Wind on Winter AT (Georgia and north) hikes

[Red Cinema]

Folks,

In just about two weeks, knees willing and the creek don't rise, I'll start a LASH of the AT, starting on the approach trail at Springer Mountain.

I've geared up for the anticipated weather, but watching some up to the minute YouTube vlogs about others out already, my only remaining concern is wind. For those who have hiked these mountains in the Feb/Mar timeframe, how possible is it to find sites out of the wind? Lot of 20, 30 mile an hour winds reported in the weather reports I'm tracking.

While I've never stayed in a shelter yet in my 11 years of section hiking, I do sometimes look with covetous eyes at the ease of strolling into a shelter and slapping down a pad: no muss, no fuss, probably mice, definitely snoring (even if I'm alone, if you catch my drift), but no desperate battles to set a tarp in high winds (particularly during a cold rain). I'm trying to gauge how much effort, if any, to put into an alternate sleep plan, measured in additional ounces carried.

Zero extra ounces: deal with the weather no matter what
10 extra ounces: too-low R factor foam pad for the expected low temps
15 extra ounces: wow that air pad is expensive but sufficient R factor for the weather

All comments, chin-jawing, opines welcome. Tx all,

EDIT: I'm also looking at the Smokies, in which it seems iffy to hang when the official word is "you stay in the shelter, bub!" (Unless full). But there's a lot of miles from Springer to the Smokies, so my interest in comments here remains.

Red Cinema (my long time online handle-not-my-trail-name that's by default...become my trail name)

[sidneyhornblower]

Folks,

In just about two weeks, knees willing and the creek don't rise, I'll start a LASH of the AT, starting on the approach trail at Springer Mountain.

I've geared up for the anticipated weather, but watching some up to the minute YouTube vlogs about others out already, my only remaining concern is wind. For those who have hiked these mountains in the Feb/Mar timeframe, how possible is it to find sites out of the wind?

I recently hiked the Georgia Loop in November during a week in which winds were crazy. Besides an underquilt protector which helps with windy conditions, I'd strongly recommend being cognizant of both wind direction and the terrain. During the two worst days, I was constantly looking at my topo maps and figuring out which side of ridgelines would be most sheltered and it worked beautifully. You may have to stop earlier than planned to take advantage of a good ridgeline, but being in the lee of the wind on a night like that is invaluable. In short, the terrain and campsite selection is your best defense against the wind.

You may sometimes have to jam yourself into a less than ideal location on the side of a hill, but I'd choose a sloppy hang that's out of the wind over a perfectly lovely spot where the wind blasts you all night. As much as the trail twists and turns, if you are constantly planning ahead, you should be able to tuck yourself into a spot that's out of the wind.

[Red Cinema]

I recently hiked the Georgia Loop in November during a week in which winds were crazy. Besides an underquilt protector which helps with windy conditions, I'd strongly recommend being cognizant of both wind direction and the terrain. During the two worst days, I was constantly looking at my topo maps and figuring out which side of ridgelines would be most sheltered and it worked beautifully. You may have to stop earlier than planned to take advantage of a good ridgeline, but being in the lee of the wind on a night like that is invaluable. In short, the terrain and campsite selection is your best defense against the wind.

You may sometimes have to jam yourself into a less than ideal location on the side of a hill, but I'd choose a sloppy hang that's out of the wind over a perfectly lovely spot where the wind blasts you all night. As much as the trail twists and turns, if you are constantly planning ahead, you should be able to tuck yourself into a spot that's out of the wind.

This is excellent news, and frankly what I hoped to hear.

There's a current hammocker posting nearly daily on YouTube who posted a wide-eyed "the wind was too strong!" video, but from what I could see there had been much better places to set up that had been overlooked...

Thanks!

[cmoulder]

If you do GTG in a shelter, a good combo is a light air mat, preferably 25"x47" (hard to find these days) and a full-length CCF about 3/8" thickness. Put the CCF on *top* of the air mat for most warmth. You can use something like a R3.5 for the air mat and it will work fine down to a very low temperature. Put pack and other items under the legs to elevate... makes a HUGE difference. The combined air and CCF mat weight is about 17oz. You can use other items as a pillow, or carry one of the light pillows from S2S or Exped, etc

Not as comfy as a hammock, for sure, but if you must GTG you don't want it to be torture.

[Red Cinema]

If you do GTG in a shelter, a good combo is a light air mat, preferably 25"x47" (hard to find these days) and a full-length CCF about 3/8" thickness. Put the CCF on *top* of the air mat for most warmth. You can use something like a R3.5 for the air mat and it will work fine down to a very low temperature. Put pack and other items under the legs to elevate... makes a HUGE difference. The combined air and CCF mat weight is about 17oz. You can use other items as a pillow, or carry one of the light pillows from S2S or Exped, etc

Not as comfy as a hammock, for sure, but if you must GTG you don't want it to be torture.

Tried the NEMO, which at 15 oz is an amazing piece of technology, but three nights running could not fall asleep, and this inside, on a carpeted floor. Returned it. Will carry some super old foam pad (deeply ancient, must be 40 years old, works fine...) with no expectation of comfort.

[cmoulder]

Tried the NEMO, which at 15 oz is an amazing piece of technology, but three nights running could not fall asleep, and this inside, on a carpeted floor. Returned it. Will carry some super old foam pad (deeply ancient, must be 40 years old, works fine...) with no expectation of comfort.

With CCF on top?

[Red Cinema]

No, just the Nemo inflatable. R 4.2 all on its own, was perfectly comfortable, no idea why I couldn't sleep. Just couldn't. Tried different inflation levels. :: shrug ::

Super spoiled by hammocking? Not super tired from a day of hiking (training walks just aren't the same)? Cosmic joke? No idea. If I have to emergency go to ground in a shelter with just a not-enough R foam pad, it'll suck more than if I were carrying the Nemo, but I'll have way less weight every step of the way and if I decide to change my mind there are outfitters right close to the AT in the Georgia section....

[cmoulder]

No, just the Nemo inflatable. R 4.2 all on its own, was perfectly comfortable, no idea why I couldn't sleep. Just couldn't. Tried different inflation levels. :: shrug ::

Super spoiled by hammocking? Not super tired from a day of hiking (training walks just aren't the same)? Cosmic joke? No idea. If I have to emergency go to ground in a shelter with just a not-enough R foam pad, it'll suck more than if I were carrying the Nemo, but I'll have way less weight every step of the way and if I decide to change my mind there are outfitters right close to the AT in the Georgia section....

There are some tricks that work for me. Never going to beat my Darien, but if I've got to GtG...

Inflation level: Let out enough air (usually a lot) to let the hips sink to within about 1/2 inch of the floor. Use a pillow with less air in it as well.

Elbows: Air mat wide enough to provide some elbow support. 25" width works for me.

CCF: About 3/8 to 1/2" thickness ON TOP of the air mat.

Elevate Legs: This is a biggie... support under the knees and lower legs to raise them higher does wonders.

[cougarmeat]

Red Cinema, Do you use snakeskins on your tarp? I had a heck of a time rigging a tarp out of a stuff sack in high winds. I made two changes. 1. I use snakeskins and a continuous ridgeline. It allows me to string up the ridgeline first then pull back back the snakeskin to one guy-out setting at a time. 2. When possible, I set up parallel to the wind. This might seem counter intuitive but It has a few features. a. there is less surface area facing the wind, b. you can angle the tarp with the end facing the wind lower than the other end - minimizes blow through. c. The trees themselves act as a shield.

Even with panel pulls, with wind, when blowing against the tarp sides, would push it into the hammock and take the full force - like a sailboat sail. When I pointed the tarp at the wind, the trees offered some protection and the aerodynamic created a lift on the sides of the tarp instead of pushing them in. I had to adjust the stakes for that upward pull.

Of course if the tarp has doors, that helps even more. But the biggest change was to use skins so I could get the tarp between the trees first, then guy it out piece-by-piece instead of having the whole thing flail around.

[Red Cinema]

I use snakeskins on my non-DCF tarps, but have not found snakeskins work well with DCF, or as we old timers still say, cuben. Folding those things seems to be the way to go. . . .

Red Cinema, Do you use snakeskins on your tarp? I had a heck of a time rigging a tarp out of a stuff sack in high winds. I made two changes. 1. I use snakeskins and a continuous ridgeline. It allows me to string up the ridgeline first then pull back back the snakeskin to one guy-out setting at a time. 2. When possible, I set up parallel to the wind. This might seem counter intuitive but It has a few features. a. there is less surface area facing the wind, b. you can angle the tarp with the end facing the wind lower than the other end - minimizes blow through. c. The trees themselves act as a shield.

Even with panel pulls, with wind, when blowing against the tarp sides, would push it into the hammock and take the full force - like a sailboat sail. When I pointed the tarp at the wind, the trees offered some protection and the aerodynamic created a lift on the sides of the tarp instead of pushing them in. I had to adjust the stakes for that upward pull.

Of course if the tarp has doors, that helps even more. But the biggest change was to use skins so I could get the tarp between the trees first, then guy it out piece-by-piece instead of having the whole thing flail around.