Winter Activity

Even though I enjoy hiking in the winter, I've noticed that I just don't seem to get out as much during the winter months ... and I was just curious if this is the same for others.

I work outside all summer and spend my winter at school in front of the computer watching cartoons or making/shopping for gear. It sucks being in a city in the winter with no car, there's not a lot to do, so a friend and i decided to pull big tires and plow the sidewalks when we're bored. It's good exercise and beats sitting at a desk all day or drinking beer, another winter favorite. But i still manage to piece together a couple week-long trips and a few week-enders with the buddies.

I don't go out as much during the winter, but like [b]Franc[/b], I make time for a few trips. During the winter you face different challenges that require some different skills so by going out it helps to hone your overall skills. I try to be well rounded in my ability.

Living in the Southeast, winter is relatively mild. I enjoy hiking and backpacking in winter.

I also love wade fishing in winter, a little sleet just tops it off.

I am in the South East. Winter is mild. My closest elevations are under 6400'. I love winter. It is so peaceful. Less crowded. Challenging at times. No bugs. The list goes on. I miss winter - all summer long.

Why do you think your trips are less frequent in the Winter?

When I was focused on whitewater I used hiking as a winter hobby to keep busy (and entertained). Maybe you could find a substitute for hiking during the cold months. Or find a partner that loves winter hiking and try that for a while.

Good thing all you folk do not live in California. The weather here is terrible and you would have to stay indoors in the city all the time. I, on the other hand have to suffer with bicycling or hiking every weekday and skiing and ice climbing in the Sierra most weekends, with the occasional rock climbing trip to Pinnacles.

See, the problem is that all year around here in the SFBay area, we have to suffer with monotonous weather - highs in the 60-80 range, lows in the 30-60 range, mostly sunny, with a few days of rain, when there is snow above 2000-3000 ft, though in Fall and Spring, the rainy days bring many feet of snow above 6000-7000 ft. Plus when it is dumping snow in the Sierra, we have to put up with the snowplows on the road, keeping all the snow off to the point we have to put the vehicle into 4WD (except our Subaru which is in AWD all the time). In the spring we have to put up with lots of whitewater in the rivers, calling for the kayaks to be pulled out of the garage.

So be glad you live in climates where you get to spend lots of time indoors taking care of exciting things like working on your income tax return (see, out here, we generally only have a couple days to do the taxes at the last minute, because of being forced to spend all that time outdoors riding the bike, hiking the trails, running the rapids, sliding down the snowy slopes, and all those terrible things).

So stay FAR AWAY FROM CALIFORNIA! You don't want to suffer from overexercising, overhiking, and overskiing!