If it's warm enough to rain, it's probably too warm for the down jacket if you'll be moving a lot and hiking/climbing. Have light layers to wear underneath the down jacket that would keep you warm down to 20 degrees F or so.

I love the occasional winter solo backpacking trip myself - it will be a great adventure for you!

All the advice given above is excellent. Definitely do some shorter practise trips to test everything first - get all potential blistering/chafing/uneven weight distribution issues out of the way.

Also, no matter how well you stuff everything into your backpack, after the first night everything seems to expand and NEVER goes back in the way it did when you packed it at home. ALWAYS happens to me.

For food, be sure to bring treats, whatever your favourite indulgences are. It will be something to enjoy at night, warm in your sleeping bag, after a day eating trail mix and dinner of rehydrated Chicken Teriyaki eaten from the bag. Eating the same food day after day gets boring very quickly.

For a New Year's trip my treat was a bottle of champagne. Well worth carrying the weight!

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/8573,75387_Sorel-Snow-Eagle-Snow-Boots-Waterproof-For-Women.html

Liners in these boots are not removable.

STP will inform you when they are. The Sorell web site indicates which of their boots have removable liners too.

Loralee,

As others mentioned, December is a funky weather month. It might be 60 degrees and sunny. It might be just above zero. It will most likely be highs in the 30s and lows in the 20s, or something like that. If you will be out for several days you can't count on a weather report and so you must be prepared, especially for 30s and rain, which is weather perfect for hypothermia.

Where I'm going with all of this is, you must carry a tent. It may be a long way between lean-tos. You may get lost trying to find a lean-to. A lean-to marked on a map may not be there when you get there. If you get wet, and even mildly hypothermic, without warm dry shelter nearby, you need to be able to pitch a tent and get in your sleeping bag at the drop of a hat.

Boots. Those boots look very waterproof from the outside but don't have a liner and so you will have to go the VB sock route to keep them dry from the inside. Beyond that, as you will be carrying a pretty heavy pack you need boots with arch and ankle support and the boots pictured don't appear to have either. A heavy pack and boots with no ankle or arch support is a good way to sprain your ankles and/or feet. I did just that once long ago with sneakers in the summer. I couldn't walk at all for a few days.

As others have mentioned, short shake down trips, of a day or two, very close to warm shelter, would be a very smart place to start. Most of us began with summer camping and then moved on to single night winter camping and then on to extended winter camping. And most of us started out going with someone else with experience. Jumping right into a week of winter camping is a lot to bite off, and it's not without risk, especially if you go alone.

I'll drop you a PM about my stove. You should play with that a bunch too if you go. You are welcome to borrow my big pack but it won't fit you well as packs come sized according to torso length.

K

Hmm...Lots of good stuff the think about.

What are VB socks? The boots came a few days ago, and they are wonderful and warm, and they have good ankle support - but I don't know about arch support. I know they market little slip in arch support pads - would those be effective?

I was hoping to avoid carrying a tent given the extra bulk and weight. My plan was to carry a tarp, which is lighter and cheaper.
Would I get by with that?

Its difficult to get off of campus without a car, so I've been pathetically just sleeping in the woods about once a week near my dorm room. I know its not the same, and I would like to familiarize myself with the trail I plan to take, but its a start. The stars are nice though.