Hiking During the Year
Summer is the hottest 2 or three months of the year - June, July and August in the Northern Hempispere. Gear rated for summer or single-season use is usually the lightest weight, the thinnest, the least warm, the least sturdy, etc. Typically the lowest or minimum expected temperature would be about 5 celsius.
Spring and Summer – This is the year divided into roughly 2 equal parts or halves. Two-season gear is gear that is designed to work during the warmest half of the year or the last half of Spring, all of Summer, and the first half of Autumn. Trails that are said to be a good 2-season place to hike are trails that are open and readily accessible during the warmest half of the year. Typically the lowest or minimum expected temperature would be 30 F or just down to freezing, but not below.
Spring, Summer and Autumn – This is pretty much just what it sounds like. It refers to the warmest three seasons of the year: Spring, Summer, and Autumn. Gear rated for three-season use is gear designed for anything but severe winter weather use. Typically the lowest or minimum expected temperature would be 20 F, or temperatures that can get below freezing, but never severely cold.
Winter – Gear that can be used in the winter is generally the most durable and the warmest, but also the most expensive and the heaviest. Gear suitable for winter use is generally no as suitable for other times of the year because it is built for extreme conditions. Winter season is the season for the lowest or coldest temperatures of the year. It is also usually the stormiest and the windiest. In many hiking areas winter means temperatures that never get above freezing and minimum temperatures that can get to below 0 F, and wind chill factors that are even colder. Gear that is designed to handle winter conditions is sometimes referred to as four-season gear because it can handle any weather conditions hikers is likely to encounter, but not necessarily the extreme conditions sometimes encounter during winter mountaineering or winter climbing.