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I just got back from camping. It was nice. We had a good time. I stayed reasonably warm, which is no small accomplishment for me. I was happy to find snow on the ground up there. At least four inches. Our troop joined another, hosting troop. Their leader was quite experienced in cold weather camping. We went out at 9:00 yesterday morning, and left about the same time today. The weather was okay. Mostly cloudy and snowing a little all day yesterday. After sunset it cleared off and turned cold. It was well below zero and sunny this morning.
I wore some nice heavy wool pants, Sorrel boots, wool sweater, etc. I'm rather disappointed to have damaged my gloves. I melted the finger by brushing it on the fire bowl It's hard to find a decent pair of gloves. I also had quite a few of those self-heating hand warmer packets. When it's that cold you do two things to keep warm. First, you eat a lot. Second, you keep active.
I ate:
two peanut butter peanut butter cookie sandwiches
chicken gumbo
beef stew
bread sticks
brownie
two Hershey bars
Snickers bar
much hot chocolate
mountain man breakfast (hash browns, egg, peppers, bacon)
I slept okay last night. I had some of those handwarmers in my sleeping bag so I stayed reasonably warm. Even after a trip to a tree at 3 AM. There was ice on my sleeping bag where my breath hit it. It was four below, according to one guy's thermometer. getting out of the tent was rough. And I had a little trouble starting my car.
At the campfire, one of the guys read aloud the ending to a Jack London story. This guy was walking in Alaska or the Yukon or wherever, and he ends up dying because of the cold. Pretty interesting.
The guy who ran this outing was dog sledding in the boundary water last weekend. He said it was 25 degrees warmer this weekend. He also "slept under the stars" both times. This really meant he had his sleeping bag under a tarp rather than in a tent. He says he enjoys a challenge. *shrug* Whatever turns you on, I guess.
Anyway, everyone had a good time.
I wore some nice heavy wool pants, Sorrel boots, wool sweater, etc. I'm rather disappointed to have damaged my gloves. I melted the finger by brushing it on the fire bowl It's hard to find a decent pair of gloves. I also had quite a few of those self-heating hand warmer packets. When it's that cold you do two things to keep warm. First, you eat a lot. Second, you keep active.
I ate:
two peanut butter peanut butter cookie sandwiches
chicken gumbo
beef stew
bread sticks
brownie
two Hershey bars
Snickers bar
much hot chocolate
mountain man breakfast (hash browns, egg, peppers, bacon)
I slept okay last night. I had some of those handwarmers in my sleeping bag so I stayed reasonably warm. Even after a trip to a tree at 3 AM. There was ice on my sleeping bag where my breath hit it. It was four below, according to one guy's thermometer. getting out of the tent was rough. And I had a little trouble starting my car.
At the campfire, one of the guys read aloud the ending to a Jack London story. This guy was walking in Alaska or the Yukon or wherever, and he ends up dying because of the cold. Pretty interesting.
The guy who ran this outing was dog sledding in the boundary water last weekend. He said it was 25 degrees warmer this weekend. He also "slept under the stars" both times. This really meant he had his sleeping bag under a tarp rather than in a tent. He says he enjoys a challenge. *shrug* Whatever turns you on, I guess.
Anyway, everyone had a good time.
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no subject
Date: 2003-02-09 10:43 am (UTC)From:Amazing....I can't imagine doing that and finding it enjoyable. More power to you guys!
no subject
Date: 2003-02-09 10:45 am (UTC)From:cold and colder
Date: 2003-02-09 11:15 am (UTC)From:i'm glad you had a good time~
sounds cold and ...cold to me!
whatever turns you on, eh? ;)
no subject
Date: 2003-02-10 10:20 am (UTC)From:it sounds like story told at the campfire was "To Build a Fire".......a classic....
when preparing to be out in the cold remember this little phrase, "Cotton Kills"....wool is traditional....but it's totally outclassed warmth-wise by plastics (pile, nylons, polypro, etc).....
winter camping can be fun......i like it when there's enough snow to build a snow cave or an igloo for shelter......
no subject
Date: 2003-02-10 10:38 am (UTC)From:I probably didn't drink enough fluids, but I ate a lot.
I had polypro underwear and a wool sweater and heavy duty wool pants. I had a couple of articles of clothing that I never wore.
Re:
Date: 2003-02-10 10:43 am (UTC)From:hypothermia is often caused by deydration, it's really amazing how much water your body needs.......of course, the worst thing is getting out of the sleeping bag at 3AM.......but there are ways to engineer around that......
no subject
Date: 2003-02-11 07:49 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2003-02-11 09:12 pm (UTC)From:a. Stay dry.
b. Dress appropriately.
c. Eat a lot.
d. Stay active.
e. Keep a fire going.