All my posts about Hercules Glades Wilderness presented in chronological order. Click here to see the pictures of Hercules Glades Wilderness without all the text.
-
Hammock camping in the snow
Day Two
Hammock camping in the snow. 7:20 a.m. and it’s been snowing for around nine hours. I was nice and cozy in my hammock. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Keeping my nose and ears warm
Keeping my nose and ears warm. I’m just out of bed, and I didn’t bother to remove the buff I use to keep my nose and ears warm while I sleep. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Wintery view from my hammock
Wintery view from my hammock. Copyright © 2024 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Hammock camping in the snow, January 2025
Hammock camping in the snow, January 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Hammock camping in the snow, January 2025
Hammock camping in the snow, January 2025 Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Hammock camping in the snow, January 2025
Hammock camping in the snow, January 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. The ‘doors’ on my bad weather tarp help keep the weather out and the warmth in. I could have set the tarp closer to the ground, but I prefer more standing room.
-
Snow covered treetops
Snow covered treetops. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Gary camped here
Gary camped here. There was a fair buildup of snow around the edge of the tarp from where the snow kept sliding off. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. My first lesson of the day was that everything seems to take twice as long when it is cold and there is snow around. It takes time to ensure the snow is brushed off of everything and to keep wet items away from my dry gear.
My second lesson of the day was that, in my opinion and experience, Mountain House Chicken Teriyaki is almost vomit-inducing and only fit for the trash. You might wonder why I was eating Chicken Teriyaki for breakfast. Well, I wasn’t planning on going out so soon, and my new order of freeze-dried food hadn’t arrived when I left, so I had to make do with what leftover packets there were.
With constant snow and/or snow falling from the branches it was a full wet weather breakdown of camp. That requires keeping the tarp up until last and working in the confined space under it. At least it kept the snow off of me and my stuff.
My trail clothes for the snowy conditions were:
- Cap with a wool hunter orange beanie, and a buff to keep my ears warm.
- Merino wool top, with my shemagh, light down jacket, and my rain shell over that.
- Ginger’s gloves. 🙂
- Bass Pro base layer bottom with Bass Pro rain pants over, and these were both tucked into my Sealskinz socks.
- Inside my Sealskinz socks, I wore a pair of Marino wool crew socks. The Sealskinz socks are normally cold, probably because of the moisture evaporating from the outer fabric. I thought adding a pair of socks inside them would help keep my feet warm. Spoiler alert — I didn’t have cold feet at any time with this arrangement. It worked perfectly.
- My Xero trail running/gym shoes.
By one-thirty, I had everything packed away and was ready for the trail. I worked out a rough compass bearing and off I set.
-
Winter view from Hercules Glades Wilderness
Winter view from Hercules Glades Wilderness. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. When I set off, I discovered that when bushwhacking it was much more difficult to find and keep in view the points I was going toward. Everything looked very samey when smeared with snow.
Even so, it didn’t take long to get to the forest road that leads back to the trail. Some helpful neighborhood deer had been using the forest road, making it very easy to follow. I just had to watch out in case they decided to leave the road at any point.
In all, it took me twenty minutes to get to the trail, which was pretty good going.
I was sure I could see where the trail ran up the hill to the east. There was the downed tree that you had to skirt around, but the trail didn’t look right beyond that. Off I went, only to be blocked by another fallen tree. I spent a short time wandering around before deciding to go in what looked like the right direction, and pretty soon, I was confident I was on the trail.
There must be a few little Bermuda Triangles along this part of the trail!
Staying on the trail wasn’t easy. The snow weighed down the scrubby trees’ branches, effectively hiding the trail’s route and dumping lots of snow on both me and my pack. The only indication of where the trail might be was the slightest indentation in the snow.
I lost the trail two or three times. Interestingly, where I often lose the trail even when the conditions are good. There must be a few little Bermuda Triangles along this part of the trail!
The good news was that the snow was deep enough to make walking over ice and rocks much easier than it had been the day before. Out in the open glades, it was easier to follow the trail’s open gap in the grasses. I got that idea for spotting the trail in the snow right!
-
The trail wasn’t always obvious
The trail wasn’t always obvious. There was a slight indentation where it ran, and I’d already figured out to look for the gap in the grass stalks. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
