Weather Harper's Ferry and north in March

[Bradwigg]

Anyone have any temperature advice on this section at this time of year? Need to know if my gear can cut it.

[chknfngrs]

Routinely can be 20's overnight, wet, cold, windy, snowy, icy. On the rare that it gets up to the 40's overnight. It's still very much a winter shoulder season at that point. Perfect for backpacking!

[chknfngrs]

Did you buy into an AWOL book or Guthook app yet?

[rafe]

March is still pretty raw.

[Lauriep]

The comments above are spot on.

I have some photos from recent years in March that illustrate that a few inches of snow in March is not unusual. A couple of decades ago, we got more than 3 feet in early March, and some years there have been ice storms or persistent ice on the Trail--but recently the snow or ice hasn't lasted long in March. There are some years we see no snow at all after February. I know you asked about temperature, not weather per se, but snow and ice definitely affect your gear choices.

The best gear tip comes from a photo of our neighbor's cat, who still is drawing his furry paws around his face in front of the wood stove on March 28.

You don't say how long you are planning to be out.

If you--or anyone else reading this--is contemplating a long-distance hike starting north from Harpers Ferry, it's definitely too early for optimal conditions unless you are a confirmed winter hiker and love the possibility of solitude night after night (except when encountering the spring break hikers). That's not to say that we don't occasionally have warm spells when temperatures can be unseasonably mild--maybe even 60s or a freakish 70s--but you certainly can't plan on it. Except temps overnight to be below freezing.

The interesting and well-written thru-hike account, A Child's Walk in the Wilderness, recounts the thru-hike of an 8-year-old boy and his father who start north from Harpers Ferry on March 9 (the thru-hike was the boy's idea). They hike through winter, flirting with spring off and on (I remember some wonderful wildflower photos from their Facebook page), until they get snow in Vermont, and head back to Georgia to hike. The primary impetus for the unusual itinerary of their 3-part thru-hike was to reduce their exposure to Lyme disease.

[Bradwigg]

The comments above are spot on.

I have some photos from recent years in March that illustrate that a few inches of snow in March is not unusual. A couple of decades ago, we got more than 3 feet in early March, and some years there have been ice storms or persistent ice on the Trail--but recently the snow or ice hasn't lasted long in March. There are some years we see no snow at all after February. I know you asked about temperature, not weather per se, but snow and ice definitely affect your gear choices.

The best gear tip comes from a photo of our neighbor's cat, who still is drawing his furry paws around his face in front of the wood stove on March 28.

You don't say how long you are planning to be out.

If you--or anyone else reading this--is contemplating a long-distance hike starting north from Harpers Ferry, it's definitely too early for optimal conditions unless you are a confirmed winter hiker and love the possibility of solitude night after night (except when encountering the spring break hikers). That's not to say that we don't occasionally have warm spells when temperatures can be unseasonably mild--maybe even 60s or a freakish 70s--but you certainly can't plan on it. Except temps overnight to be below freezing.

The interesting and well-written thru-hike account, A Child's Walk in the Wilderness, recounts the thru-hike of an 8-year-old boy and his father who start north from Harpers Ferry on March 9 (the thru-hike was the boy's idea). They hike through winter, flirting with spring off and on (I remember some wonderful wildflower photos from their Facebook page), until they get snow in Vermont, and head back to Georgia to hike. The primary impetus for the unusual itinerary of their 3-part thru-hike was to reduce their exposure to Lyme disease.

Thank you for the incredibly insightful response! My wife and I plan on heading out for a month. We're trying to figure out what gear we need to bring. We're not unfamiliar with camping in sub-freezing temps. My biggest gripe is the trail conditions after the snow melts. Yuck. We are hoping to avoid some of the crowd so solitude is a big plus.


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[Bradwigg]

Routinely can be 20's overnight, wet, cold, windy, snowy, icy. On the rare that it gets up to the 40's overnight. It's still very much a winter shoulder season at that point. Perfect for backpacking!

Sounds great! Thanks!


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[Bradwigg]

Did you buy into an AWOL book or Guthook app yet?

Guthook yes. AWOL not yet.


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[DeerPath]

Routinely can be 20's overnight, wet, cold, windy, snowy, icy. On the rare that it gets up to the 40's overnight. It's still very much a winter shoulder season at that point. Perfect for backpacking!

Ditto.................

[Coffee]

March is still pretty raw.

Probably the coldest night I've ever spent out was in mid March in SNP, not terribly far from the area referenced. I hiked out the next day. That evening there was a 1-2 ft snow dump. Still very much winter.

[rafe]

I visited Harpers Ferry mid-March of this year and it just happened to be on a gorgeous day, where for a while in the afternoon it was close to 70 degrees. There was still snow on the ground in places, which had fallen just a few days before.

But that was a very exceptional day. In mid-May, on a bike trip through that same area, it was downright chilly, and when I was in HF it went down to about 40 overnight.

[Slo-go'en]

It depends on when in March. Early March - stay home. Late March, you should still stay home but might have better weather. In general, March is a pretty rough month anywhere on the AT, all the way from Georgia north.

Mid April turned out to be a decent time to start out from HF this year. I don't think I'd want to push it much earlier.

[Coffee]

Mid April (tax day) was nearly perfect starting north from Rockfish Gap a couple of years ago. Several SNP waysides were open, chilly nights, bright clear days in the 60s and 70s ... doesn't get much better than that, except maybe in October.