First campout of the 2011

[hugh]

Myself and 3 friends went for an overnight campout in a wilderness area about 80 or so miles from my home. I took my trailer, one friend asked if he could also stay in the trailer, and one slept in is jeep Cherokee and the other slept in his tent. The weather was perfect, just 1 degree above freezing during the and down to about 17 below zero celcius at night. The snow cover averaged about 1 foot deep with of course deeper spots in certain areas. I had bought a Mr Buddy propane heater which I left on all night in the trailer set to the lowest heat, about 4000 btu,s . Since this was to be a test I did not make a new hole in the camper for the hose from the 20lb propane tank, I just left the door ajar a bit and also opened 1 side window. Plus I had a battery powered carbon monoxide detector sitting at face level while I was sleeping. It has a digital ppm readout and it never got higher than 0 ppm,s so carbon monoxide was not an issue. Talk about a comfortable night,s sleep, on the lowest setting without the fan even turned on I never even had to zip up my sleeping bag. Mind you I failed to open the 20 lb tank valve all the way and around 5 in the morning the heater had shut off so I woke up enough to zip the bag up all the way and then slept for another couple of hours. I figure it was in the area of 17 to 20 below since that,s what they were forecasting. We carved out snow blocks to make a windbreak for sitting around the fire Sat evening and it was fantastic, clear as a bell, no noise, lots of stars, beautiful. Sun morning we had a small visitor who dropped in for some sourdough bread.

[Miriam C.]

Wow and Brrrrrrr! Congratulations on a successful polar bear camp out.

[atahoekid]

That looks and sounds like a great weekend getaway. I hope to get camping soon, but it doesn't look promising. The wife and I went skiing today and on the way up to our favorite Sierra ski resort (Alpine Meadows) we saw snow drifts higher than the utility lines. Amazing!!!! We've half jokingly said that it might be August before the snow melts. Last years snowfall wasn't nearly as deep and we found snow in July in our favorite campground. We might need to travel a long way before we find a snow free campground.

[robertaw]

Looks like a great time! Love the igloo wall.

[canned o minimum]

Sum folks go campin no matter WHAT is on the ground or fallin from the sky.

Like most thangs in life, if ya wait fer the perfect time to do sumthin..you'll be sittin on yer hands an awful LONG time...

Sum folks look at the snow and ask..WHY? Sum folks look at it and SAY..why NOT !

Looks like the snow didn't deter you guys !! Woo Hoo !!!

[gregp136]

Wow, looks wonderful!. I am more of a cold winter camper, so I would have gone in a minute. Laurie, on the other hand, doesn't put her winter coat away until June. Looks like a wonderful time.

Greg(and Laurie)

[hugh]

Some folks just have such a werid twisted sense of fun is all I got to say. Slowcowboy.
You would have been real surprised at how both days went. The sky was a perfect blue, there was almost no wind. We were far enough off the highway that when we quit talking and laughing the silence was deafening. During the day you could sit in the sun with just a sweater and of course snowmobile boots because your feet were always in the snow and feel the heat of the sun. My face and neck actually got a bit of a sunburn. And at night the fire provided all the warmth you needed and if you stepped away for a moment the sky was clear and filled with stars. Plus you should realize that winter is pretty much the longest of the 4 seasons we get here, this year it started mid Nov and is likely gonna last till mid March. When I say winter what I mean is snow on the ground, usually Dec is busy, and Jan and Feb are too cold for camping. Much as I like house and even city living, getting out to the woods is good for my soul and puts me in a good place for weeks after. It,s very much attitude. Since Sunday was so nice we decided not to drive the Jeeps around so we went on a hike of about 4 or 5 miles, we stopped at the far end, had a beer then went back.

I,m the one in the middle.

[Wimperdink]

You guys are nuts for sure. I knew there was a good reason I moved away from that area. I used to live just across the border in Pembina. I've spent a fair bit of time in Winnepeg with relatives who are still there. I had a different idea of cold when I lived there and probably would have joined ya back then. Now I live in warmer weather and those pics make me shiver. Good on ya.

[doris s.]

Beautiful pics. I can't wait until my kids grow up so I can go "winter" camping. They would never deal with camping below 40 degrees, lol.

Doris

[CAJUN LADY]

Beautiful pictures Hugh! It sounds like y'all had a great time and beautiful camping scenery.

[cmac]

I am envious of ya!!!

The polar bear campouts as a Boy Scout Leader (Assistant Scout Master) were some of my favorite campouts and were usually the same campouts that were our annual rifle shooting outing - I was also the Range Safety Office and Rangemaster since I have all of the required NRA Certifications required by the BSA. I have also been a competitive highpower rife shooter since abbout 1970.

But it still looks like GREAT fun with your friends and scenery! Hope ya did some dutch oven cooking during the outing.

John

[atahoekid]

Sum folks go campin no matter WHAT is on the ground or fallin from the sky.

Like most thangs in life, if ya wait fer the perfect time to do sumthin..you'll be sittin on yer hands an awful LONG time...

Sum folks look at the snow and ask..WHY? Sum folks look at it and SAY..why NOT !

Looks like the snow didn't deter you guys !! Woo Hoo !!!

It's not so much the snow as it is the quantity of it. Many Sierra campgrounds won't even open till there is significant melt off. With the snow pack as high as it is, this could take a while. I'm not waiting for perfection, I'm waiting for a chance!