hi, I've been camping in the catskills a few times in the summer and once in the winter, last time I went i brought lots of gear and sleeping bag rated to -40 degrees F. but i was freezing the whole day and night (the temp in my tent hit 7 degrees. now this year i want to go again, but i would like to bring better gear. I have limeted money, and i neet to split it between a new jacket, snow pants, thermals and mabye a new bag. what do you guys think i should get? I would thing Thermals and a good jacket to be the most important, please give me sugjestions.

What do you think caused the Cougar to kill one and attack another in Ca? As a Hunter I do believe that I can tell the difference between a Cougar & a Bobcat track. I laughed as I watched the 6:00 O clock Tourist news out of Asheville NC Mon night. Reporter: Can something like what happened in Ca, happen here in the Mountains of NC. Wildlife Agent: No the Cougar is extinct here in NC. Yea just like the ever growing Coyote populations are extinct, I thought to myself. The NC National Forest are some of the most beautiful hiking adventures on the East coast. However we do have Cougars, large Black Bears & Russian Hogs that will eat us if they choose. It has been rare over the past 4 decades to find tracks of Cougars, but in the last 5 years we have seen one & tracked 2 Cougars. The sighting was right along a 4 lane hwy that goes over the mountain where NC crosses over to Tnn. Wild territory in there, with a lot of rocky cave filled Mountains. The trackings took place in a very remote part of Pisgah Forest NC side, I won't name it due to Pochers. My take on the incidents in Ca, is it was a 110 lb male they killed. That's a good weight & has me thinking of a Pet that was released, & not a Forest born Cat starving to death. I like Snakes but I would never keep Tropical Venomous Snakes in south Fla. Far to many exotics are being kept by people, who should not even own a Dog or Cat. We have yet to see the Predator rebound here, due to our Whitetail deer over population problems, here on the East Coast. Keep your nose into the wind & your eyes on the skyline. The Tourist Bureau will not tell you anything to scare your $$ away. So what's your take on the Attack in Ca?