crampons yak trax/etc

[ATaBoy]

If one is to start from in Springer late March, are crampons etc needed or would they be dead weight in a pack?

[Tinker]

Dead weight. I've hiked Georgia twice in March, this year & 2006. Had about 1/2" of snow this year, none in '06. I would buy some bicycle toe straps and put some small nuts and bolts through them and use the as is instep crampons. Had record low temp. at Deep Gap of 14 degrees, though.

[Tinker]

Sorry for above post typos. Computer doesn't like whiteblaze.

[Slo-go'en]

Sorry for above post typos. Computer doesn't like whiteblaze.

MS Explorer doesn't like WB. I have better luck with Foxfire or Chrome.

Anyway, chances are good you wouldn't need any traction aid in late March except maybe in the Smokies, so it could be a good idea to have them available to be sent to you if it looks like you'd need them when you get to the GSMNP.

[Another Kevin]

The received wisdom seems to be: Kahtoola Microspikes or Hillsound Trail Crampons. Real crampons are overkill, but Yaktrax don't stand up to anything beyond shoveling the driveway. Send them home from Erwin, or if the weather is still chancy, keep them until you've done Mount Rogers.

I live Up North, so I wind up carrying my Microspikes until mid-May most years. Spring comes sooner Down South, though. We got our first snow squalls down in the valley today, so I've got my spikes out of the closet ready to go at need.

[bigcranky]

Microspikes. Yaktrax actually work ok for a weekend hike if it's not too icy but I wouldn't trust them on really rocky icy trail.

[Traveler]

Once first snowfall arrives, the microspikes go into my pack and stay there through the melting of ice on the trail treadway. YakTrax have proven unreliable and fail a lot on difficult terrain of snow and rock, potentially leaving you stuck in a difficult descent. Its a little additional weight, but imagine being laid up with a busted leg or arm due to a fall because you didn't have them. On that chair, would you look back and agree an additional pound would not have been unreasonable given the outcome?

[CarlZ993]

You could have a light snow/ice year starting in March. Or not. I didn't in 2013. I'd carry MicroSpikes if I were to do it again w/ a March 21st start. I didn't & I wished I did. Saw some nasty, trail-ending falls on the ice.