OT: Clothing for winter backpacking

[reuben]

Originally Posted by verticaldoug

Repeat after me: We are going to have a blast. It's the journey not the destination. There is no such thing as suck, only another unexpected detour.

This. "It's not an adventure until something goes wrong." - Yvon Chouinard

If you have the time and minimalist inclinations like myself, I highly suggest venturing to the the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. Just make sure that you're very well prepared (you can get a sunburn in minutes) and/or have a good guide.

[kgreene10]

Gorgeous! It will have to wait for another trip though.

[tellyho]

For me, it comes down to bringing enough layers that I'd be comfortable at that 20 degrees for a coupe hours, stationary. What those layers are depends on what you have. I see no need to buy new layers unless you need an excuse.

[NHAero]

If I understand correctly, your trip has two cases to cover: time hiking, and time hanging around at the beginning of the day and the end of the day (and maybe at lunch?)
I hike warm, so use a lot of easily added or removed layers, and a wind layer that has some ventilation options. Usually a couple of options for my head and hands. And I rest cold, so I like a really warm hat and mittens and a puffy down coat.
I did a five week pilgrimage in 2002 in western Tibet and carried enough of my own gear to have all the options I needed. Elevations 12-19,000+ feet.
We flew into Lhasa at 12,000 ft and I needed the Diamox to sleep. Previous excursions to up to 18,000 ft were more gradual and I adapted fine.
You will have such a great time!

[homagesilkhope]

Originally Posted by tellyho

For me, it comes down to bringing enough layers that I'd be comfortable at that 20 degrees for a coupe hours, stationary. What those layers are depends on what you have. I see no need to buy new layers unless you need an excuse.

Tellyho's got it and as someone above said, when it begins to get really chilly after supper, you'll get in your tent and inside your cozy bag. It's dark and cold and you're tired anyway. Then, you'll wear all your layers in the morning for an hour or so as you make breakfast and break camp before you get rolling. Later, you'll be managing not overheating when you're on the trail.

We did it forty years ago in blue jeans and tennis shoes, no permits, no guides, no porters, and only a handful of other people seen along the way. It was March for us, so instead of the lows around freezing that you'll see in July (pretty sure 20° is a rare exception), it'd drop to roughly 40 at night. But it was damp if not actually drizzling almost throughout, so chilly enough. I bought colorful woolen mittens and a Andean cap with floppy ears for a few soles in the plaza in Cuzco. Had arrived packing a pair of longjohns, a polypro t-shirt, a woolen sweater and a goretex anorak. Yeah, me too, I'm pretty cold intolerant, probably a good bit more so today. But you're over the high pass and back down to near jungle conditions (at 10,000'!) in nearly no time. As lightly equipped as we were, we were just fine.

I agree with some others above: instead of cool temps, the biggest challenge, especially coming from Austin, will be the altitude. At a minimum, give yourselves a few days in Cuzco, you can make day trips from there. Or to do it really right, instead of flying from Lima, go south to lovely, colonial Arequipa, then over to Puno and spend a day or two visiting Lake Titicaca, then up to Cuzco (we travelled by bus and train). Leaving Cuzco, you'll descend a couple thousand feet to the trail start at Km 82, so that even at the end of the first day at Camp 1, you're still below the altitude of Cuzco.

I'd say don't sweat the small difference between Patagonia R1 and R2. Pack a baselayer, a mid layer, a good sweater and your outerwear (I wouldn't choose down garments), some warm socks and your knit cap and mittens, and - as others have said - you and your son will have a great time. A little adversity, yeah, but then you'll know for sure that you're not in Austin anymore and you'll be descending to Machu Picchu and hot water in Aguas Calientes sooner than you know!