Channel: sintax77

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Tags: campingsolo campingtrail cookingtrail foodcamp cookingwinter campingsolo winter campingcampfire cookingbushcraftcamping foodhammock campingoutdoor cookingharpers ferryappalachian trailwest virginiawest virginia backpackingcampfirewinter hammock campingsurvivalsintax77hikingwild campingadventurecamp stove mealsoutdoorswinter camping alonebackpackingsolo backpackingwinter backpackingbackpacking food

Description: Hammock Camping, Trail Cooking and the search for an Elusive Hearth in the Woods of West Virginia. Thank you to Anker for sponsoring this video! Check out the Anker portable power stations here Anker 521 Portable Power Station：ankerfast.club/3rV460C Anker 535 Portable Power Station：ankerfast.club/3I3TP7O For this early February hammock camping trip, I set out to hike a 3 day hike with a nostalgic goal – to find a giant campfire hearth that my friend and I had built five years ago, somewhere off of the Appalachian Trail near the town of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. I had always wondered if it was still standing after all these years, and thought it would be a great excuse to spend some time in the woods and cook some hearty camping meals. My weather conditions were forecasted to have a pretty wide range during this trip, from the upper 50’s down to 30 degrees each evening. I had a rough idea of the hearth’s location. We built it at camp not too long after leaving the Harpers Ferry National Historic Area’s boundary heading south on the Appalachian Trail. My goal for the first day was to get myself to a legal camping area in this general area so I could search for it the next morning. If I found it early, I would have the option to do a day hike to Loudoun Heights and Split Rock for views of the Shenandoah River and Potomac River below the ridge. For sleep and shelter on this trip, I went with a simple hammock camping and ultralight tarp setup (gear list below). I used the extra space in my winter backpack to load up on extra clothing layers, a saw for harvesting firewood, a stool for working in my makeshift camp kitchen, and my white gas stove system paired up with a fry pan and diffuser to try my hand at baking some trail bread at camp. The cooler temps also allowed me to bring some “real” food, so I brought along some ingredients to make some smoked sausage one day and pasta with a slow cooked meat sauce the next. For an easier read and downloadable GPS data, check out my full blog post sintax77.com/3-days-of-campfire-cooking-and-winter-backpacking-harpers-ferry-west-virginia Trailhead: Lower Town Trailhead 171 Shoreline Dr, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425 39°18’54.6″N 77°45’19.7″W Located at the National Park Visitor Center. You can register for free to camp and park overnight at the back of the lot. Camping is not permitted within the park, so you will have to hike outside of the park a few miles on the other side of the river in order to legally camp. Trails Used Day 1 Lower Town Trail Appalachian Trail South Camp along the AT about 1/2 mile after exiting the NP This is an unofficial spot located on a shelf down from the ridge. Watch out for the white boundary signs below the ridge, and make sure that you camp on the correct side. This is a dry site, bring water. Day 1 Mileage: 3.3 miles (plus searching for the hearth, but hopefully you won’t have to do that!) Day 1 Gross Elevation Gain: 1,012′ Day 1 Gross Descent: 540′ Trails Used Day 2 AT North Loudoun Heights Trail Arrive at Split Rock for sweeping views of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and the town of Harpers Ferry with it’s numerous railroad bridges. Follow the AT South back to camp Day 2 Mileage: 5 miles Day 2 Gross Elevation Gain: 1,092′ Day 2 Gross Descent: 1,092′ Route Day 3 AT North Lower Town Trail Return Parking Day 3 Mileage: 3.3 miles Day 3 Gross Elevation Gain: 2,644′ Grand Total Mileage: 11.6 miles Grand Total Elevation Gain: 3,075′ FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through some of my links. Notable Backpacking Gear Fjallraven Kajka 75 Backpack amzn.to/2Uj8Ew4 Dutchware Half-Wit Hammock w/ Beetle Buckle Suspension dutchwaregear.com Hammock Gear Burrow 20 Top Quilt hammockgear.com HG Phoenix 0 Underquilt Hammock Gear Dyneema Hex Tarp Byer of Maine Trilite Camp Stool amzn.to/38xgTx1 Optimus Polaris Optifuel Stove amzn.to/2MoOno4 Stove Heat Diffuser amzn.to/3Ih7DvL MSR Flex Skillet amzn.to/2L4B4IT Light My Fire Mini Fire Steel Striker amzn.to/30S3rxm Toaks 750ml Titanium Pot amzn.to/30S3rxm Sea to Summit Long Handled Spork amzn.to/3lBguOW Potable Aqua Water Purification Tablets amzn.to/3uYZ1TP RevolutionRace Men’s Norwand Pants amzn.to/3G53ief Outdoor Vitals Adventure Jacket, Loftek bit.ly/3r4nhDI Nitecore NU25 Headlamp amzn.to/2YVsp0A Silky F-180 Folding Saw amzn.to/3Fi6F0l Benchmade Bugout Knife amzn.to/2JVfBS5 Sangean DT-400W Weather Band Radio amzn.to/3qy8UoM Packit Gourmet Backpacking Meals packitgourmet.com Spot X Satellite Messenger amzn.to/3adSjBr GoPro Hero 8 Black amzn.to/2D8n6lL GoPro Shorty Tripod Grip amzn.to/2MPhGOM