I had the opportunity to hike from 9000' down to the valley floor. A cell tower company had to dig open a road with heavy equipment to do some sort of repairs so I had my wife drop me off at the pass that is usually closed for the winter.
The weather has been mild lately and I thought the snow would be packed/crusted enough for me to walk on it with out snow shoes and luckily it was, mostly.
Hiking on the sunny side of the draw kept me from sinking more than a few inches in the snow, I only broke thru a few times up to my knees, so it wasn't too bad of a walk and once I got down to about 7500' the snow wasn't that deep anyways. I camped at about 6800' and the snow was only a few inches deep, so not too bad.
I never tried my hammock overnight in the winter so I was very cautious in setting everything up. I wanted my back only a few inches above the ground to try and keep the wind from affecting me too much.
For sleeping my set up was the hammock, a Thermarest Trailpro inflatable pad, my old woobie, a Cat's Meow 20degree bag with a Wilderness liner. And a silnylon tarp.
I only packed 2 meals plus snacks, so pack weight was about 25lbs without water. I also brought my Hultafors axe because I never get to play with it much and I knew this hike would be easy at only 6 miles and all down hill.





There was a few signs of predators but not much moose sign, I was hoping to pick up a shed or two as I've found them in this area before. I saw old and fresh wolf and mountain lion sign.


I made it down to what I assume was an old mine site, there some remnants of an old road and a few placer signs around. I was hoping to find some old tools or other abandoned crap laying around but I didn't see anything useful.
Remnants of an old road:






I tried this stuff for supper and it was horrible, I'm not sure where it came from, I think one of my friends gave it to me. But it was flavorless, gritty mush. I added pepper and creole but it didn't help. I'll stick with Mountain House for the rest of my packing needs.

I don't usually make a fire but I did this time, plus I wanted to play with my axe.



The wind picked up and the temp started to drop so I went to bed as the sun was going down, about 19:00. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my life since I lost my job, so some extra quite time did me some good.
The temp dropped to 12degrees overnight but I didn't get too cold with all my layers, but I wasn't exctly warm either.
My knot on the one corner came undone in the wind at night, and I was glad to see the sun come peaking up.



My new squeeze Sawyer filter work great, way better than my old MSR pump, thanks for the recommendation Rock6. Water was a little tricky to get to, standing on the shelf ice, listening to it crack while leaning over to reach the water was exhilarating to say the least.


I had some coffee and toasted poptarts for breakfast and headed out of there as it looked like a storm was coming in. it was getting dark and the wind was picking up. The last half mile was anti-climatic sage brush, but I turned around and took a pic when I reached the road where my truck was parked.
The top where I started was behind the clouds, with a storm coming in quick. The weather channel said it was going to be sunny.


It was a fun trip, a little cold and I still haven't figured out what I'm gonna do now. But better than staying home and watching tv.

2 things I would bring if I ever do this again are a pad to sit on, maybe one of those foam pads made for hunters and I also need something to stand on when taking my boots/clothes off to get in the hammock. Maybe an old foot print from one of my tents.
I had to use my jacket to stand on, and I wasn't a fan of that.

I'll probably just stick with my tent for future winter hikes/hunts... I hope you enjoy.

Looks fun. Thanks for the report.

I hang for most of the year, but by later October, I switch to the tent.

Glad you got out.

Keep up the search for work and hopefully it's something to enjoy and not just pay bills.

Also, it's good to see the Sawyer working.  Pools like that actually benefit the longer intake tube of most pump filters, but I still like the Mini as my primary for most conditions.
.
12-degrees is pretty cold for a hammock without an under-quilt!  I have a specific pad that I use as a seat and stand on when getting into and out of the hammock...highly recommend it.  For cold weather, I add my under-quilt and still used a section of closed-cell foam.  Warbonnet's Superfly with the door flaps are a must when cold and windy.  We stayed at a State Park in North GA when wind chill was in the low teens...it was more windy than cold, but enclosing that hammock make a huge difference.  I actually looks like a tall tent if set up right.  

These are the best seasons to test your gear and skill.  Glad you had the opportunity...

ROCK6

I'm going to try one of those underquilts sometime. I'm not really in a position to be spending money on non-necessities right now though, so it will have to wait.

I do most of my backpacking in the summer, but an underquilt may still be handy, especially at higher elevations where it still gets cold at night even in july and august.

Looks like a fun and relaxing time.  It's pretty likely that this time of year that you are the only person in the woods for miles.

Congrats on your first outing!

It looks like you might want to turn that tarp so you have full coverage over the hammock. As for the UQ, check out the Jarbidge. It's a synthetic so it doesn't pack down real small but it works and it's inexpensive. It's not uncommon for Paul to drop it to $89 for holidays. It's only a 3/4 but you can always throw in a small foot pad.

I just put my new Dream Hammocks Thunderbird in the backyard and so far I'm digging it. The wind was whipping today and having the overcover was awesome!

Yes it did look like fun! Hope you enjoyed yourself!!!
Like you said, beats setting at home watching TV!(or commenting on AR15)LOL
Hope you fine something soon! Like many, I too lose my job after 33 years.
They just moved around the corner. Did not want us old farts going with them.
Good luck! Hope you are not giving up on hammock camping!
Think your wife would join you, in warmer weather?
Thanks for posting!!
Next outing more pictures, please!!!

PITA45

I normally do, but I wanted to put it long side perpendicular to try and block as much wind as I could. I don't think it worked though.




Yes, she likes to camp, so long as it is warm.

Sounds like my wife. I love the cold camping.

I haven't tried hammock camping yet but both the wife and I want to give it a try when we have some more equipment money.

Yeah, my wife loves backpacking, hiking and camping...she loves it so much she started an outdoors club in her middle-school and just did an 8-mile hike yesterday with a half-dozen kids and a few parents.  She's also done a few long-distance solo-hikes (just make me jealous if I can't get out of work). She doesn't care too much for cold-weather camping either and as much as she loves her hammock, once it gets below 20 degrees she tells me to pull out the tent.  If it warms up during the day/afternoon, she can handle colder temps, but if it's cold all day, she'll "opt-out"

ROCK6

Says vegetarian, that might be the problem





 

Looks like a nice time out. Good luck with your job hunt.

Yeah, I noticed that after I started eating the filth.... never again with that shit.



Thank you.

Great pics!

Just a thought here for cold weather camping.....

Eat right before you go to bed and keep some food close to you.   During the night, eat something.  Preferably something that takes some time to digest.  I like bagels.  Eat a bagel about halfway through the night and you'll sleep a lot warmer.

Especially if you have to wrassell a hungry critter in the middle of the night who also wants your delicious midnight snack!  

(This may be a good suggestion, but I have been so steeped in the "no food in tents or laying around the camp / put your food up and out of the way in bear bags" camp training it just tickled my funny bone, since I had a mental image of a guy flipping out of his hammock trying to fend off an inquisitive and hungry critter. Maybe the rules are different for winter camping? I am a girl, and also prefer to wait for a bit warmer temps for camping, so do not know much of anything about camping when there is all that white stuff laying around on the ground.)

I hang my food away from camp when bears are around. I don't usually worry about it this time of year though.

I like peanut butter on crackers before bed. I'm a cold sleeper so I need all the help I can get.

I had a bear sniffing around my tent once while on a solo backcountry deer hunt. I was more concerned about shooting my .300winmag in the confines of my tent than I was of the bear. I could just picture my eardrums turning to liquid inside my skull..... The bear moved on after a minute or so. He probably got a wiff of my boots...

On the rare occasions I'm in the woods with others I put smelly things in their tents. Keeps me safer.

Bears hibernate....so I wouldn't worry about them.  I normally keep my stove and some packages of hot chocolate near my sleeping bag and the water in my sleeping bag to keep it from freezing for when I get up in the morning.  It's nice to drink something warm before getting out of the sleeping bag in the morning.  If it's very cold outside, I always eat something about 1/2 way through the night.  I sleep a lot better and warmer.