Winter Storm at 3500 ft on Hunter Mt in Catskills NY

**Dirtbaghiker** · 01-22-2020, 13:24

We did a weekend backpacking trip up Hunter Mountain in the Catskills NY last weekend. Friday and Friday night temps hit 0 degrees, if not a little below 0. Slept in my hammock near the John Robb Lean To.. At about 3400- 3500 ft.
Saturday we hiked a short trail across to Hunter Mt ski lodge for a burger. A nasty winter storm was rolling in as we headed back to our camp site. It was getting windy and began to snow. I was contemplating about taking my hammock down and going to the ground due to the heavy winds. I waited too long, and the gail force wind shredded my DCF tarp. I had no choice now but to take my hammock down and retreat into the shelter! Unfortunatly, the storm was blowing a direct hit into the lean to. Thankfully, i was fully prepared for this and i had my ground pad (thermarest SOL Z Lite) and my Borah Gear Snowyside Event bivy. We hunkered down at about 3:30 pm and did not get out until the storm passsed at about 8 am! I would say it was consistant 30-40 mph winds with gusts from 50- 60 mph.. For a good 12 hours straight pounding with cold, snow, ice and fog! It was a full force whiteout blizzard on the side of the mountain at 3500 ft. The morning was beautiful, dumped about 8 inches of snow and ice and everything looked so beautiful. I have to say, that bivy saved my life!! Yes it was a miserable night hunkered in there.. Condensation from from breath was freezing inside the bivy and causing ice to form, my 0 degree quilt was wet from moisture and snow.. But i was warm all night! It did suck when i had to get out to pee.. In hart of storm.. The wind blew my bivy up and snow got i side a bit.. But i was warm. In the morning, the lean to was full of snow and ice and i was basically sleeping on my small pad, and snow and ice.. But i was warm and survived the storm. Thankyou Borah Gear for making that Bivy. At about 8 ounces and packed so small.. It is a no brainer for me to bring it on all of my winter trips escpecially when im using my hammock.. GOod forbid i have to go to the ground.. It happens!

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**OneClick** · 01-22-2020, 13:27

That second to last photo...hell yes!!!!! What a great trip!!

**Dirtbaghiker** · 01-22-2020, 13:36

Yeah. That's my favorite one!! Straight from my Galaxy 10+ phone camera.. No editing or effects!! That was morning after storm.. Everything was coated with ice and snow!! Oh what a night!!! Totally NUTS!!! Thank God I had that bivy and ground pad!!

**Chard** · 01-22-2020, 13:40

Beautiful. I really like the second and third from last. Nice job. Those rock structures below the log shelter are awesome.

**Dirtbaghiker** · 01-22-2020, 13:45

Thankyou!! John Robb lean to, Hunter mt, in the catskills, NY. It's a really nice spot and the entrance trail leading to the shelter, off the Spruceton trail.. It's a pleasant surprise.. The trial brings you around, over, down and through some really cool rock formations.. Leading right to that shelter.

**ParaJosh** · 01-22-2020, 19:01

Love it. Everything seems so coated in snow and ice. Nothing better than when the woods are painted with snow.

**JSH** · 01-22-2020, 21:59

Don't envy you losing your tarp. Had a similar experience two weeks ago. Got some good advice from the Forum in a post I placed in Backpacking. But from what you describe with wind and cold using your bivy was a smart move to take and to use. I carry a lightweight emergency bivy in my pack in the winter. Your bivy was a good bet. Thanks for sharing your trip.

**BillyBob58** · 01-22-2020, 23:47

Originally Posted by JSH

Don't envy you losing your tarp. Had a similar experience two weeks ago. Got some good advice from the Forum in a post I placed in Backpacking. But from what you describe with wind and cold using your bivy was a smart move to take and to use. I carry a lightweight emergency bivy in my pack in the winter. Your bivy was a good bet. Thanks for sharing your trip.

JSH, you had a tarp destroyed also? Or you were just caught in a bad storm?

Dirtbag, yes, thanks for sharing! Along with a report from several years ago where some guys got hypothermic at a group hang after trying to hike in to Mt. Rogers in VA during a Jan. storm, this is one of the best and most useful threads i have ever read here at HF. Because it goes to show the things can go so wrong on a backpacking trip where severe conditions can be encountered. Or any time hypothermia is a likely threat. The kinds of things that we are often not prepared for.

I always carry a minimal pad. In recent times I have been considering switching to pads for my more remote trips, used with bridge or 90º hammocks which are still quite comfy with pads. One reason is in case I am ever forced to ground for any reason, or into a shelter. It is a blessing for you that you had that pad, the bivy and the shelter. Though you probably would have still survived without the shelter, especially if you could have found a more sheltered spot for your bivy, or dug a snow trench to help block some of the wind. Or especially if there was enough snow for a snow cave. Missing any of those and you might have been in serious trouble. Being prepared to go to ground can be a real(even if pretty rarely needed) life saver.

About your shredded tarp: was enough of it left to at least form some sort of low slung ground shelter, if you had been someplace with no shelter available? What about, in retrospect, once you realized the severity of the winds, and if the shelter had not been available, would you have been any better off going to ground - hopefully in a more sheltered place- and pitching your tarp in a low slung pitch? Just high enough to crawl under on hand and knees, or maybe to sit under? Do you think your tarp would have survived if being low slung and not being such a sail? Also, you said the wind was blasting right into the shelter. You might have had better wind block with a low slung tarp. But thank goodness you had that bivy and pad!

Did you continue on back packing after that night? You said your quilts took on some moisture, I was wondering if you had to pack them up, go somewhere else, and use them again the next night? Do you have treated down? When you got home, did you notice any loss of loft or added weight?

Thanks again for sharing! The info here, long with other experiences reported here over the years, could greatly add to safety!

**Shug** · 01-23-2020, 00:11

Good report pics and video. Quite the winter adventure but a rousing Happy Birthday sung in the storm. A memorable trip for sure.
Too bad on the tarp!
Shug

**Dirtbaghiker** · 01-23-2020, 06:48

If the shelter was not there i could have found somewhere to hide out, yes. Also, we were only about a 3 mile hike from the trail head.. so the option was there to hike out. There was plenty of tarp left if i had to use it for cover on the ground.. had it been life or death yes i could have done other things to survive, but thankfully i had my pad and bivy and that lean to. The next day, after the storm, was our last day.. so we packed up and hiked out.. my quilt was a 0 degree hammock gear premium down.. im pretty sure, with the sun being out the next day and some warmer temps, i could have dried it out throughout the day and it would have been fine for overnight again. Im sure there was some added weight from the moisture. But not enough to weigh me down ( no pun intended), hhaaaaa.
And yes.. a rousing happy birthday sung in the storm and sometimes the worst moments make the memories never to be forgotten!! Thanks!!