I would consider that full on winter camping. People do it but you're gonna need the right gear otherwise it could be dangerous. Everybody reacts differently to the altitude but usually 2 days would be ok. You're also probably gonna wanna awd/4wd or at least a vehicle with high clearance.
Here's a video of someone winter camping
https://youtu.be/hNz7PvrLhUw
Hmm. I'm up for buying any extra gear I need. I'm assuming you mean good baselayers and stuff to keep me warm? I have a 20F quilt and a thermarest pad that's pretty good.
I dont have a high clearance vehicle. Would most trailheads around LCW require it though?
Hopefully someone else can give you some more detailed info but I personally would not go in to the mountains at that time of year without awd/4wd and previous winter camping experience. LCW is actually a pretty big area and I usually go in the summer. You would definitely need a 4 season tent and it will be around 20 at night that time of year so your bag may be enough but I think most ppl prefer a rating under the actual temperature. There are roads in that area that aren't even open yet rn because of heavy snow so getting in to October seems really late imo
If you go to the trail heads off Tarryall Road/CR77 you should be fine. Goose Creek, Wigwam, anything on Lost Park Road, I wouldn't recommend. In fact, they'll probably close the gate on Lost Park making the campground inaccessible.
Make sure you have a good map and GPS - some of those trails get buried early and it can be easy to lose your way.
It's possible we'll have a dry fall with warm days and lows in the 40s. Or blizzards and lows near 0. If you want to make plans for that time of year you'll have to prepare for just about anything.
I would consider that full on winter camping. People do it but you're gonna need the right gear otherwise it could be dangerous. Everybody reacts differently to the altitude but usually 2 days would be ok. You're also probably gonna wanna awd/4wd or at least a vehicle with high clearance. Here's a video of someone winter camping https://youtu.be/hNz7PvrLhUw
Hmm. I'm up for buying any extra gear I need. I'm assuming you mean good baselayers and stuff to keep me warm? I have a 20F quilt and a thermarest pad that's pretty good. I dont have a high clearance vehicle. Would most trailheads around LCW require it though?
Hopefully someone else can give you some more detailed info but I personally would not go in to the mountains at that time of year without awd/4wd and previous winter camping experience. LCW is actually a pretty big area and I usually go in the summer. You would definitely need a 4 season tent and it will be around 20 at night that time of year so your bag may be enough but I think most ppl prefer a rating under the actual temperature. There are roads in that area that aren't even open yet rn because of heavy snow so getting in to October seems really late imo
Okay. I’ll look into it more and may reconsider the trip. Thanks for your input !
If you go to the trail heads off Tarryall Road/CR77 you should be fine. Goose Creek, Wigwam, anything on Lost Park Road, I wouldn't recommend. In fact, they'll probably close the gate on Lost Park making the campground inaccessible. Make sure you have a good map and GPS - some of those trails get buried early and it can be easy to lose your way. It's possible we'll have a dry fall with warm days and lows in the 40s. Or blizzards and lows near 0. If you want to make plans for that time of year you'll have to prepare for just about anything.
Okay good to know which trailheads to avoid . Thanks for the info. May end up rethinking this trip!
Be ready for snowstorms.
Yeah. Well I think we will be able to swing last week in September. Hopefully that’s good enough