Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Clothing at Trail Camp?

Hi,

We are backpacking Whitney this weekend and will be staying at Trail Camp overnight. Could someone tell me if we will need to carry thermal underwear for the night. How comfortable will it be in 15deg sleeping bags? The intention is to save as much weight as possible...

Thanks in advance,
-AM

It depends if you take a thermorest or foam padding to go under your bag. If you do you should be comfortable. Thermal clothing isn't a bad idea for when you are not hiking.

There is a 15 F bag then there is really 15 F bag. Then you have to consider the ambient temperature. In other words nobody knows for sure. In most cases you'd be fine without the long underwear.

Bill

I was @ trail camp in mid August and I was glad I had my thermals. We got hit by early evening rain/hail storms both nights. The temps really drop. The days were great, shorts and t-shirt.

Matt

I would say a nice fleece jacket since the wind can become strong and cold. I used a 15 degree bag back in June and I was hot all night.

Matt

Your bag and tent should keep you warm enough - even if you get hit by some nasty weather. Keep in mind, though, that you won't be in your bag in your tent the entire time the sun is down. You'll be setting up, taking down, eating, peeing, getting ready to head for the summit, etc.

Travelling light is awesome; but, in my opinion, being at Trail Camp overnight without warm clothes would be miserable.

ericb is right. thermals is a good idea for trail camp, it gets really cold there. I have a 15F down bag, and I was glad I had my thermals.

If my concern was to pack light my thermals wouldnt be one of the the items I would consider leaving behind. After all, how much does a set of thermals weigh? I know that everything adds up but I would look elsewhere to lighten the load. When considering weight remember that water is very heavy. Since there are many places to get water on the way to trailcamp, dont overload yourself with H20.

Remember that layers are everything. So get some really light weight long johns. I have some summer weight polyproplene ones that are very thin. They work well in my sleeping bag, under my hiking pants, under my cross-ski pants and under my winter (-20 C) jogging pants.

I probably wouldn't want to carry thermals but a thin pair of poly ones will make your comfy at night and would allow you to race to that elegant outhouse in the middle of the night.

I agree with Demonguy. On all of my cold weather hikes, I bring a pair of synthetic long underwear. I got mine at Target. Just a simple pair of black, synthetics. They dry very fast if I sweat, and you don't mind being seen in them. *laugh*

With a +15 degree bag in the teens at night, I usually keep my bag partially open to cool down.

BV.