Hi folks... I'm going to get the chance to do some hiking in the US from perhaps the end of October onwards, after a work trip to Boston which I'll have to pack for soon, and will try and stick to one do-it-all set of gear.

Haven't ever hiked in the US, so any guidance appreciated... Temperatures? Bugs at night? Do I need a high wind handling shelter? Hard to peg ground at campsites or easy? Hard to find spots for large footprint shelters or easy?

Bonus points if you can suggest good strenuous weekender trips (say 20 hours walking) within reach of the city, but anything longer will have to wait till end of Oct sadly... probably not ideal timing with days getting shorter and winter approaching.

Have got a pretty big spread of gear that's served me well for all seasons here in New Zealand, but I can't take it all with me, and even my warm set of gear it wouldn't be that comfortable below about 15 F at night. NZ winters look pretty mild when I read that -50 F was recorded in Vermont. Also would prefer to leave the ice axe and crampons at home I think.

If November is already too cold and dark in New England, where would you go in the US if you had 2-4 weeks ?

Edited by adrianb on 07/06/2012 21:12:09 MDT.

Bugs will be non existent.. cold however will be. While car camping on climbing trips late in the fall i'll use my 15 degree with layers or my 0 degree bag at 500' elevation. up in the mountains it will be colder. definitely expect teens or lower.

If you are thinking of doing stuff that late in NH/VT then microspikes are a good idea to at least have.

you can click back or search for time frames and look at what happened this winter
http://www.newenglandtrailconditions.com/