S Rim - Brrrrrr?!

[SA Bill]

I leave for BB in 9 days ( ) with the plan to spend one night up on the S Rim. I'm trying to travel light since I'll have so much water to carry. To that end (packing light), I was not planning to take any heavy clothing since I figured the temps up top would be pretty moderate this time of year. I've been watching the S Rim weather station temps and it's colder at night than I had expected. I was figuring low 60s or high 50s and it's been in the low 40s already. I'm taking a polypro long sleeve base layer, a long sleeve shirt, a fleece "hoodie" jacket, a lightweight rain shell outer layer and a polypro skull cap to top it all off. I'm not sure all that will be warm enough in the early morning when I hope to be up and about to get lovely sunrise pictures. I'm mildly cold natured and I can snuggle in the sleeping bag after sundown but I had planned to be up very early to get sunrise pics during that magic-light period just before and after the sun comes up. I guess I can get up, take pics and then crawl back in the bag until the sun warms things up a bit. I'm just surprised that the temps have been as low as they have been.
 
Oh well...we'll see how it goes as the trip gets closer. If the forecast calls for a front or something coming through, I'll have to re-evaluate my plans.
   Bill

[Al]

Bill, if you suffer hauling the old ratty down vest plus the stuff you listed, you will be snug enough to escape the bag and enjoy the sun going both down and up. 

Will Homero be satisfied with the number of pictures you take, perhaps not, but the rest of us won't hold that against you!

Al

[SA Bill]

I hear you Al!
Problem is...I just went to weigh the down vest and it seems that it disappeared in the "Great May 2008 Garage Clean Out" staged by my wife. Lots of stuff went to a church rumage sale so someone may be staying warm as a result of our garage clean out.    I'll look one more time but "old blue" (it was a baby blue color) may be history. I do still have a not-so-warm (sewn through seams) North Face down sweater. Problem is...it weighs 1 lb 7 oz, not counting something to stuff it in. That would put me just over 40 pounds but I may have to do it to be comfortable.
   Bill

[Al]

The older I get the more I appreciate how special and unique the moments spent in such a wonderful place are.  Enjoy!

Al

[Jim]

If you want to check out the temperatures up in the Chisos, there is a temporary weather station near the NE1 campsite at:

http://raws.wrh.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/roman/meso_base.cgi?stn=TS645&unit=0&time=LOCAL

I've seen low temperatures in the upper 40's in the past few weeks.

[SA Bill]

Thanks Jim!
I've been checking it sporadically for the last two months and more recently every day. I've seen the low temps getting lower...hence my concern about staying warm.

Seems to be off line or not updating this morning.  

On the plus side, if the temps are going to be so moderate, maybe I can carry less water. I'm using 6L as my target amount. If the days and night I'm doing this trip are cool, I wonder if I could safely cut the water back to 5L, which would offset the extra weight of the down sweater. I'd be ahead about .5 pounds.  
   Bill

[TheWildWestGuy]

Why don't you cut the water down to say 2L (enough to get you to Boot Canyon) and bring a lightweight water filter and more warm clothes instead?   Boot Canyon must be flowing like a trout stream these days and is probably about as clear and cold as a Colorado trout stream.  It seems like you are carrying a lot of water up from The Basin when you have a great supply just 1/2 mile or so below the rimrock.   Cut the water way back and carry the extra clothes - you can thank me when you get back... TWWG

[iCe]

It would be nice if you could get a trail report... but judging from the green splotches on the radar map nearly every day (lately) there's probably a lot of water available (not just Boot Spring). However... it's not always easy to get a trail report.

From the SW Rim at sunrise (last year in late Sept). 



Along the trail (last year in late Sept).

[Robert]

Bill,

You aren't taking much more than I do on our January backpacks when temps can get a lot colder. Can you wear all your layers at once? What thickness is the polypro layer? If it's a midweight or expedition weight I think you'll be fine. I try to make sure that my head and hands stay warm and double up on headwear and gloves (I usually don't bring a hoodie). The only difference for me is that I have a fleece jacket with some windbloc fabric and almost never need to use the rain shell jacket for warmth.

The other thing I make sure of is that I can change into something dry when we get to camp so will typically have two long sleeve shirts to swap out.

The other thing I wanted to mention was that we had a September car camping trip about 20+ years ago and camped in the Basin. A front blew through that dropped the temps to
at least 40 and maybe even cooler. So this time of the year you've got to expect every type of weather.

I'd follow WWG's advice and take less water except I'd take 3L and plan on drinking two before arriving at Boot Spring. I like to have an extra liter for "just in case".

[SA Bill]

Hmmm....my lengthy, well developed and expressed reply seems to have disappeared into the ether somewhere, never to be seen again.

Sooo...I'll cut to the chase.

WWG: I'm going up LM to SW3 or 4 so no water on the way. I'll carry 5L and see how it goes.

iCe: Great pics!! That's why I'm climbing back up there after 20 years.

Robert: I know first hand how the weather can vary in BB! I can wear everything at once so I think I'll be okay.

We'll see how it goes in about 8 days! 
  Thanks all!
    Bill

[SA Bill]

Right now, the temps have moderated to about where I was expecting. If they stay like this, I can forgo carrying the extra down sweater. Doing that keeps me well under my 40 pound target weight to start off. 
  Bill