Professional Soldiers ® - Hiking suggestions for a 3 week training trip (Dec 12-Jan12)?

Quote:

Originally Posted by amatlis (Post 297558)

Are you guys suggesting I hike the AT in winter or more generally when the weather is warmer? The Southwest is looking better to me right now for the snow reasons. Warmer weather and beautiful scenery. Should be safe if I confine myself to day trips. Less technical compared to hiking through snow and searching for buried paths.... Is this correct? I'm not shying away from a good workout and I do think snow is beautiful, but I will be on my own with possibly no cellphone signal if I lose my way.

Aside from the challenges and associated risk of hiking the AT in dead winter, you're not going to experience much of the scenery that you'd find in, say, the spring time. My personal opinion is that even day hikes on the AT would be a little boring. Plus, there's not the dramatic elevation change that you'll find in the SW.

If I were planning your trip, I'd stick to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park with several 3-5 day hikes. Throw in a 2-day Mt. Whitney summit, and some additional High Sierra routes and you've got the makings of a good challenge. You'll still need crampons/ice axe, and highly reliable cooking/H2O filtering equipment though. Dec in the High Sierras can provide some very spontaneous weather.

While most of the trails will be covered in snow, nearly all of them in the Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks are pretty hard to wonder off of. They are very well maintained and the backcountry is thoroughly patrolled even in winter.