by Dan Glass
Many people in the hiking community are serious, 3-season hikers. For them, the return of greenery and wildflowers spurs them into the woods as the weather improves from the dark, drab days of the first several months of the year. Sure, there might be rain and wind as April showers become May flowers, but not the snow and howling winds of Pennsylvania’s polar vortex days. After spring blossoms, summer seems to be the biggest opportunity for hikers—if only because people have more days off from work to enjoy the nice weather and take vacations. Next, autumn’s celebration of flaming foliage encourages hikers to hit the woods. In addition to being the last hurrah of nature and warm days, the season is perhaps the most picturesque time of the year (though I must say that, in spring, the magnolia and cherry blossoms try their hardest to create the ultimate beautiful, pastel world).
But one season has the potential to be the most scenic of all: winter. Although it’s our trails’ most barren time of year, winter offers beautiful ice formations and snow-covered scenery. This leaves me to wonder why more people aren’t out enjoying their winter days hiking.
The number-one reason, I’m guessing, is the cold. Sure, when out hiking, your internal engine is running nicely, but when you begin the hike, you really feel the cold and wind. The average person will want to bundle up. For instance, you could have a wicking shirt, a sweatshirt, a hooded pullover, and a jacket. If the temperature is down to about, say, 10°F, you might at first feel nice and warm—especially with a heavy pair of gloves and a knit hat—but as time goes by, you’ll heat up. You’ll probably want to shed some clothes, but here’s the thing: you’re stuck carrying or packing out those clothes until you get back to the car. This will get annoying really quickly. Thus my first tip for winter hikers is to bear the burden of cold at the start of the hike with a warm drink or a warm-up with initially quicker movements. Besides, when you’re seeing beauty, you probably aren’t thinking “cold.”
In addition to cold-weather clothes, something else to consider is the byproduct of being too hot: sweat. Uphill hiking creates sweat, and sweat gets nasty-cold on the back and chest when your exertion level slows down on level sections of trail. All that cold sweat is a recipe for getting sick, too. (Who wants to be sick at all—let alone when the weather is cold, gray, and wet?) For this reason, I once again recommend a get-tough approach in the early miles of the hike. I’m definitely not a fan of the cold, but I’d ditch the jacket and find a few good layers that work while pushing hard through the woods on that opening mile. Besides, I can listen to lots of great tunes—heavy and full of energy—on my smartphone that will help keep my mind off of Jack Frost.
What else? I’d suggest having some clothes to change into, just in case you do get damp. A T-shirt weighs next to nothing, and I’d rather be nice and dry than sick any day! I know many hikers are ounce-counters, but like I always argue for carrying more water than you think you’ll need, sometimes a few extra ounces just make sense. Personally, I’d rather risk being uncomfortable from carrying more water than risk being unsafe from carrying too little.
This leads us to a discussion about the next big inhibition: the ice. With ice-cold water comes the recipe for disaster known as hypothermia. For this, the beautiful Falls Trail at Ricketts Glen State Park—especially above the second waterfall on the bottom (Sheldon Reynolds)—requires crampons, an ice ax, rope, and confidence. (I also recommend trekking poles.) None of these things is optional. That’s why, during the winter, the Falls Trail is closed to all but experienced, properly equipped hikers, and these hikers need to sign in at the park office. I also recommend having a companion. There are plenty of KTA members who’d be willing to make the trek; you can also use Facebook groups to connect with like-minded people, such as the Pennsylvania Waterfalls group and the Hiking and Backpacking Pennsylvania group. During the winter at Ricketts Glen, I’ve hiked in areas that were truly beautiful. I went, and I saw, and I did. But I didn’t venture into places where I felt uncomfortable. (An essential quote for hikers to keep in mind comes from Ed Viesturs: “Getting to the top is optional; getting down is mandatory.”) Be smart. See and do, but know your limits.
When crossing ice, multiple factors must be taken into consideration. First, the thickness of ice: the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources says you need a 4-inch minimum ice thickness to traverse it safely. Then we need to consider how long a person can survive in cold water. If there is ice on the water, then that means the temperature is below 32°F; however, for moving water, we’ll assume the temperature is below 40°F. This means that a person falling into the water will be exhausted or unconscious in about 15 to 30 minutes. In 30 to 90 minutes, that person is history. (Facts courtesy of the U.S. Search and Rescue Task Force: http://www.ussartf.org/cold_water_survival.htm.) He or she will be weighed down, from the anchor effect, by wet clothes. Not a good situation. This means you need to follow the Aron Ralston Rule first (never go alone, take friends, don’t give in to your hubris) before you venture into potentially hazardous turf.
Thus there is the fear factor. Fear does prevent us from doing some things, but a healthy sense of fear equals respect. Learn from experts. Travel with others. Don’t get phony-tough. The phony-tough get thawed out in April. You’re good people. Be smart.
Buy the right gear. Don’t cheap out on essentials. You don’t always need the most expensive name-brand equipment, but there are some things you can’t do without—space blankets, good socks, fire-building materials, rescue and first-aid stuff, and extra food, for example. You can often find really good clothing at hunting stores. You don’t have to be hunkered down in the woods in freezing-cold weather to understand that hunters don’t like to be cold either, and what’s more, their cold-weather clothes are often meant for standing around perfectly still, trying to be quiet. Much of it is blaze-orange, yes, but you’re not on the ski slopes in a fashion contest. Your goal is to stay warm and be findable. For this, a little orange never hurt anyone.
This may or may not seem obvious, but many trails are accessible via dirt roads. Don’t expect them to be plowed. These roads can get thoroughly iced over, so you might have to find a safe place to park your vehicle and trek some distance over an icy surface to the trailhead. Also, many trails are steep. If you’re going to be doing these trails first, you might encounter a solid sheet of ice on a 60° angle at points. That was Spruce Knob for me last year. I’ve got some weight around the middle, and I found it hard to punch through some of the ice with MICROspikes because everything was so frozen. That’s extra effort, which is extra energy, which is extra time. Stuff to think about, you know? For this, be prepared with flashlights, headlamps, and the like. A 3-hour summer hike can easily become a 4- to 5-hour winter hike.
And oh, yeah, it’s cold out there. I’ve actually had the water in my CamelBak line freeze up. Water freezing up is the kind of thing that people might not think about before heading out (the same with granola bars freezing into bricks). Thus ask for advice from those who have been there. People who’ve done it know. Most people who know probably love to educate others, too. I bet there are a fair number of guys who, back when they were Boy Scouts, did Klondike derbies to go with hunters, hikers, ice fishermen, and all the other winter types (skiers, snowmobilers, snowboarders, ice climbers, and so on). If you’re worried about the freezing-cold nights of February, try going in late December or maybe on a Sunday in late November or early December. Borrow some gear if you’re unsure.
But please, don’t sit in the house for 4 months daydreaming about the mountains cloaked in green when you could be seeing them in white. There are many great Pennsylvania peaks, such as the Pinnacle on Blue Mountain near Hamburg, Berks County, that can be accessed fairly easily in the winter. Watch for icy rocks while you’re there, even if you’re wearing MICROspikes or chains, but by all means, get your pictures of those icy, snowy winter vistas of valleys, farm fields, and mountains.