Re: [at-l] nastyiest winter camping

I'm kinda late responding to this thread, my apologies.

I have two "worst weather" trips. I'm from Michigan, but both of these 
trips happened to be on the AT in Virginia. The first was on the first day 
of Spring, 1981. I was hiking with a group called HikaNation. We were 
climbing up Whitetop Mnt.when we came to a Forest Service Cabin. The woman 
living there, the wife of a Forest Service employee, invited a group of us 
in for coffee, tea, etc. It was a pleasant day, light snow the night 
before. After spending several hours enjoying her hospitality, we decided 
to move on. As we climbed higher, the weather deteriorated rapidly. By the 
time we reached the summit, the wind and snow was blowing us sideways out 
of the rut that was disguised as the AT. We found ourselves on top of 
Whitetop, in White-out conditions. Taking shelter in a group of conifers, 
we decided to take a break. A very brief recon uncovered an empty, locked 
cabin - "No Trespassing!, Violators will be prosecuted to the full extent 
of the law!" signed, US Forest Service. Ignoring this warning, we circled 
the cabin, and found the rear door hanging by one hinge. We sat out that 
storm in this very drafty cabin (most of the windows broken out). By 
setting up our tents inside, and melting snow for water we remained 
somewhat comfortable. The mice helped us clean our dishes after meals by 
eating out any food scraps left. It was so cold and nasty, we didn't have 
the heart to stop them! :-) We spent that night, all the next day, and the 
following night holed-up in that cabin. The temp got down to -15 actual. 
The following day, we saw the sun shining in the surrounding valleys so we 
hiked on down, a beautiful day! (Two days later we were hit by another 14" 
and below zero storm at Raccoon Branch Shelter, but this one lasted just 
one night)

My second "worst weather" trip was in Nov. of either '83 or '84. A friend 
and I had parked his car at the picnic area just south of Bearfence Mnt. in 
Shenandoah Park. We hiked for several days with mild weather, often in just 
shorts, no shirts. The day we passed through Elk Wallow (closed for the 
season), we met a park employee who told us a storm was moving in and they 
expected heavy rain that night and the next day. In light of this, we 
decided to by-pass our planned campsite, and push on to Gravel Spring Hut. 
We arrived late, but it was still warm enough that I chose to wash my hair 
with unheated spring water.

Through the course of the evening the wind began, and the rain started. It 
soon became freezing rain, then sleet. After several hours of this, and 
while listening to numerous trees crashing to the ground all around us, a 
result of the heavy ice coat and high winds, the snow began. We set up my 
tent inside the shelter (kinda tricky since it's not a free-standing). 
Again, we sat out the next day in the shelter, waiting for the storm to 
subside.

The plan was for a friend of mine to pick us up at the road crossing (the 
highway into Front Royal, can't remember the number off-hand). We now had a 
day and a half to make our scheduled pick-up. We set out on the AT, but 
soon found that between the deep snow cover (nicely packed so we stayed on 
top), and the low-hanging, ice covered branches, we were hiking in a 
squatting position! Not really very efficient. At the first opportunity, we 
moved to the Skyline Drive, where we didn't have to contend with the low 
branches. The open, exposed roadway offered little protection from the 
still substantial wind tho. We also had problems navigating around 
numerous, icy, precariously place snow drifts up to 12 feet high. After a 
very long, cold, exhausting hike we made it to the Tom Floyd Wayside. This 
shelter definitely was not designed for cold, windy conditions with it's 
widely spaced floorboards. We slept even colder this night than we had the 
previous two and really challenged my Svea to cook our dinner (it succeeded 
with some coaxing).

The following morning was perhaps the most beautiful I've enjoyed in all my 
years of backpacking!  The sun was shining brightly, the trees all covered 
and shimmering with their ice coats, and the weather was relatively warm, 
at least the wind had stopped. We spent the morning enjoying our leisurely 
hike down to the highway. As we came out of the woods, and entered the open 
field leading to the road, we saw our ride pull up and park, waiting for 
us. Absolutely perfect timing. There could have been no better ending to 
our extreme trip!

We had to wait two days before the Skyline Drive was re-opened and we could 
get back to our car. That storm had completely closed down Washington DC, 
people were abandoning their vehicles all over the city. It was one of the 
most difficult, but also most rewarding trips I've ever been on.


Lyle



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