California Coast trail & Los Padres NF in winter

Depends on how cold you sleep, but I would take at least the 20° F bag/quilt. We recently got snow on the high peaks in the Bay Areas and Big Sur (probably further south, too), with some overnight lows down to 23° F. Your clothing should be adequate, if you aren’t sitting around camp at night. I would add warm gloves.

Rough rule of thumb: you lose 3.5° F to 5.5° F per 1,000 feet of elevation gain. Lots of other variables affect local temperature significantly: exposure to clear night sky, wind, valley bottoms that collect cold air, etc. And it’s hard to find weather stations with long records on mountain tops.

Good luck with your trip!

— Rex

I will re-iterate Rex’s advice.  I froze my tuchus off in a 30° bag in Jan in the southern LPNF.  I had been watching the weather station on the ridge above where I was camping for a month.  It never dropped below 40.  It didn’t dawn on me that down in the Valley the sun came up late and set early.  I woke up the next morning with ice covering the stream.  The weather station not far away and higher elevation said a nighttime low of 44°.

The southern LP is my local stomping grounds; I consider winter to be my primary hiking season.  Our temps are wildly variable during the winter from day to day, and from nighttime lows to daytime highs. Depending upon the weather you can experience 80-degree, hot, dry weather or 15-degree snow flurries.

For example, yesterday along the coast in Los Padres, we had highs in the low to mid-60s and lows in the high 40s/low 50s.  But inland a bit, and up at elevation, we experienced an afternoon “high” of 38 at 6,000′ elevation.  Yesterday morning had a low of 14 in Rose Valley, along the Sespe River corridor where the cold air settles in the low, clear spots.

For winter hikes in Los Padres, I typically sleep with a 15-degree quilt and cowboy camp or sleep under a tarp.  The rest of my clothing looks like yours with a pair of warm sleeping socks, glove liners and a thin pair of cap tights added.  This keeps me comfortably warm in bed and around camp unless I’m in the snow.

Speaking of which, a couple of things to consider.  All signs are pointing to a very wet winter for us (finally).  Right now however, most of the creeks, rivers and springs in the southern LP are dry.  If we don’t get much rain before your trip, you might have a difficult time finding water.  On the other hand, if we get a lot of rain between then and now, you could have trouble with making it across storm-swollen creeks.  Many of our trails follow creeks and river valleys.

Do you have a specific route in mind for the Southern LP leg of your trip?

This is very helpful — thanks to all three of you for your advice.

Re specific route in the south: well I’m very curious about the Condor Trail as a way to skirt inland off the coast trail, and am currently awaiting some more detailed maps to arrive in the mail. Although it seems like the Condor Trail is still very much a work in progress and I’ll have to decide if i want to do that much orienteering/bushwhacking. Your note about water is also a huge factor.

Yeah, the Condor Trail is still a work in progress. It has been hiked in its entirety as a thru-hike. Once. Just last spring. But all reports indicate it was pretty brutal and slow going at times.
Some parts are pretty reasonable and easy to follow (most of the Sisquoc River corridor, Pine Mountain area, and the Sespe River Corridor); other parts are usually pretty bad (Dick Smith Wilderness, Alder Creek to Piru Lake).
I’ve only hiked a few sections of the northern part of the Condor Trail through the Big Sur area, but again, I’ve heard some of the sections from San Luis Obispo area down through the northern part of the San Rafael Wilderness can be pretty tough. Bryan at the Condor Trail is your best source of info on current conditions.
Water will be tricky until things normalize a bit. Even now, I have no doubt you can find some pools or brief sections of running water on the major creeks/rivers (Sisquoc/Sespe) but many of the smaller creeks and “year round” springs have dried up with the last couple years of drought, so it could be long stretches between reliable water you can count on.

I wonder also if any of you can suggest possible resupply spots, particularly in southern part of Los Padres. San Luis Obispo in the north and Ojai in the south are the obvious ones. But I’m wondering about mountain towns in between. Unfortunately I won’t be able to cache food in advance, but could mail stuff if there are post offices.

Are you still doing this? That areas has been getting snow lately, keep that in mind.

thanks. yes, going to attempt it starting jan 7 sobo from the bay area. seems pretty doable through Ventana. will get to southern Los Padres a few weeks in, and then will have to make a judgement call based on water conditions, cold/snow, and difficulty of food resupply. looking for trail angels at Morro Bay/Rt41, SLO/Rt101, Rt166, and Rt33 highway crossings if you have any suggestions!