldiers do when they get together?  Take selfies, of course!

Well, I think we were all feeling mighty proud of ourselves at the end of this hike.  We were now half way across Maryland…Bring on the rocks!  The section from New Rt 40 to Wolfsville Road has a few places that give a beating to your feet!  This section was a big, big change from the sections we had hiked thus far.  We hiked the section from North to South starting at Wolfsville Road.  Now coming from either side there is quite a climb, but the Dames took it at their own pace.

Hiking along the spine of the mountain it seemed like forever before we got to Pogo Campground!  At the campground we gathered round a fire pit, sitting on nice stone seats, for lunch before heading up to Black Rock Cliffs and Annapolis Rocks.  It was a lovely day to sit up on the cliffs overlooking the Middletown Valley.

Returning to our cars we knew we had done some HIKING! Around 9 miles with the side trips…wow, go Dames!!!

The next section was a short one from Wolfsville Road to Warner Gap, so we hiked it as an out and back hike.  On this section we passed the Ensign Cowall Shelter and walked through a lovely field before entering the woods that would lead us downhill to a pleasant creek for lunch.  Nothing better than to have a picnic and conversation in the woods with such great women!

And then the final stretch to the Pennsylvania line…Warner Gap to Pen Mar.  This is a fun, fun, tough section of trail!  And the rain was supposed to STOP!  But did it?  For most of the hike it drizzled, then poured, then drizzled…back and forth, back and forth.  We had our ponchos and extra dry clothes!

ATC 26

Made a stop at Raven Rock Shelter for lunch…and what a happy surprise!  A backpacker had a nice fire going!  Extra nice!  Sitting around eating lunch was great…but when we got chilly we knew it was time to get back on the trail!  Mother Nature was very accommodating and stopped the rain for the rest of the hike…just in time for us to descend the rock pile down from High Rock!  It was a long, wet day and everyone was tired as we dragged into Pen Mar.  However, it ended triumphantly for us all as we celebrated Diana’s completion of the AT through MD!!!

Congratulations Diana!!!
Congratulations Diana!!!

Two weeks later we were celebrating again when we finished the AT series hiking from Weverton to Gathland State Park.  Amy and Renate walked through the arch at Gathland State Park signaling their completion of the AT through MD…Huzzah!

Congratulations Amy & Renate!!
Congratulations Amy & Renate!!

Hike on!