AT thru hike mid feb. departure

I would wait at least a month to use that setup. The only way for it to even remotely work is if you sleep in everything you own and even then I bet you would be cold. You say you want to be good down to 0 but you are relying on all your clothes to take you down 25 degrees from the rating of your sleeping bag. That is a big difference in temperature. Too big of a gap for my tastes.

Dropping weight after the Smokies is a bad thought to even mention even if just for an example. Plenty of cold still to come after that, especially for this early of a start. You always hear to drop the winter gear after Mt Rodgers, but I have heard recently a suggestion to wait until mid may which sounds more reasonable. That puts you three months in so therefore up past Harpers Ferry before going completely over to summer gear.

I agree with above. A 25 degree bag isn't going to cut it with that early of a start. You probably need something closer to 10 + clothing.

I would anticipate that you are going to be walking through and sleeping on a lot of snow with a mid-Feb departure. Will that egg crate pad alone provide enough insulaton? Will liner socks + shoes with a mesh upper keep your feet warm while postholing and in camp? Would gaiters and a set of microspikes be beneficial?

In addition to the above comments on your sleep system, those are the first questions that come to my mind. I saw snow on top of Springer Mtn. the first week of April a few years ago. Also got a foot of snow in late April in the Smokies. I used my 15* bag through April and sent it home when I reached Damascus.

I would take that YTBM half bag or 45* quilt in addition to the 25* topbag to start at a minimum. Would also take the insulated air core in addition to the egg crate pad. ymmv. Good luck. Should be quite a trip. Enjoy.

Gotta agree with everyone else here, I just don't think you have enough insulation to deal with probable conditions this time of year. I have been on a number of early spring trips in the Smokies, and it is usually still deep winter on the divide. On a thru-hike you'll be spending at least one night between Clingman's and Tricorner; Leconte has seen nighttime temps well below 0F recently, and I've spent two different nights at Tricorner where temps were around 0F. I would expect these conditions from Newfound Gap to Rodgers this time of year.

FYI I have begun planning an AT thru-hike starting next January and I'm planning on bringing a WM Antelope and down pants and hoody, total top-layer loft about 5"-5.5". A similar setup kept me really warm a couple weeks ago on an 8F night high in Linville Gorge. Tried my Marmot Hydrogen in nearly the same spot with the same layers on an 12F night; I didn't freeze, but I'm glad I didn't have to do another night like that.

I guess I was banking too heavily on my jacket for warmth. Its made with the same amount of insulation as what I would consider a 20-25* sleeping bag has and I figured it would get me down to 0*. bringing a half bag sounds like a good call. When I was out in the yard the other night at 10* with the clothes and a 35* bag, my upper half was fine, but my feet were very cold. I guess it couldn't hurt to bring a super comfy inflatable pad either, or maybe a foam torso length. Would a 1/8" GG pad do the trick?

I live in the Dahlonega area (very close to Springer Mt.) I'll go ahead and tell you that we have been having one of the coldest winters in probably 30 yrs, plenty of nights in the low teens, I'm sure it's been colder in the mountains. I'm also an AT veteran, I started in mid March 06 and used a 15 degree bag until Perisberg VA, I was glad to have it the first month, my coldest night was around 10 degrees just north of Franklin NC.

Remember that you will almost never have to carry more than 4 or 5 days of food at a time on the AT (often only 3-4 days will get you to a resupply) and 2 liters of water is plenty except maybe during mid summer in PA or NJ/NY so a little extra weight in the clothing/sleeping bag area shlouldn't be a big issue.
Also keep in mind that is rains a LOT on the AT, you'll wear your rain jacket more than you think, not just for rain but for warmth and wind protection as well, I'm not sure how well the dri ducks will hold up.

I would be glad to help you out any way I can when you get here, e-mail me at bdgriz9711@gmail.com before you leave, I'll give you my cell#. Also the folks at Mountain Crossings (Neels Gap) are very helpfull, some good friends of mine work there, so that's another phone # to keep handy in case you need to be picked up somewhere early on, search for thier web site on the net to get the number.

Good luck, always expect the unexpected and above all else, just have fun no matter what, It's going to be one hell of an experience!

Where are the snowshoes?

Cheers