I got in a quick weekend trip up to Sylvania this past weekend and had a layering challenge on the hike out.

I was pulling the gear back to my truck and the weather was about 28F with wet snow falling 1"+ / hour. I had a light base layer and my raincoat (same one I use in the soft water seasons). At the end of the haul, I am soaked with sweat because it just does not breath enough. Any significant unzipping to improve venting and the snow piles in and soaks you. Since I was ending at the truck, no big deal, easy to dry out and warm up. But if I was ending at a new campsite for the night, it would not be a good thing as I cold camp. No good way to dry stuff out.

I am looking to learn from this. How have other folks layered in these situations? Thanks!

Wool, wool and more wool. It keeps you warm even when it's wet soaking wet. I do not bring cotton or synthetics with winter camping/ice fishing unless I have wool on underneath (fleece, puffy jacket, softshell/raingear). Now that I live in Ely, I probably spend 20-25 days out in the BWCA each winter-its taken me a while to dial this in. Here's my system which works for me if its 35 degrees out or -50:

Light wool baselayer top and bottom
wool pants - keep you cool when trekking, insulate when not
ragwool sweater over baselayer
Puffy Vest (add/subtract depending on how warm you get hiking)
Heavy Wool Anorak (Lester River Bushcraft) - only wear trekking when its less than 25 below, this is mostly for camp chores or if its super cold

mid/heavy wool baselayer as backup in a dry bag for when I am not moving, get wet, or arrive in camp and it's super cold.

Added benefits of wool: Naturally flame retardant, MUCH more durable and long-lasting than synthetics, retains up to 60% of its warming properties when wet and absorbs less water than cotton when wet.

The situation you describe is possibly close to the worst you can get for trying to figure out the right gear for winter camping. Next worse is about the same temperatures but it is raining/sleeting. I hate that situation with a passion and will not go on a trip if that is in the forecast.

I agree that wool is still key for what Eric says, in that it will still retain heat even when wet. However, depending on the precipitation, a wool shirt can get pretty soaked and heavy. I usually have a spare wool shirt along, packed away in a waterproof bag. This is for if I ever go into the drink, I have a spare outfit ready to go in order to warm up. If your wool shirt gets too wet, you could swap out to the other one.

However, a spare wool shirt is bulky. So I sometimes bring a puffy coat that has a water resistance rating. Not waterproof, but resistant which works great for snow. It is also decidedly lighter and packs smaller then a wool shirt.

But I find the item that works the best so far is my canvas anorak. Unless it is raining terribly, the water usually just beads up on the exterior because of the waterproofing. Yet, because it is canvas, it is incredibly breathable keeping sweat to a minimum. On the day you describe, I would probably wear a long sleeved wicking shirt of merino wool and the anorak and be perfectly fine.

I think without being able to dry stuff out you would be in a tuff spot either way. I think I would just try to take it easy and make sure I have dry clothes to change into when getting to camp. That being said in wet cold I use light wool layers and a Empire Cotton Anorak up top, but in the snow that gets wet and icy also, but since I hot tent it's not a big deal for me to get stuff dried out.
Where in Sylvania did you camp?

I cold camp too. This is just my take, all of what the others have said is great. Wool works over a wide range of conditions, being comfortable often even when you think it's going to be too hot. I added wool (pants and shirts) to the lineup a few years ago and really love it.

But for the situation described I think for me a synthetic (polypro) base layer with a thin breathable shell over it would be ideal.

My experience is that polypro works well as a base layer, it doesn't absorb much water, and it dries quickly once the sweating stops, just from body heat. If getting into camp after a sweaty period of travel I would certainly have something dry to change into if necessary, but at 28 degrees I might just keep the slightly wet base layer on and let it dry out on its own. I have not made the upgrade to merino wool yet, since polypro has always worked great for me.

It took me years to find a breathable, snow and wind-resistant shell jacket that I liked. I kept using not-very-breathable coated nylon fabrics because that's all I knew about or could find or afford. As a result I've been dripping wet on the inside surface of my shell layer many times. It wasn't ideal, but it wasn't a death sentence either, since I always had synthetic base and insulating layers (polypro and fleece) that didn't soak up much water and retained most of their insulating value even when a bit wet. The reason the non-breathable shell got so wet on the inside is that the synthetic layers were wicking the moisture outward so effectively. The canvas anoraks that Minnesotian and Kraut mention would be great, but I never got ahold of one of those.

I eventually found that there are some Scandinavian companies that make lightweight, breathable (and not waterproof) shell jackets. I'm not sure why that sort of thing seems to be less common in the U.S., I think we've been over-sold on gore-tex. I'm currently using a Fjallraven Greenland jacket (the thin, unlined version) that I scored on ebay. It's an uncoated breathable cotton/poly blend. Fjallraven sells a bar of wax that you can melt into it with a hair dryer to make it water resistant, but I'm leaving it untreated to maximize breathability. I got a size big enough to fit loosely over other layers, and it's long enough to partially cover my legs. It also has lots of pockets which I like. For some reason they don't put a drawstring in the hood, but I plan to add that as well as a fur ruff when I get around to it.

Some other Scandinavian outdoor clothing brands are Norrona, Klattermusen, and Lundhags.

For rain I would either avoid it if possible or just use a raincoat and put up with the condensation on the inside surface.

For me in this situation a short sleeve base on top, with a goretex jacket with the pit zips wide open. Full Zip windpants for the legs with the lightest base layer- often with the side zips open from the knee to my waist. As you approach your destination slow down and slowly close the zippers as you begin to feel chilled. That will typically dry out your clothes on you. It is a difficult condition to be sure.

Thanks for all the comments and advice. Much appreciated. My base layers are mostly polypro and a few poly/wool blends. I do keep a "dunk bag" on me with spare dry clothes in the event of a swim like Minnesotian mentioned so that is always an option if absolutely necessary. A good outer shell is one of the shortcomings in my winter gear. I'll keep an eye out for end of season deals and on the resale markets.

Kraut - I was on Clark Lake. Did not go too far in. Winter camping is new for me this year so I am still testing different ways of doing things and wanted to keep a reasonably short hike if I need to bail out for whatever reason.

Thanks again.

Tough situation if the it is warm and snow falling heavy. You need rain gear protection. Maybe I missed it-what type of rain gear-gore tex?

Sometimes you just have to slow down or layer different-if you had long under wear on you could of taken it off.

Tough situation-been in the same scenario more than once. Like you we had the truck as destination to save me. other time close to severe hypothermia, but lucky we got a fore going. Second case if we would of limited ourselves and stopped for the day earlier it would not arise.

Winter is different and can be much more dangerous. More precautions need be taken.

It was gore tex rain gear. Was just pumping out more moisture than it could vent. I was down to the lightest weight base layer I had, but I definitely could have slowed my pace.

squirrelMN: "It was gore tex rain gear. Was just pumping out more moisture than it could vent. I was down to the lightest weight base layer I had, but I definitely could have slowed my pace."

In the winter with lie wet snow coming down it is tough to gt it right.

Nordic ski race baselayers by Daehie / Swix in either merino or polypro are really good in these conditions. The Birkie last year was warm ... high 20's to start and low 30's at the finish. Some people wearing short sleeved base layers only. They are made to pump the moisture out and away. Only catch is: they are made for really fit people :(