Appalachian Trail (AT) Happiness: Snow Hiking Tips

A snowy day in the Himalayas coming down from Gorak Shep

If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk. ~Raymond Inmon

Given that the almost snowpocalypse has me relatively trapped indoors today I thought I would take some time to run down some resources and tips on hiking in the snow and ice.  These will be specific to reasonably walkable snow, not the stuff you have to snow shoe over.  I have to admit one of my favorite things to do is to be out in the forest when there is a big snowfall occurring.  I love the sound dampening effect of a big snow storm, the ability to read tracks easily and how beautiful everything is in a coat of fresh snow.

Of course, it’s everything else about the snow I can’t stand, driving in it, the clean up, the ice afterwords, mud season in the spring as it melts, which is one of the reasons I moved to California 25 years ago.  However, back in the Northeast prepping for my thru-hike, here I am again, so let’s get something useful out of today’s storm.  Hope these are interesting and helpful and have a happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane

Snow and Ice Hiking Tips/Resources:

The absolute basics from REI but good solid information.

Again pretty basic but a nice quick piece by the Matador Network

The piece by the Washington Trails Association is a bit more technical and very good.

From Backpacking.net a set of technical tips including snow shoeing tips.

Great tips on sleeping warmer and setting up a tent in the snow from Mountaineersbooks.org.

A couple of nice tips and a one good one in the comments from Backpacker.com

Really concise and solid piece from The Clymb

OTHER PIECES YOU MIGHT ENJOY…

And so it begins, Appalachian Trail (AT) or bust!

Appalachian Trail (AT) Happiness: Walking in the Rain

Himalayan Travelogue