Winter Backpacking: An Exercise in Presence
It was 6:45PM. I'd been in my -20 degree sleeping bag for about 15 minutes, settling in for a night when temperatures would bottom out somewhere near -10 degrees. My body felt warm, but at the end of my bag remained two hard-to-move, icy lumps: my feet. It was at this point that I knew they were not going to warm up on their own, and that I'd have to do the unthinkable—get out of my sleeping bag. I grumbled some choice expletives and began doing a few sit-ups for extra warmth as I prepared to unzip my bag and begin rummaging through my pack. I was relieved when my search concluded, having found the toe warmers I had packed. After massaging my feet and doing a quick check of CSM (that's circulation, sensation, and movement for those of you who haven't taken one of our wilderness first aid courses yet!), I slapped a couple warmers and an extra pair of socks on my feet before zipping myself back up and drifting off to sleep. I felt satisfied with myself for making a good decision, even though it was an uncomfortable one in the short-term.
Between guiding professionally and my own recreating, I've spent plenty of time in unfavorable conditions while in the backcountry. However, it wasn't until bringing more awareness to moments like those above and a conversation with some hiking partners on a recent trip, that I really appreciated the demands of winter backpacking and the focus required in order to manage them. Simply put, there is little to no downtime while backpacking in the winter if you live in the Northeast or other areas that experience “true” winter conditions. Small decisions can compound to make an otherwise enjoyable trip end up being anywhere from unpleasant to downright unsafe.
Keep reading for a list of things you'll need to pay close attention to in order to have fun and stay safe if you decide to hit the trails this winter.
Layering:
The most important thing to keep warm while backpacking in the winter is yourself. Sounds simple enough. Just put on another layer or two, right? Not exactly, professor. Something those new to backpacking often struggle with is managing layers to maintain appropriate body temperatures. In the winter, this can be an all-day battle. It might mean stopping multiple times a day to change socks, packing an extra puffy jacket just for camp and snack breaks on the hike, or breaking down camp in all your warm layers, only to shed them ten minutes into being on trail. A move I frequently see with first-time cold-weather campers and backpackers is actually wearing too many layers. Perspiring too much while winter backpacking spells disaster in the form of dehydration and/or chilling quickly as soon as you stop (which is only compounded if you've soaked through all your dry layers). Basically, proper layering in winter conditions means channeling your inner Goldilocks and constantly bringing awareness to your body temperature and moisture levels to find those “just right” conditions. For more information on proper layering, check out the blog post by our Senior Instructor and Guide, Katlin, here.
Food and Water:
Eating and drinking enough can be a challenge in the winter. It's easy to opt for the decision that involves comfort and convenience if eating or drinking means taking your pack off or exposing your hands to cold-weather injuries in order to open up that bag of Sour Patch Kids. More than that, the physical exertion required to travel in snowy conditions can really kill our appetite. That said, it's important to constantly be managing calorie and fluid intake, stopping early and often (maybe even as often as every 15 minutes) in order to choke down some food and water. Again, Katlin's killer blog on nutrition can provide more specific information and explain why those Sour Patch Kids alone probably aren't the best move.
Managing Your Gear:
As if staying warm and nourished weren't enough to think about, now let's talk about gear. Some big items you'll need to manage in the winter are first aid items, personal hygiene items, electronics, and items related to staying nourished and hydrated. First aid items (like an Epi-pen or various gels) will do you no good in an emergency if they're frozen. It's also really hard to put a contact in your eye when it's frozen in it's packaging. You packed spare batteries for your headlamp? Nice! Too bad the cold kills them faster than ultra-runners kill Mich Ultras after a race. Decided to pack a water filter instead of spending an hour melting snow? Better hope it doesn't freeze, or you'll be studying beaver fever first-hand. That jar of peanut butter also won't do much good if it requires your ice axe to scoop out. So what do we do about all of these things? Well, depending on the exact conditions the solution might look like carrying all of these items on your person (and sleeping with them), inside the various pockets of that sweet new puffy you just bought...and remembering to take all of those things out and transfer them to your old ratty puffy when you change layers. Let’s not forget the need to make sure you're de-icing microspikes and snowshoes occasionally to avoid a slip or fall injury. Oh, and one more thing...You'll also need to actively dry layers by the fire and/or make sure you're sleeping with your boot liners so they don't freeze overnight. The list goes on and on. And on…
Travel:
Say this with me. “I'm not setting any records in the winter.” It's true, winter travel can be slow and demanding. Imagine your favorite hike—it's 8 miles or so and usually takes you a few hours. In the winter, those 8 miles might be a grueling all-day endeavor, that's if conditions are favorable and you've got a few burly hiking partners to help break trail. You can expect travel time to at least double, if not more. It's important to always set reasonable expectations and constantly be checking in with your progress and map, while making appropriate decisions about when to stop and when to push on, something that only gets compounded by the shorter number of daylight hours. Paying attention to terrain features and checkpoints plays a huge role in this (not sure what this means? Reach out about our navigation courses to get more info!). As if you didn't already have enough on your plate to focus on.
Nature Calling:
Even using the bathroom in the winter is a grand experience. It can be uncomfortable (or maybe exhilarating if you've got the right mindset) to expose yourself to the elements every time you need to get rid of some fluids. Sorry ladies! I've certainly been tempted to just pee my pants. I mean Billy Madison says it's what all the cool kids are doing anyway. Furthermore, it can also be downright complicated—ever try pooping while wearing fleece overalls and a couple jackets over that? There's a lot of zippers involved—better hope it's not urgent! Depending on conditions, being a proponent of LNT also means packing out those bowel movements. Make sure to keep track of where you're storing that wag-bag! Midnight urges are also a huge pain, even if you subscribe to the skull and crossbones bottle method. Regardless, your body uses energy to keep your bladder warm, so relieving yourself even when you don't want to leave the warmth of your sleeping bag is a necessity. In all, it's just another thing you've got to manage efficiently in order to not waste any precious energy you worked all day to conserve.
By now, I'm sure you've reached the conclusion that winter backpacking can suck royally. You'd probably rather stay home and eat a bag a kale (bleh!), or go to your annoying neighbor's daughter's ballet recital before heading out into the backcountry for a few days in January. Assuming you're at a point where you feel you've got the skills needed and are looking for a challenge, I'd argue there are a few reasons to still give it a try.
It's Super Validating:
It feels pretty BA to walk into your local convenience store, wearing your gaiters looking like a cowboy in spurs, and getting an incredulous look from a fellow saloon goer—err, customer as he asks, “you're not hiking today are you?!?” The only thing more BA? Telling him that you just finished hiking out after spending the night out there. In all seriousness, putting my grit and planning to the test, while problem-solving during winter excursions has done wonders for my confidence and esteem. It's one thing to look at your skills and accomplishments on paper and think you're qualified for a particular endeavor. It's another to be in the thick of a challenging situation and feel that you've got things under control.
SO Much Gear:
With more challenging conditions comes more gear. Extra layers. Snowshoes. A warmer sleeping bag. Microspikes or crampons. You get the idea. Winter backpacking often makes that new shiny toy a necessity, rather than something cool to show other dads at your kid's birthday party. Hypothermia is no joke, and winter, when every minute counts, is no time to be improvising with outdated or shoddy gear.
Getting back to nature:
Almost nobody goes backpacking in the winter, right? Exactly! Winter is a great time to get out on the trail and avoid those crowds, especially if you've got the proper gear and skills to get to even less traveled areas. True silence might get ruined by the occasional snowmobile engine depending on where you're at, but you probably won't have to put up with chatter from that group of 10 on their family vacation or that conflabbit death metal coming out of those teens' bluetooth speaker. In fact, some of the only sounds you'll hear are your hiking partners, and they may be too miserable for agreeing to come along on your trip to even say anything! In addition to peace and quiet, winter is a great time for spotting animals or practicing your bushwhacking, since you're easily able to follow tracks in the snow under the right conditions.
Practice for life:
We've all been there. You're 6 miles in on one of your favorite trips and suddenly you remember that memo from work that you drafted but forgot to send before leaving the office. There's nothing you can do about it, yet it occupies your mind for the rest of the weekend and ruins your trip. Winter backpacking truly is an exercise in being present and focused on the conditions and/or task in front of you. There's no room to be thinking about work or replaying that argument you had with your taxidermist the other day. Even a small mistake in the backcountry during winter conditions can mean huge consequences in a very real, very dangerous sense. So think of winter backpacking as practice for leading a more mindful, present-focused life, one where all we have is this moment, here and now. That memo can wait until Monday.
Have fun, Stay safe!
-Ethan