[at-l] Packing a Platy

[Dennis Gass]

<snip>
BTW2 -- I still use bottles in winter, since the line in my hydration
system 
froze on me and because bottles are easier to thaw/keep unfrozen longer.
Tip: 
Water freezes from the top down.  So the lid is the last to freeze on a
bottle 
<snip>

That sounds like some good advice.  I have done a lot backpacking in the
upper 20's and 30's which I consider to be about perfect for the night
time temps, but only one night of sub zero.  My 18 year old son just
invited me to go backpacking with him on the AT in Grayson Highlands
between Christmas and New Years for the week.  I have never been there,
but hear it feels cold there even in the summer so I imagine it will be
very cold during Christmas/New Years.  He said he doesn't want to cover
much mileage, just a couple per day.

If those of you with familiarity with the area and/or cold weather
backpacking would be willing to share the tricks of lessons learned in
the cold, I will be most appreciative.  I will be using a Mountain
Hardware down bag that was rated at -20F when I bought it 6 years ago.
It has been stored properly, and used maybe 25 nights.  I sleep cold and
have been comfortable in it on windy +20 degree nights with it battened
down.  The one night I spent a couple of years ago at Deep Gap on the AT
near the GA/NC border it got down to a couple of degrees below zero and
I was VERY uncomfortable for the 15 hours I laid in my bag waiting on
the sun to come back up to warm things up.  I may have screwed up by
climbing into it with all of my clothing on...couple of layers of fleece
and my rain jacket...gloves...etc.

I need all the tricks I can get to make this an enjoyable trip.