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  1. #1
    Senior Member Rhody Seth's Avatar
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    VIDEO: Winter Overnight in the White Mountains - Mt. Carrigain

    A few weekends ago I had a fantastic backpacking trip up Mt. Carrigain with my usual cohorts, marred only by a late night headache/stomach issue. Despite that, it was great to get back out into it. I met the guys at the Sawyer River Road Trailhead around 7:30 AM on a cold Sunday morn. A couple cars had been there from the previous day - Sawyer Pond camping perhaps? And a solo woman arrived and began hiking while I waited for my friends.

    The morning miles went by quickly thanks to good conversation and soon enough we were 4.5 mile in (including the two road miles). The steeps were about to begin and we decided to make camp at this point. Filled with machismo, originally we planned to camp at the summit but with strong winds forecast for the night all of us were happy to set up basecamp and lighten our loads before ascending. A fairly good snow began falling as we set up camp and I must say it was a nice change to get camp situated early in the day rather than at the end of a grueling slog.

    It felt like a long climb up to Signal Ridge. I suspect they added another mile of trail since the last time I was there. 😆 The lady who started early in the day passed us going back and another fellow passed us on the way up but that was all we saw. Finally we reached the ridge which provided a nice taste of winter conditions with snowfall but little wind. We arrived at the summit, glad in our decision to have camped down below, and spent a few minutes on the firetower before the cold winds sent us packing.

    Back at camp by 2:30 or so, we mulled the idea of getting a fire going but ultimately stuck to our stoves for warm drink. It was nice hanging out at camp for a couple hours, enjoying the company and battling the cold. Once darkness set in we all retired. I had hauled a lot of insulation on this trip, more than I needed really, but I was determined to be warm and comfortable. And so I was. I slept soundly right away but woke up around midnight to pee. Unfortunately I had a headache and a bit of nausea. Not sure what brought this one but it made for a miserable rest of the night. On the bright side, those quilts kept me warm until the predawn hours and I didn't have any leg cramps to speak of on this trip.

    Despite the poor night's sleep, it was a great trip. We trekked out over about four inches of fresh powder and the sun was shining down through the snow covered trees. This was my 35th peak for the Winter 48.


  2. #2

    Join Date
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    Great video! Being from Ga, it's hard to imagine that style of camping but looks like yall have the hang of it pretty well!

  3. #3
    Those gloves in the beginning look awesome

  4. #4
    Senior Member Rhody Seth's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Clisbyclark View Post
    Great video! Being from Ga, it's hard to imagine that style of camping but looks like yall have the hang of it pretty well!
    Thanks! Definitely a learning process to camp in those conditions but I'm starting to feel like I'm getting the hang of it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Clown Pusher View Post
    Those gloves in the beginning look awesome
    They are heated gloves that were sent to me by Wasoto to review. They proved effective on my initial test in cold conditions (-7 F overnight hang) and for shoveling snow after a storm. However on this trip I found them less helpful. I used them for a portion of the hike but they really didn't generate the heat I had experienced on my previous tests. I think the issue was that I kept the batteries in the gloves, which were in the back of my pack all day exposed to the cold. I'm going to try another test where I keep the batteries warm with body heat and then only put them in the gloves when I need them. Here's my initial review of them.


  5. #5
    psyculman's Avatar
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    Thank you for your video. You go out there and suffer, I watch and note what works and doesn't work, and suffer from other things. It's all good!
    Since I retired, some times I stay awake all day, some times all night.

  6. #6
    Senior Member Rhody Seth's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by psyculman View Post
    Thank you for your video. You go out there and suffer, I watch and note what works and doesn't work, and suffer from other things. It's all good!
    For every thing that I improve, some new issue arises. All part of the process! And then the seasons change and I'll need to pivot again. Thanks for watching!

  7. #7
    Senior Member
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    I suffer from cold hands in winter. I have found that a pair of glomits with a light pair of gloves inside work well for me.
    Also how did you pack all that gear in your pack? Most would seem to pull a pulk.

  8. #8
    Senior Member Rhody Seth's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Longwinters View Post
    Also how did you pack all that gear in your pack? Most would seem to pull a pulk.
    The bag was filled to the brim, that's for sure. I bought a new compression back and packed down all those quilts as much as I could. As for the pulk question - our trips up in the Whites always involve steep terrain not suitable for pulks. We plan these trips around hitting summits, are often doing point to point hikes and are usually camping deep in the mountains. This was probably the rare trip where we could of made use of a pulk on the hike in, though I imagine the water crossings would have been challenging in that regard.

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