late season question

[fillthefreezer]

well guys, ive got some cold feet about the late season.
we leave friay for our 10 day elk hunt and weather has been setting in.
ive never been in this deep or up this high, this late in the year, for this long. the last 3 years have been very mild for this week and so we made this game plan. this year we are finally getting some weather. should be around a foot of snow and i dont think its been up over 30deg since friday.
so, any last minute advice for backpacking in the late season?
thanks

 

[Wrongside]

Stay well fed, hydrated and dry. In 12" of snow, wear gaiters, always. Bring proper sleep system gear, staying well rested is paramount, IMO... But, most of all, have fun and take pictures! Good luck!

 

[fillthefreezer]

still hoping someones got words of wisdom to save us some harsh lessons up there!

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

Do you guys have a stove for whatever your shelter is? That alone can make all the difference in a late season hunt.

 

[fillthefreezer]

we dont have a stove as i dont have one small enough and my sl5 doesnt have a jack yet. best we can do is make a small fire near the opening to the tipi i think.
plan b i will have my spike tent and riley stove back at the truck if we just cant hack it in the cold anymore

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

How much snow is there, that makes a lot of difference for where they are living as well.

 

[fillthefreezer]

havent been up, best i can figure is 14" max in the highest basins where they were on 9/30, down to probably 4" at TH

 

[Grizbacker]

http://www.rokslide.com/forums/showthread.php?3627-Winter-backpacking-hunting-in-snow

Check out this thread. Similar question and I posted detailed answers there. Becca also had some great insight.

 

[fillthefreezer]

ended up being pretty rough and we bailed after a couple days and EVERYTHING was wet. weather warmed at last minute, rain 60 outta 72 hours. not sure what everyone does with that much wet gear?
it really tested my fire building skills. my shell was just as wet on the inside as out. saturday night was hard rain and WIND. pulled my rear guy stake out and the other 5 stakes pulled out around 2in. msr groundhogs.
snow was around knee deep to start then almost gone... river rose a couple feet in 48hr.

 

[Heather Stomper]

Get a tipi and stove, then run it til the pipe is red to the top and a foot of blue blue flame

We were in the same weather pattern someplace in the William O...lots of snow, rain, wind.
The 8-man tipi and stove was perfect for 4 and wet gear. We ate well, tagged an elk and had a great time.
No pics because the camera just wouldn't dry out and the rain never stopped!

Still...better than a great day at work

 

[fillthefreezer]

we were in the william o on wednesday.
i run an sl-5 and will be trying out the HPG homemade stove this winter.

yep, better then my best day at work...
did you have any bull tag?

 

[fillthefreezer]

we had a good plan B shelter...

 

[Heather Stomper]

Just OTC spike tags.
Would have been nice to have had one of those Stihl's to get at some dry wood

I built stove similar to HPG. I used threaded arrow shafts for legs, drilled a series of holes lengthways in the bottom to create better/constant draft. I built it to replace my Kif Para stove in the Para tipi and so far so good.

 

[fillthefreezer]

i would like to see some pictures of that and know what you used for the rest of the materials, its on my short list of upcoming projects. right behind my house woodstove and one of those stihls...