Today my son I took a 7 mile hike around my neighborhood in near blizzard conditions. The temperature was 25 degrees. I intentionally underdressed to test the minimum needed. Surprisingly, I only needed 2 things different than my summer pack. A wool sweater and blue jeans.

I had my Danner boots on which kept my feet completely dry even though I purposely tried to get them wet by shuffling through deepest snow. I had jeans and my Dry Ducks rain pants (One day to be replaced by something better.) On top, I wore a cotton T-shirt, a North Face fleece, a wool sweater and the REI version of a Marmot Precip. I had a wool hat covered with the hood from the rain jacket. The only thing I could have used was something to cover my face, but in a pinch, I could have tucked my camp towel into my hat. I was completely warm the whole time.

Now we both know that if we run into a freak snowstorm in the summer, we have nothing to fear.