The Winter Bug Out Contest! Rookie of The Year Award!

[FreeRider]

Well looks like I am set for round 2 tomorrow night. Although the temperature read -38C this morning!!! Looks like it should warm up significantly in the next day...I don't mind the cold but when you start getting that cold (far past -40 with the wind chill) it takes it to a whole different level!

[elricfate]

I am pulling out of this. Unfortunately I have been putting it off due to time constraints and now my wife has a bacterial infection and is pretty well laid up. So I am just throwing in the towel

Sent from my HTC Glacier

[DonTrusTheMEDIA]

Well looks like I am set for round 2 tomorrow night. Although the temperature read -38C this morning!!! Looks like it should warm up significantly in the next day...I don't mind the cold but when you start getting that cold (far past -40 with the wind chill) it takes it to a whole different level!

Good luck dude, Its been beautiful out these last few days. Really cold but the nice kind with little wind and open sky. It was -37 by Drayton today which makes today tied for the coldest I've seen this year. I hope you have fun! Mind sharing the general location you plan on going?

I hope these temps stay down there and I can get 2 days off work, I am running out of time.

[riverjoe47]

I am pulling out of this. Unfortunately I have been putting it off due to time constraints and now my wife has a bacterial infection and is pretty well laid up. So I am just throwing in the towel

Sent from my HTC Glacier

Sorry to hear that . I was hoping another mid westerner ,maybe eastern woodland terrain ?

[elricfate]

Sorry to hear that . I was hoping another mid westerner ,maybe eastern woodland terrain ?

Not as sorry as I am to say it. Prizes aside, I was looking forward to testing my winter gear

Sent from my HTC Glacier

[aa1pr]

Ok so a winter bug out requires a shit ton more gear and a positive mindset. College studies [continuing ed] and life have been preventing me to get this accomplished so far. So I got everything I thought I would need into my 10th molle ruck. I wanted to make sure I had at least enough water to get started until I could get snow melted, so I brought along the Camelbak Zoid for that. No matter what the season I bring along my thermarest ridgerest in the green bag. A foam pad has so many uses. I also was not too concerned about weight as this was gong to be placed into my pulk. Even though now I know, I must add some tie offs on the sides of the pulk. So I had everything ready to go the night before. Our goal was to leave by 7am and get to our BOL by 9am. I am disabled with the back injury, so I have my oldest son tagging along and he will do his thing somewhere off the side of me on this adventure. I am sure this must make my doctor happy….so long as I do not over do it?


The next morning the temps dropped from the comfy 40+ range they were over the last few days to 13F. So I opted to get out the ECWCS polar thermals. Instead of taking the ECWCS gortex gear and paramilitary looking clothing, I opted for my newly acquired down jacket and Columbia clothing. I used my silver ridge pants and Hartford ridge parka. My boots are the Columbia XTM titanium bugaboots, which I can not say enough about.


Another thing one has to avoid is pumping. This is where you pump your bodies warm air out your pant legs. This simple cure is very effective [photo before wool socks] by simply putting your thermals into your socks.


So off we go into the AO looking for a perfect spot to call home for the night. What was surprising is that the wind on the higher elevations where we wanted to set up over looking the valley floor had excess wind in say 25 mph plus and would push you with great force. The pulk was just the ticket for getting all of the gear into the area. I could not pull or use the pulk, but it is nice to have one.


No need to be in the wind chill all day and night, so I opted to check out the lower areas and found this nice spot along a stream that had a rise behind us. Sometimes you have to adjust to conditions.


This provided a fresh source of water and was mostly snow run off, I hope run off. I have my mini works EX just in case. I felt getting lower would help block the wind and did, however I did not want to be in the open. While this was close enough, and the spot was so peaceful and flat. This allowed almost all of the wind to go overhead, until it changed direction later. So for the winter bug out I wanted to try my newly acquired HH 4 season insulation system. Review here: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=76638 I found a nice location between two trees and set up shop. The weather was a combination of sleet and snow until about 2:30pm. I know I can hear everyone saying “that it is not a winter shelter”, but I had to test my new purchase under real conditions.


Here is the temperature about 11:30am; I was surprised to see it was really that cold out. I guess wit the right clothing you never feel the direct impact of Mother Nature.


Ok so camp was set and I had some fire wood stacked, so it was time to eat. I did not want a big meal, so I chose a promax bar and some Kool-Aid I brought along in my nalgene. It hit the spot and I felt the rush from all the sugars.


So off I hobbled to search the area fro hidden treasures and what not. I could not use my cane out here in the snow, so I used my trekking poles that my doctor has me use in uneven conditions. It felt good in a sense, until later. In a 50 yard area I got enough wood piled for maybe a few hours of a small fire later. This was all I could do and was exhausted from such. I know what you are all saying, but I had to try as cabin fever and not being able to do what I once did, kills me. [remember son is nearby for safety net] When I got back the snow that was falling with some more wind had my gear covered with a light dusting. You could feel the moisture content in the air increase. It was getting hard to use your bare hands for anything by now. Another thing that bothers me and I see a lot of this is the loops on gloves. People either cut them off or… one should have them secured around your wrist so you can remove your glove without letting the glove hit the ground and fill with snow.


Around 2:30pm the snow this time that came down felt very wet. The air was damp, so I dug out the additional cold weather gear. I like to bring along a hat, several pairs of gloves and a neck gaiter. I also by this time had on my newly purchased microspikes, I love these and wonder how I did I ever manage without them for so long.


I did not bring a watch or phone to tell time with, so somewhere around 3:30-4pm the wind increased again to about 30mph. Which had me a little concerned as some of the trees overheads were moving really good. I did not see any widow makers when I eyed the site; however wind is another factor that you have to be cautious of. So I crawled into the hammock to see if I could get a snooze between wind bursts.


About 4:30-5ish I crawled out of the hammock to grab my coat that was hanging on a nearby tree; I was starting to get that chilled feeling. I was not sweating, but did not want to chance my core body temps dropping either. I wore the Columbia parka over the EMS down and the fit was rather snug to say the least, despite being very warm and how fat it makes one look.


The wind was so strong that it was pushing snow into everything including my ruck I left laying open as a mistake. I also had to go over to the fire pit that I dug out against a rock and remove my snow covered material. So I could hopefully get it going a bit later before nightfall. When the wind was not howling it was rather peaceful.



Around 6:30ish I was starting to feel hungry again. So I grabbed the Whisperlite Internationale and MSR 1.6L pot and thought about all the food I had brought along. Here is my feedbag loaded with foiled or bagged goodies like: spam, chicken, salmon, butter potatoes, red baby potatoes [both instant], butter scotch candy, protein bars. Cocoa, oatmeal (maple & apple) so I had it all, I hope/thought.


Instead of mac & cheese, or the various instant potatoes I went with meat for simple fuel burning and producing protein. I opened the foil packets and dropped them into the boiling water for about 10 minutes. The southwest chicken was to die for, however the lemon and dill salmon was a bit too much for me. I chucked the left over into the woods across the stream. Maybe I would get to see a coydog?




So now I have a full belly and I am feeling relaxed, plus the cold even though I am properly insulated is killing my back, it is time to relax off the cold ground. Another useful purpose for the digital camera [nikonD70] is checking your face if you do not have a mirror for signs of frost bite. I bring my folding camp chair with me every where.


Another thing I overlooked is that you still need a shorter tow rope on your pulk for doing odd chores like gathering firewood where the traces and belt are too much and are in the way. No need to carry wood when one has a sled. So from now on I am going to tie off the original rope that came with it to the front eye bolts and tuck it into the sled for these chores. You can see the cold is getting to me, Injuries Suck!


So maybe 15 minutes before dark/after dusk, I decided it was time to start my fire. I am now sore and aching, so excuse me for not showing the PJ balls and fire steel. I felt the fire for psychological factors was more important. It is interesting how one needs to keep a positive mental attitude while out here as it really does affect your overall mental functioning and reasoning to common chores. Reminds me of another time in the late 80’s I was hunting with a friend during blizzard conditions trying to get off the mountain. I knew what had to be done, but his fear was wearing if not irritating me also.


I tried to get enough coals going in the fire so I could make some hot cocoa. As that would help to increase my core body temp, I thought and was craving the chocolate, knowing it was there. Sometimes you have to quench those cravings. Sorry no photos, as I am really getting sore and aching by now even more so. Getting on the ground near the fire felt as if I was going to die.


So somewhere around 9:30 to 10pm I decided I had enough and crawled off into the hammock. I attempted to step into my MSS minus gortex bivy [boy used that] and lay back and pull the bags around me. To be honest I have never had the best of luck getting into a bag in a hammock. So my next try I laid the patrol bag down and covered with the intermediate bag. This worked for a while. So I eventually just put back on my clothing & loose boots and covered up with the intermediate bag. I must say that I am not impressed with the HH 4 season insulation system either. It is really a 3 season system. I tossed and turned let alone froze my azz off all night. Somewhere during the night I thought I heard something running through the woods back and forth. Maybe a coy dog looking for that scrap of food I tossed. So this goes to show you that given the right conditions this could have been an error. Like in bear country, you do not leave food around or go to bed with food on your clothing either. I was hoping the photo would show what ever was out there.


Morning came and I only took one photo as I was too cold and aching. The picture shows the combination of snow and ice frozen to the rain fly of the hammock. There really was no condensation on the inside of the hammock as the vent hole and the wind cured that for me naturally. We started to break camp around 8am. I was also pleasantly surprised that I was able to get both of the 4 season covers into the snake skins along with silnylon fly to boot. For breakfast I used the whisperlite int to boil some water for the oatmeal and cocoa. I munched on a protein bar while that was heating and to fuel the body once again.


When we got back to the SUV at 9am the temp on the mirror said that it was 14 degrees Fahrenheit, which is about -12 Celsius? Time to go home and warm up !

[oldsoldier]

Ok, so I just returned yesterday from a brief overnight with my 18 y/o nephew. We just did an overnight because thats about all the time I can afford these days. He has never winter camped, and this was his first experience with staying out in sub-freezing weather. I have taken him on PLENTY of overnights, but never on a cold one...I am gonna miss that kid when the Army takes him...
Anyway, so the area we used was at my local gun club. As a member, I get 24/7 access to the club. They have about 70 acres of wildlife area, that is multi use, for hunting, and, if people want, they can camp out too. I had checked in with the guy who runs it, to check to make sure I could make a fire, and he said fine. So, with his blessing, we headed off on Saturday afternoon. Here was our gear list:
Me:
Karrimor 65L pack
EMS Pampero 4 season tent.
GoLite 20* down bag
military sleeping mat (CCF kind)
3 pairs of Smartwool socks (1 worn)
heavy wool socks for sleeping
EMS lightweight thermal underwear
EMS medium weight thermal underwear (for sleeping)
5.11 pants
MY favorite pair of Hi Tec MAgnum boots that are like 20 years old
Condor fleece jacket
North Face GoreTex jacket
military issue GoreTex pants
rag wool half gloves, with glove liners
GoreTex overmitts
knit wool cap
Scarf (shemagh)
Candle lantern
firemaking material
extra gloves
headlamp
ESEE 4 knife
MSR snowshoes
Swedish alcohol stove kit

My nephew:
Karrimor 45L pack
thermal underwear (2 pair)
BDU bottoms (lightweight kind
Columbia jacket with removeable liner
2 pair gloves
wool hat
Inflateable sleeping pad
TNF 0* bag
fleece jacket.
synthetic vest

So, the weather was perfect-it was 30 during the day, with wind gusts that were 50-60 mph, and never quite the whole weekend. I had a thermometer on my pack, and it stayed about 25 that afternoon, until dark, when it dropped down to 10. With gusts averaging 40-50, the wind chill was below zero. We had discussed perhaps just setting up simple tarp shelters, but as this was his first time, I opted for the tent at the last minute. The hike from the parking lot to a spot we found that looked good was only about 1/2 mile. I honestly didnt want to push too far, as he has never slept in the cold before, and if there were any issues, we could easily bug out. So, we hiked around, and found a nice place next to the beaver pond. We tramped an area out to put the tent up. We assembled the tent, and, when putting stuff inside, we found we were making nice pockets with our knees. So, we moved the tent, and dug down to the frozen ground. THEN we were fine. We got set up, then discussed water options. We had the pond right there, and snow to melt. On other thing; we hiked in our firewood, making several trips. I opted for this due to I didnt want to denude the area we were camping, and wasnt sure how much ground stuff was available. It worked out well in the end.
So...we got the tent up, and did some exploring. We went around & gathered some cattail for tinder, and some small sticks for kindling. Most evrything is still buried, but we did OK scrounging stuff. Once we got everything together, we dug into the snow, to build a fire. We put some downed pine boughs as insulation against the frozen ground, and built the fire on that. As my nephew has never tried building a fire in either extreme cold, or with the wind howling as it was, I asked if he wanted to, or if he wanted me to. He opted to do it, so I had him prepare everything beforehand, so it was available for him to grab. We laid a couple pieces of the split wood down, and he used his flint & knife (I gave him a USAF knife for this trip, and told him it was his to keep), and a pj ball. He had a couple of issues trying to get the spark to go where he wanted. Once I showed him how to hold it nice & close, and move the rod, not the knife, he got it on the 2nd try. Then, it was just a matter of feeding the fire. From there, we started to get ready for dinner.
I went to the edge of the pond to break through the ice, to get to the water. Well, the water line was well before where I thought it was, and my right foot went through, to the knee. So, the fire was going to serve 2 purposes; keep my foot from getting frostbite AND to boil water. The upside was that I now had a nice hole to get water from .
So, I filled the large pot from the swedish set, and brought it back. I have never used the set in this capacity before, so this was new to me. I have to say, that hanging hook is SO convenient! I keep this in my jeep all the time, and have only used the alcohol stove part of it. This kit is awesome, and I am glad I got the opportunity to try out this other part. So, I hung it over the fire, and let the water boil. I took my boot off, wrung the sock out, and warmed up my foot & tried drying out the boot. I got it dry by the end of the night, before we crashed. The water boiled in about 15 minutes or so. We had camping meals, so it was just a matter of adding the water. I showed him how to use his hat as a cozy. Dinner went fine, and we boiled more water for consumption later, as well as for cocoa.
The fire burned for about 4 hours, and kept us VERY comfortable while outside. Even with the bitter wind blowing. The snow served as a decent reflector for the heat too. Once we went through all of our wood, we called it a night, about 930 or so. We then got into the tent.
I had a candle lantern, which aided in keeping the internal temps at about freezing. We read for a little bit, I kept checking to make sure he wasnt cold or anything, and we finally settled down about 11. Then, he had to get up to piss. Now, I have used pee bottles before, and didnt even think of bringing one along. So, we had to endure the bitter winds. He went out to go, and said the fire was going again. Now, we had BURIED the fire before going to bed. Apparently, the wind found an ember under there, and started it up again. He went and buried it again, and stomped the whole fire down. I then had to go at about 1, and there was STILL a few embers burning! I was quite surprised! So, I did the same thing AGAIN. When we got up about 7, it was out for sure.
About 630 that morning, I unzipped the tent & started the alcohol stove up for coffee. The water never got to boiling, it was tepid enough to warm us though. The inside of the tent was frosted-between our breathing, and the frigid temps, everything had a nice coating of frost. He slept soundly-me, on the other hand, dont sleep well on the ground. I was sore. I blame that on age though .
So, we got coffee in us, got up, and started packing. We cleaned up our site, then walked out. All in all, it was a great experience. He gets bragging rights among his friends, and I get a sore back!!!
Some things I learned:
The swedish stove kit is THE most versatile kit I have owned. I used it in both capacities, and will continue to do so, when weight doesnt matter. I keep this in my jeep all the time, and usually use the alcohol stove when I am out jeeping.
The combination of ragg wool mitts, with the cutoff fingers that fold over into mittens, and syntetic glove liners, worked great all night. They were windproof, and worked well as a pot grabber.
No matter how much you THINK a fire is out, if there are ANY embers, the wind will find it!!! Note; we purposely built the fire close to water, and not near anything that would catch fire. So, even if we left it unattended (which we didnt), nothing would have caught fire. I was actually quite surprised it blew back into flame not once, but twice, after we "thought" we had buried it.
Sleeping on the ground sucks. I am a hammocker, and this trip reminds me of why I am!!
Time spent with my nephew was awesome. We had a lot of good talk time. I am gonna miss that when he goes. He's a smart kid, and loves outdoors stuff. The world is a better place with him in it.
And now, links to some pics I took. They are all of my nephew, and my cell phone died due to the cold, so I didnt get any the next morning, sorry
In no order:
Boiling water:
https://picasaweb.google.com/oldsoldier29/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCMLc1o3cp_GGIA#5576153154011030466
My nephew enjoying dinner:
https://picasaweb.google.com/oldsoldier29/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCMLc1o3cp_GGIA#5576153192869120578
My nephew proud of his fire:
https://picasaweb.google.com/oldsoldier29/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCMLc1o3cp_GGIA#5576153254068387378
the spark caught:
https://picasaweb.google.com/oldsoldier29/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCMLc1o3cp_GGIA#5576153383046498002
Before I showed him how to do it right:
https://picasaweb.google.com/oldsoldier29/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCMLc1o3cp_GGIA#5576153429622057106
Where we dug into the snow & laid pine boughs down:
https://picasaweb.google.com/oldsoldier29/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCMLc1o3cp_GGIA#5576153556407882610
My nephew stomping out a sleeping area:
https://picasaweb.google.com/oldsoldier29/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCMLc1o3cp_GGIA#5576153736142085890
My nephew assembling our tent:
https://picasaweb.google.com/oldsoldier29/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCMLc1o3cp_GGIA#5576153820706001586
the view from our tent:
https://picasaweb.google.com/oldsoldier29/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCMLc1o3cp_GGIA#5576154030429693074
Our home for the night, dug in:
https://picasaweb.google.com/oldsoldier29/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCMLc1o3cp_GGIA#5576153689912426706

[elricfate]

Well, I tried this past saturday only to run into some issues such as when I got the site, I fell and busted not only the camera I had, but my knee. So the two hour hike-in I had was a five hour hike-out back to my car where I left my cell phone due to the area I was in being a 0 cell phone reception area. Thank you noble county.

I took a few pics, and will post some pics of my gear, but otherwise it was a failure.

So now that I have had a chance to sit down and upload what pics I could get before I busted up the camera (thankfully the SD card was intact), here are a few until I get pictures of my gear.

On the way in everything was covered with ice, and I should have known this was going to be the death of me, but I didn't think about it. I picked up my rifle and my pack and hiked in. As it was, I didn't take my hiking staff or a lot of food, mostly because I planned on knocking out a rabbit or possum for dinner that evening, so packed weight, combined with tent and winter fart sack was 42lbs, that is including ammo and rifle too.



I wasn't paying a lot of attention to the animals around me, mostly due to treacherous footing, but what I did find was that as deep as I was, there were still open spots where the vegetation wasn't too thick, and even some big chunks of what looked like concrete drainage pipe.




As I trudged on I noticed there were a lot of downed trees in this area, as well as saplings that were whip-like and some even bent under the weight of ice.




Thankfully, at this point, I wasn't far from where I had chosen to camp. This was about two hours into where I was (private land of a friend), and it was not a fun time, but I did find running water flowing through a creek. It wasn't tasty LOOKING, but after I ran it through a filter (later on), it was drinkable. I didn't get too close to this particular part of it mostly because of the steep embankment heading down to it, I didn't want to fall down and bust my ass (hah)





This area is where I chose to set up camp, there was flatter land to the left, and to the right a slight drop down to the creek so if there was more freezing rain, it would run off instead of settling around my campsite. What looks like one long downed tree is actually two trees stacked almost end to end.




I poked around a little deeper into the place where I decided to post up for the night and found the creek again.





I got a little closer and found that even though there was a rubber tire in the water (ew), and it was murky (ugh) that it looked, otherwise, okay. I even found an area I could approach it from and not break my neck.




I wandered around a little bit and found what looked to be two burrows, one had some iced over (appeared to be) rabbit tracks, and the other had possum tracks all around it. Though I was hoping to catch my food this trip, I didn't want to take the time and effort to smoke them out of their holes. So I headed back to camp.




This is basically when I slipped and fell on an iced over rock, busting the hell out of my camera, and incidentally, my knee. Thankfully I had some NSAIDs and an Ace Bandage in my pack. I wrapped it all up, packed up all my gear, and took the much longer five hour hike out, using my rifle as a walking stick.

I'll post pics of my gear, including rifle, very soon. I just wanted to get this onto the forum to show that there was a trip out, it was several miles, lasted all day, but I just couldn't do the overnight in the condition I was in. I did draw some water from the creek and make lunch before I left, so at least I got to test my gear in the extreme cold.

[Woods Walker]

Mitunnelrat.

Good play on packing a saw. Great looking trip.

Aap1.

Cold and wind are a bad combo and waving trees over head sucks. I might have put the green bag under your hammock inside the undercover/open cell pad and use the MSS back bag and bivy as a quilt with jacket on top. Funny you should mention hearing something in the dark. During my second trip around 3am my buddy started to whisper loudly that someone was walking around outside. The first thing I asked was why whisper about it? Secondly there was miles of 3 foot powder to cover and a rather toasty -13F going on outside. Basically I told him that most crazy camp staking killer types wouldn’t fair well during the hike in. I believe the foot falls were in fact snow bombs being blown off the Hemlocks. There is no shame in being a bit uneasy at night if conditions are right. It has happened to me in the past. Micro Spikes for the win! I would look into getting a heated shelter and Downmat/closed cell pad combo for colder weather. On a side note I also collect wood nearest to my camp first as it saves energy and time but will often take more than is needed for the night just incase. Great looking gear and trip.


oldsoldier.

The foot on thin ice game is always a total joy. I also can’t sleep on the ground well without a very comfortable pad unless totally beat.

[xxxDarksidexxx]

aa1pr - great write up, and great looking photos and trip! i see the hammock didnt work out so well for you. something keeps steering me away from them, but you know some guys love theirs.

oldsoldier - great trip and write up! i enjoyed seeing the swedish mess kit in action!

elricfate - so it looks like mother nature won on this trip? not so bad since she is much stronger than any of us. you went out and tried, so its a win in my book. it sucks to hear you busted up your knee and camera! maybe some of those spike some of the guys are running would have prevented that?

[xxxDarksidexxx]

well i will not be able to post up part 2 of my trip since i ended up catching the chest cold my wife had. it kicked my ass for the last two weeks ( and still had to go to work ), i just started feeling better this past weekend. now my wife is 37 weeks pregnant and i dont feel comfortable going off into the woods.

maybe next year if this contest runs again i will enter, though i dont know how i can compete with some of these trips that have been posted! maybe i can arrange a vacation during the contest and get up into the northeast ( long island ) and pull off a trip with some snow involved.

you guys have posted some REALLY kick ass trips so far!


BTW - as of tommorrow there is ONLY 7 days left to enter the contest!!!

[elricfate]

elricfate - so it looks like mother nature won on this trip? not so bad since she is much stronger than any of us. you went out and tried, so its a win in my book. it sucks to hear you busted up your knee and camera! maybe some of those spike some of the guys are running would have prevented that?

I'm still hobbling around, albeit on pain meds. I'm going to see if I can get out there again this coming weekend. Hopefully most of the ice will be gone by then, though the weather all day today has been sleet, freezing rain, and snow for some reason. But yea, I'm not 100% on the foot spikes, mostly because it was a hidden rock I tread on that caused the fall.

We shall see. If I can't make it out this coming weekend, then I'll just have to leave my entry at half a bugout and wait until next year to enter again, if we do it again.

[mitunnelrat]

Thanks Woods Walker! I learned that particular lesson last summer on a car camping trip. its definitely more than worth the weight and space it takes up for the amount of time and energy it saves me over chopping.

[Regulator]

the_alias, Awesome scenery and great pics. Glad you weren’t killed by falling icicles.

mitunnelrat, I keep almost talking myself into buying one of those MSS. If it worked for you there it should work for me down here.

aa1pr, Cool trip, good pics. I’m gonna have to find out more about your ruck. I kinda like the look of it. I agree with you on the salmon too!

oldsoldier, Hi Tec Magnums are great, I still have a pair from back in the day too. Wish they were still available. Looked like you guys had fun. Except maybe the several ½ mile trips for firewood, lol. That sounds like work.

elricfate, Damn, you just having shit luck. I don’t think I’d of used my rifle for a walking stick, but it sucks that you took a spill and broke your camera too. Bummer that you couldn’t stay out a few more hours and make the 24 hour mark, or did this happen in the morning? Anyway, like you said, there’s always next year.

[Blackdog]

[quote="elricfate I got a little closer and found that even though there was a rubber tire in the water (ew), and it was murky (ugh) that it looked, otherwise, okay. I even found an area I could approach it from and not break my neck.quote]

Because I didn't use it on my two posted trips I didn't mention it. Having busted my butt and gotten wet feet at least a couple of times getting to water I now in my more mature years keep a hank of cord on a bottle for the purpose of using it as bottle leash. In a nut shell you just tie off your bottle an toss it in the water from a distance and haul the water out. Works well for steep slippery slopes, where there is ice near shore but clear water out a bit and in those tricky SW canyons also.

[elricfate]

elricfate, Damn, you just having shit luck. I don’t think I’d of used my rifle for a walking stick, but it sucks that you took a spill and broke your camera too. Bummer that you couldn’t stay out a few more hours and make the 24 hour mark, or did this happen in the morning? Anyway, like you said, there’s always next year.

I got there in the early morning around 8am and was out by a little after 5pm. As for using my rifle as a walking stick, when I take pics of the rifle you'll understand that I modified it to be used that way in an emergency. It started off as a Toz 78-01, my favorite russian girlfriend, but I took the regular buttplate off, hollowed out a portion of the stock (which now stores a fire/fish kit and a 5rd mag), reinforced it with steel putty, and replaced the buttplate with a steel one from an M1 Garand.

Because I didn't use it on my two posted trips I didn't mention it. Having busted my butt and gotten wet feet at least a couple of times getting to water I now in my more mature years keep a hank of cord on a bottle for the purpose of using it as bottle leash. In a nut shell you just tie off your bottle an toss it in the water from a distance and haul the water out. Works well for steep slippery slopes, where there is ice near shore but clear water out a bit and in those tricky SW canyons also.

In a pinch I could tie off a hank of paracord (I take plenty with me) to my cookpot and drag back some water. The only reason I hate doing that is if the water isn't good, you contaminate the entire outside of your container and need to make sure to keep it well away from uncontaminated stuff until it has been thoroughly cleaned.

[FreeRider]

Good luck dude, Its been beautiful out these last few days. Really cold but the nice kind with little wind and open sky. It was -37 by Drayton today which makes today tied for the coldest I've seen this year. I hope you have fun! Mind sharing the general location you plan on going?

I hope these temps stay down there and I can get 2 days off work, I am running out of time.

Thanks man! I take it your situate in Drayton then? I did my camp out just north east of Gibbons, my folks live out there and I have access to a nice wooded area along the river which is no more then a 1km hike.

I did get out this weekend for trip #2 which I will use as my entry. The temperatures during the day were up a bit higher and the light was much nicer so I was able to get quite a bit more video and pictures.

[Woods Walker]

Time is running out so anyone on the fence better get a move on. I will be tossing in a used Mora TopQ stainless knife into the prize pool. Like most of my stuff it hasn't been sitting in the closet so has some wear however will be shipped very very sharp to the winner.

[xxxDarksidexxx]

Time is running out so anyone on the fence better get a move on. I will be tossing in a used Mora TopQ stainless knife into the prize pool. Like most of my stuff it hasn't been sitting in the closet so has some wear however will be shipped very very sharp to the winner.

added you to the prize list.

[aa1pr]

Aap1.

Cold and wind are a bad combo and waving trees over head sucks. I might have put the green bag under your hammock inside the undercover/open cell pad and use the MSS back bag and bivy as a quilt with jacket on top. Funny you should mention hearing something in the dark. During my second trip around 3am my buddy started to whisper loudly that someone was walking around outside. The first thing I asked was why whisper about it? Secondly there was miles of 3 foot powder to cover and a rather toasty -13F going on outside. Basically I told him that most crazy camp staking killer types wouldn’t fair well during the hike in. I believe the foot falls were in fact snow bombs being blown off the Hemlocks. There is no shame in being a bit uneasy at night if conditions are right. It has happened to me in the past. Micro Spikes for the win! I would look into getting a heated shelter and Downmat/closed cell pad combo for colder weather. On a side note I also collect wood nearest to my camp first as it saves energy and time but will often take more than is needed for the night just incase. Great looking gear and trip.

WW & Others...Thanks

I should have placed the patrol bag beneath the hammock, however when its that cold you really do not feel like messing with things in the middle of the night. Better to lay still and conserve what heat you have. I was really disappointed with the way that there was an air gap around the edge of the under cover and the over cover.

The wind blew any remianing snow for the most part off the trees and branches. I really think it was a coydog off in the distance, since we were close to the field he did not come close? I am not afraid of any natural animals except Bigfoot LOL really wanted to get higher up on the ridge to a nice overlook but the wind was insane.

For me being cold I do not feel that whatever I would have done would have helped. I had on my ecwcs polar thermals and a down jacket on the top followed by the parka and the bottom had the same thermals, pants, fleece and the omnitech pants. Once the back was aching from the cold I was done and it was a matter of just toughing it out and sucking it up. I may look into a tipi or other shelter that offers the use of a stove and also allows me to sleep on a air pad off the ground say in a cot.

I am impressed with all the expeditions of the others as the postings are great! I feel we all have learned from each other!

[rsnurkle]

Another thing that bothers me and I see a lot of this is the loops on gloves. People either cut them off or… one should have them secured around your wrist so you can remove your glove without letting the glove hit the ground and fill with snow.

I thought those retaining loops were the coolest thing when I figured out why they were on my winter gloves, but I'm not sure I've fully learned their mysteries. When I pull off my gloves, I want to leave them hanging on the loops around my wrist and more or less ignore them. Unfortunately, they're long enough that when I lean or squat down to work on part of a mock shelter or take a closeup photo of the snow, they hang low enough to hit the ground and still fill with snow. As a result, I tend to get in the habit of ignoring the loops or repeatedly loosening and tightening them as I put on/take off my gloves and transfer them to my pocket or even purposefully set them (fingers down) in the snow. Is there a better way?

Also,

when its that cold you really do not feel like messing with things in the middle of the night. Better to lay still and conserve what heat you have.

I agree with "the don't mess with things in the cold if you don't have to" mentality, as long as hypothermia isn't involved. I was working outside on a trail this late summer/early fall, in comparatively balmy but rainy 50*F weather, and started getting chilled in my baselayer and rain shell, during a break from swinging our crazy garden tools. I spent a whole three minutes mentally telling myself it wasn't worth it to trudge all the way back to my daypack and put on my fleece, that it would just get wet when I took it out from under the garbage bag covering my things and then everything would suck. I managed to slooowly walk back there anyways, and very slooooowly and unhappily started opening my rain shell and started slooooowly pulling the fleece out of my pack. I got it onto one arm and suddenly realized my arm had become comfortably warm, instead of the clammy chill I had been feeling all over my torso. And once I realized my arm was warm and the rest of my body was not, I felt like I could move 5x faster (aka, at normal speed) and I got that fleece on and my rain shell back over me lickety split and easy as pie. I took a moment to smile at feeling so dry and warm. Then I realized, oh. Woops. That's probably what the start of hypothermia feels like.

Just to say it: I don't think you did anything wrong in that situation, it sounds like you definitely know when not to further aggravate your back and when core temperature is actually an issue, but when I read that I just wanted to share my experience. That moment, it really struck me how clearly this was my own personal example of when it is important to proactively respond to being uncomfortable in the outdoors, and what can happen when you don't.

Thanks for your entry, and best of luck with your back. Maybe hammock + downmat + underquilt combined with giant hammock tarp + packable wood stove underneath could best approximate modern climate control?

[Sealegs]

The glove loops are really meant (AFAIK) to go, either on the straps you use to tighten the cuffs on the jacket or a "glove cord" run through both the jacket arms and around your back or chest.

Tightening anything around your hands in deep cold can mess with circulation and lead to trouble. We had a Swedish adventurer who, while skiing to the north pole had to abort and almost lost his thumb, maybe he did loose it I can't remember, because the straps in the ski stick was a bit too tight.

Our military versions have a kind of eyelet that allows you to either make it a loop for velcro or just put the eyelet in a snap button and secure it.

Edit:
The added benefit is that the shell gloves are always found with the shell jacket. No loosing a glove in the dark. Sometimes I wish gloves and caps could be sprayed with a tritium based paint or something.

[oldsoldier]

Regulator, every time I think of getting rid of them, I pull them out for use. They have LONG outlived the price Ipaid for them...but they are nice boots, albeit a little smelly and overly broken in, after all the abuse I put them through!

[FreeRider]

Ok, so I just returned yesterday from a brief overnight with my 18 y/o nephew. We just did an overnight because thats about all the time I can afford these days. He has never winter camped, and this was his first experience with staying out in sub-freezing weather. I have taken him on PLENTY of overnights, but never on a cold one...I am gonna miss that kid when the Army takes him...
Anyway, so the area we used was at my local gun club. As a member, I get 24/7 access to the club. They have about 70 acres of wildlife area, that is multi use, for hunting, and, if people want, they can camp out too. I had checked in with the guy who runs it, to check to make sure I could make a fire, and he said fine. So, with his blessing, we headed off on Saturday afternoon.

Great trip! Very nice to see you and your nephew enjoying the cold camping.