[pct-l] Winter backpacking: any good books?

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning, Cosmic Cat,

I applaud your interest in snow travel/camping skills; I hope you find your
experience as rewarding as it has been for me over many years.



First, I need to say that PCT hiking – particularly in the Sierras -- is not
a winter snow experience any more than it’s an alpine mountaineering
experience.  Serious winter hiking/camping practitioners speak knowingly of
travel over fresh show, in sustained frigid temperatures, with the only
recourse being to camp on/in the snow while abiding the vary long nights in
the North Country.  In the Sierras during the PCT hiking season one is most
likely to hike over intermittent firm showpack, wearing shorts and a
tee-shirt – perhaps a windbreaker -- enjoying long days of bright sunlight.
Actually camping on PCT snowpack is rare and can usually be avoided.



The PCT in season won’t be particularly cold; possibly a bit below freezing
some of the nights.  That’s in contrast to serious winter camping where I’ve
slept out under the stars through nights where the glass dropped to -22 deg.
F.  New snowfall will also be fairly rare – possibly a few inches of fluffy
stuff overnight.



Some dawdlers or late-starters may encounter fresh snow and winter-like
conditions in the North Cascades, but that can usually be avoided.  Besides,
by then a hiker’s skills are greater and their fears are fewer.



Much of the first-rate winter travel and camping experience comes from the
19th and early 20th century fur trappers and traders in Canada, Alaska, and
to some extent the upper U.S. Midwest.  They didn’t just spend an odd
weekend in the snow; they lived out there the entire winter.  As a result
the books of that time most closely focus on trapping how-to, or are
interesting adventure tales of trappers or traders.  Much of their
technology and methods are out-of-date for us.  Who would spend a long night
in a tarp lean-to in front of a banked, reflector fire wrapped in a pair of
wool Hudson’s Bay blankets or an Indian rabbit fur robe?



Among reasonably current – 1968 – books on winter travel and camping I like
*Paradise Below Zero* by Calvin Rutstrum.



Merry Christmas,



Steel-Eye

Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09


On Mon, Dec 20, 2010 at 7:50 PM, Cosmic Cat <cosmic.cat144 at gmail.com> wrote:

> I have always been intimidated by winter. But Ned's posts are helping me
> realize that the right gear and the right skills can make winter fun!
>
> So are there any good books on winter and snow travel? I would like
> something rich in both theory and practice,  sort of the 'Beyond
> Backpacking' of snow.
>
> Goodness
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