Tweet
Whenever I tell someone I’m going winter camping they usually tell me I’m crazy. Ether that, or they ask me just what can be fun about sitting out in freezing cold weather. A common question is, “just what do you DO all day?”
To the uninitiated, the concept of going camping in the wintertime conjures up images of sitting, huddled up and shivering, while snot freezes in an icicle on the end of one’s nose.
However, by the time you finish reading this little introduction I am certain that even if you don’t say to yourself that maybe you’d like to try it that you will think it sounds like a great thing to do.
First of all, the main premise of my winter camping has always been that I love being out of doors and that camping makes it possible to be out 24 hours a day. The camping is not an end in itself; it is merely the vehicle that allows us to enjoy being outside. The next thing to understand right from square one is that when we winter camp we are just about never cold. I dislike being cold just as much as the next guy and so I plan my winter camping activities to prevent that from happening.
So, keep in mind two things:
1-never cold
2-enjoying the great outdoors
So, where does the heat come from?
After 30 years of winter camping I am only aware of two heat sources: fire and metabolism. In a way these two are really the same. I.e. the release of stored chemical energy in the form of heat.
When one is moving about, snow shoeing through sparkling powder snow or carrying nice dry maple logs for the evening fire one’s metabolism is kicking out more than enough heat to keep warm in even the severest cold snap. So much so in fact, that we have to be careful not to break out in a sweat and dampen our clothing. When you stop moving, all that wonderful heat stops being produced. Before long you feel a chill as your heat loss surpasses your heat production. Quite simply, you have begun freezing to death.
Ideally, as you enter the initial phase of death by freezing you are standing next to a nifty little pile of birch bark and dried twigs with a match in hand. Next to you there is a pile of kindling and a much bigger pile of dry logs that you just spent the past hour or so sawing and hauling into camp.
The fire you are about to build will release massive amounts of stored chemical energy, a tiny fraction of which will shift the heat production/loss equation back in your favour. You are now smug in the knowledge that you will keep on living as the fire begins to kick out serious heat..
After an evening of pleasant conversation and plenty of good food, perhaps a belt of scotch or cognac or three it is time to leave the fire’s life sustaining circle of radiant energy and go to sleep. If you were to simply lie down in the snow at minus 30 you would shift the heat equation disastrously in the grim reaper’s favour. Instead, you crawl into an expensive down sleeping bag who’s insulating properties will skew the equation such that heat loss is reduced to a low enough levels to maintain all bodily systems. Now you either don’t regret one bit all that cash you laid out or you deeply regret saving 25 bucks by getting the cheaper but lesser rated bag.
And there you have it. While winter camping you have a total of 3 ways of staying warm:
1- move
2- sit by fire
3- get in sleeping bag
Now that the question of keeping warm has been dealt with the next question is what do you DO all day?
Let me present you with a typical day in the life of myself and my winter camping buddy, Dave..
Near dawn: Wake up time, bladder’s full. I unzip my bag, sit up and put a down parka over top of my thick fleece shirt. Then I stand up outside of the tent or lean-to we constructed and put on thick felt liners. Depending on the bladder situation I either relieve myself right away or start a fire. Let’s say that I managed my fluids perfectly and my bladder can wait. I walk over to the fire pit and stir the ashes exposing some live coals. Then I put birch bark, small twigs and dead conifer branches that spent the previous night under a nylon tarp in case it snowed over the coals. On hands and knees I blow life into the coals. I usually have a 5-foot wall of deliciously warm flames going within seconds to get dressed beside before taking care of the full bladder.
Breakfast: Remember, we are out there to enjoy nature so breakfast is spent in leisurely repose as we admire the surrounding forest and watch the Boreal Chickadees and Nuthatches as our day begins to unfold. We like to rake hot coals out from the main fire and lay a grill overtop. Water is boiled for coffee while sausages and extra thick bacon sizzles and spits. At this time the map is brought out and the day’s wanderings are planned.
“How about taking yesterday’s trail as far this valley and then following a bearing of 140 until we can see these cliffs. From there we can go over the top of this hill, drop down to the marsh that shows on the map here and pick up the drainage to the lake. At the west end of the lake we have a mile of bushwhacking and we’re back at our beaver pond with plenty of time to get wood.”
On the trail: With pockets stuffed with food a-plenty and a map and compass we spend at least 6 hours wandering through beautiful, inspiring country. We are always amazed at how much beautiful and incredibly varied terrain can fit into a relatively small area as it is viewed on the map. For us these hours are the most fulfilling and significant part of the entire trip.
Back at camp: There is work to be done. Depending on how cold it is we spend an hour or two cutting firewood and carrying it into camp. We usually put some thick soup onto the coals that are still alive from the morning fire and this soup cooks and thickens as we do our lumberjack routine. By the time we are all set darkness is stealing rapidly over the land. Black spruce and white pines are silhouetted against the dark blue sky. The fire is rejuvenated and we sit back against the snow bank that surrounds our living area and greedily consume a pot of hot soup before clinking our scotch filled metal cups together in a salute of an unforgettable day spent in winter paradise.
The fire: The fire is fed from the large pile of 4- foot long logs. We usually lay about 6 logs in an open vee configuration not unlike the prow of a barge and continuously fill the inner space with firewood. The backlogs that constitute the vee become a wall of hot flame that throws a circle of heat and this allows us to sit barefoot as the meat cooks. After we have eaten supper we usually stroll down to the water hole we previously chopped and fill up on water.
Water: It is very important to gauge one’s water intake. The fine line between waking up at 2am either with a raging thirst or an unavoidable need to pee seems to be very fine. The basic rule of thumb that works for us is to drink some water during the evening but much less than you think you really need.
Turning in: You’ll know when it’s time to hit the hay. Whatever clothing you don’t wear to bed or use as a pillow will serve as insulation if you place it underneath yourself. The large quantities of meat you feasted on while reclining before the roaring blaze will help warm you and your frigid sleeping bag. Digestion of protein is a heat releasing chemical reaction.
This cycle of wake-eat-explore-cut wood-eat sleep can go on for as long as one wishes or until one’s food supply runs out.
Needless to say there is more to successful (ie, enjoyable) winter camping than presented above. For those all-important tricks and tips there is no shortage of how-to books available. What I have presented is the way myself and my partner evolved our own methods so as to achieve maximum comfort and pleasure while minimizing discomfort and suffering while winter camping in Canada.
To the uninitiated, the concept of going camping in the wintertime conjures up images of sitting, huddled up and shivering, while snot freezes in an icicle on the end of one’s nose.
However, by the time you finish reading this little introduction I am certain that even if you don’t say to yourself that maybe you’d like to try it that you will think it sounds like a great thing to do.
First of all, the main premise of my winter camping has always been that I love being out of doors and that camping makes it possible to be out 24 hours a day. The camping is not an end in itself; it is merely the vehicle that allows us to enjoy being outside. The next thing to understand right from square one is that when we winter camp we are just about never cold. I dislike being cold just as much as the next guy and so I plan my winter camping activities to prevent that from happening.
So, keep in mind two things:
1-never cold
2-enjoying the great outdoors
So, where does the heat come from?
After 30 years of winter camping I am only aware of two heat sources: fire and metabolism. In a way these two are really the same. I.e. the release of stored chemical energy in the form of heat.
When one is moving about, snow shoeing through sparkling powder snow or carrying nice dry maple logs for the evening fire one’s metabolism is kicking out more than enough heat to keep warm in even the severest cold snap. So much so in fact, that we have to be careful not to break out in a sweat and dampen our clothing. When you stop moving, all that wonderful heat stops being produced. Before long you feel a chill as your heat loss surpasses your heat production. Quite simply, you have begun freezing to death.
Ideally, as you enter the initial phase of death by freezing you are standing next to a nifty little pile of birch bark and dried twigs with a match in hand. Next to you there is a pile of kindling and a much bigger pile of dry logs that you just spent the past hour or so sawing and hauling into camp.
The fire you are about to build will release massive amounts of stored chemical energy, a tiny fraction of which will shift the heat production/loss equation back in your favour. You are now smug in the knowledge that you will keep on living as the fire begins to kick out serious heat..
After an evening of pleasant conversation and plenty of good food, perhaps a belt of scotch or cognac or three it is time to leave the fire’s life sustaining circle of radiant energy and go to sleep. If you were to simply lie down in the snow at minus 30 you would shift the heat equation disastrously in the grim reaper’s favour. Instead, you crawl into an expensive down sleeping bag who’s insulating properties will skew the equation such that heat loss is reduced to a low enough levels to maintain all bodily systems. Now you either don’t regret one bit all that cash you laid out or you deeply regret saving 25 bucks by getting the cheaper but lesser rated bag.
And there you have it. While winter camping you have a total of 3 ways of staying warm:
1- move
2- sit by fire
3- get in sleeping bag
Now that the question of keeping warm has been dealt with the next question is what do you DO all day?
Let me present you with a typical day in the life of myself and my winter camping buddy, Dave..
Near dawn: Wake up time, bladder’s full. I unzip my bag, sit up and put a down parka over top of my thick fleece shirt. Then I stand up outside of the tent or lean-to we constructed and put on thick felt liners. Depending on the bladder situation I either relieve myself right away or start a fire. Let’s say that I managed my fluids perfectly and my bladder can wait. I walk over to the fire pit and stir the ashes exposing some live coals. Then I put birch bark, small twigs and dead conifer branches that spent the previous night under a nylon tarp in case it snowed over the coals. On hands and knees I blow life into the coals. I usually have a 5-foot wall of deliciously warm flames going within seconds to get dressed beside before taking care of the full bladder.
Breakfast: Remember, we are out there to enjoy nature so breakfast is spent in leisurely repose as we admire the surrounding forest and watch the Boreal Chickadees and Nuthatches as our day begins to unfold. We like to rake hot coals out from the main fire and lay a grill overtop. Water is boiled for coffee while sausages and extra thick bacon sizzles and spits. At this time the map is brought out and the day’s wanderings are planned.
“How about taking yesterday’s trail as far this valley and then following a bearing of 140 until we can see these cliffs. From there we can go over the top of this hill, drop down to the marsh that shows on the map here and pick up the drainage to the lake. At the west end of the lake we have a mile of bushwhacking and we’re back at our beaver pond with plenty of time to get wood.”
On the trail: With pockets stuffed with food a-plenty and a map and compass we spend at least 6 hours wandering through beautiful, inspiring country. We are always amazed at how much beautiful and incredibly varied terrain can fit into a relatively small area as it is viewed on the map. For us these hours are the most fulfilling and significant part of the entire trip.
Back at camp: There is work to be done. Depending on how cold it is we spend an hour or two cutting firewood and carrying it into camp. We usually put some thick soup onto the coals that are still alive from the morning fire and this soup cooks and thickens as we do our lumberjack routine. By the time we are all set darkness is stealing rapidly over the land. Black spruce and white pines are silhouetted against the dark blue sky. The fire is rejuvenated and we sit back against the snow bank that surrounds our living area and greedily consume a pot of hot soup before clinking our scotch filled metal cups together in a salute of an unforgettable day spent in winter paradise.
The fire: The fire is fed from the large pile of 4- foot long logs. We usually lay about 6 logs in an open vee configuration not unlike the prow of a barge and continuously fill the inner space with firewood. The backlogs that constitute the vee become a wall of hot flame that throws a circle of heat and this allows us to sit barefoot as the meat cooks. After we have eaten supper we usually stroll down to the water hole we previously chopped and fill up on water.
Water: It is very important to gauge one’s water intake. The fine line between waking up at 2am either with a raging thirst or an unavoidable need to pee seems to be very fine. The basic rule of thumb that works for us is to drink some water during the evening but much less than you think you really need.
Turning in: You’ll know when it’s time to hit the hay. Whatever clothing you don’t wear to bed or use as a pillow will serve as insulation if you place it underneath yourself. The large quantities of meat you feasted on while reclining before the roaring blaze will help warm you and your frigid sleeping bag. Digestion of protein is a heat releasing chemical reaction.
This cycle of wake-eat-explore-cut wood-eat sleep can go on for as long as one wishes or until one’s food supply runs out.
Needless to say there is more to successful (ie, enjoyable) winter camping than presented above. For those all-important tricks and tips there is no shortage of how-to books available. What I have presented is the way myself and my partner evolved our own methods so as to achieve maximum comfort and pleasure while minimizing discomfort and suffering while winter camping in Canada.
The overall rewards always outwiegh any discomforts, and a certain level of adversity for me always makes the challenge seem more like a triumph when I've completed it. :-)
Comment