Long Weekend Winter Camping

[Brian Andrews]

Having realized that I have a long weekend from work (having the 18th off), last minute I figured it would be an excellent weekend to get some winter camping in.

My main requirement was a decent amount of snow. It seems that Michigan has been hurting for snow this year, which meant a trip to the UP. I ended up having about 2 feet of snow, which was decent enough, but still way down by UP standards.

I asked an old friend to go that I have not camped with in years. He asked a couple others that I either knew less, or not really at all. My only real requests for the weekend was that we go where there is a reasonable amount of snow, and that we walk in (not camp next to the truck, or haul a trailer in). The other guys wanted to do some ice fishing and possibly some snowshoe hunting, and with a planned group of 5, hauling extra gear into the backcountry seemed like no big deal.

Sort of last minute, the group dropped back down to 3, which meant some of the more non-essential stuff that was packed seemed a little less feasible for us, but we brought it anyway : )

I will just let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

It did not make sense to leave Friday after work. With the drive, we would be setting up camp at 1 in the morning : ) So, we hit the road at 5am Saturday to get a good start. He we are at our parking location.

Here is my rig, with my pulk being tested for the first time (shown with more stuff than I carried. It was just sitting there while we arranged stuff).

Here is where we were heading:

It is a fairly narrow basin, that is miles long. There were no signs of it being visited more than 100 yards from our parking spot. Looks like a couple people had fished close to the road, and that is it.

Our plan was to walk the basin for a bit, then hit the woods.

Here is a pictures of my pulk setup.

Because of all the extra stuff, and the fewer people, we only went in a couple miles from our parking spot. I honestly don’t know why I say that, as we really didn’t have a “plan” as to how far to go in. We were just winging it.

We would end up camping on shore so that we could watch tip-ups from camp. Here is the campsite after packing down the area for the tipi.

Our morning view.

Some of my gear.

Me right after arrival.

To Be Continued…….

 

[Brian Andrews]

Campground from the lake.

Closer up campground shots.

Firepit area.

Setting up camp.

My friend with a healthy smallmouth (out of season up there, just wanted the picture)

We also got a nice walleye later that evening, along with some pike hovering around limit size.

To Be Continued……

 

[Brian Andrews]

My stove going with half the breakfast the next morning.

My buddies stove had the pancakes going : )

Then, it was some time for some snowshoeing around.

As you can tell, we had a mix of modern and traditional snowshoes. We all kept trading off in order to try each across different terrain and snow depth conditions. You can tell from the following photo that I really dig the traditional shoes. My friend outweighs me. But him without a pack, and me with one, I think I was actually heavier than him.

Then, we decided to trek up the hill opposite our campsite, just for the view. It was only about 500 feet or so, but it was steep enough that we all had to scramble up, and we all basically “skied” down with our snowshoes : ) We all went down on our buts in powder trying to “ski” but it sure was fun : )

Here we are going up.

Taking a break at the top.

We went back to manning the tip-ups when we got back to camp.

To Be Continued……..

 

[Brian Andrews]

We caught something before I could even get back to camp and take my pack off. Of course I would get caught on camera pulling up the smallest fish of the trip : )

I had tons of fun playing with fire. I forgot my flint and steel, and did all my firestarting with the firesteel. I did one with birch bark alone. One by fuzzing up some sticks, and then the one pictured below with cattail fluff and dried grass.

My prepared “tinder” pile after I raided it to setup the fire. I got it all ready while I was standing around melting snow. I set up the fire and thought “Crap! I should have taken a pictures of that.” So instead, I just took a picture of what was left.

Those of you that have used the cattail fluff/dry grass combo probably already know that the mixture pictured above it too rich with fluff, and too lean with grass : ) I kind of knew that mixing it up, but took the picture any way. Gave it a shot, and the grass didn’t want to go. I pulled out about three quarters of the fluff, added more grass, and it took off like wild fire. Literally! : ) A pinch of cattail fluff goes a long way.

Meanwhile my friends are making fun of me because I have a ready supply of either gasoline or white gas, and wondering why I am screwing around. But heck, that is the fun stuff for me. My most challenging fire situations have been during winter camping, but this trip was a piece of cake.

Oh yeah, a couple scenery shots, while I tell you about the weather.

The weather was extremely mild. We were scheduled for a warm weekend, but it never got above freezing. Our high’s were right around 30F. The temperature Sunday morning was 22F (that’s -5C for you Canadians, eh! : ) Monday, we woke up to a temp of 25F. Overall, a very, very easy weekend for winter camping. Not above freezing to make things a wet mess, yet not cold enough to really challenge you and make all the mistakes you make obvious.

The final picture is the whole crew getting ready for departure on Monday morning.

To be honest, as you can tell from this picture and previous pictures, there was lots of room for gear optimization without a doubt. I really wanted to go camping, but didn’t want to tell everyone that was going (originally 5 people, and am not frequently in contact with them all) what to bring and what not to bring. That was why my main request for the trip was that we walk in……to make everyone think about what they were taking, and if they really needed it. I can not speak for the other two, but it seems no matter how many times I do this stuff, either on foot, or with a sled that I try to look for things to leave behind. Here is a list of things that took and did not use, or things that I would possibly change.

- The tipi is nice and big, but it is heavy for backcountry. However, we were originally looking at accommodating 5, so it seemed okay. In reality, my small lightweight tent would be great. The tipi is just fun : )

- I brought my 10x10 sil-nylon tarp, and did not use it. I highly suspected I wouldn’t, but took it anyway.
- I took a bag of cordage that I use in securing the tarp (doesn’t include my PSK cordage).
- I took a small gerber saw, which I did not use.
- I took a larger cookset than I normally do because I like a larger pot for melting snow. Once you get the first pot melted, it goes a lot faster if you have a decent volume of water. That cookset contains cups, and plates contained inside. Even if I wanted the larger cookset, I could have taken the “guts” out for weight. I knew that, but figured no biggie.
- I never wore my wind shell, but I am not likely to not take something to break the wind.
- I never used my first aid kit, or PSK, thank god! : ) Not that I would leave those behind.
- I did not use my extra set of gloves, but I will still take those.
- I would have been just as happy leaving the rifle home.

So, we left the woods, but the trip was not over. We were not that far from Shingleton, MI, which is the home to Iversons Snowshoes (http://www.iversons-snowshoes.com/). It is one of the last, if not “the” last maker of wood snowshoe’s in the US. I have been by it many times, but it is not normally open on the weekends. It just worked out well that this visit I was both in the area, and on a weekday, so we just had to stop.

The folks at Iversons are extremely nice. I got to chat with them about the different styles, different bindings and materials, and even see their shop and witness some being made. They also allowed me to try out different bindings and snowshoes right outside the shop to get a feel for them.

There are at least 3 patterns of shoes I want to get from them, but I just couldn’t go home without buying a pair of their “Michigan” pattern. The next one I want from them is a pair of “Ojibwa’s.”

Now all we need is for this heat wave to go away, and get some real snow around here! : )

Thanks for reading,

B

 

[ratamahatta]

great pics brother, what's the name of the pack you have???

 

[mtnfolk mike]

wow... great stuff Brian.. those are some awesome pics man...:thumbup:

being a Ca. boy and all, i have never done any winter camping like that before.. i would love to give it a shot one of these days... those pulks look so cool, what a great way to haul gear....

love the ice auger too...

edit: i neeeeed a terrasaur knife...

 

[WILLIAM.M]

Great Post Bro

THANKS!!!!

 

[jcl-MD]

Good Stuff!!
RP#141

 

[newknife]

Great Post Bro

THANKS!!!!

second that....great pic's.

 

[KuRUpTD]

Looks like an amazing time ... thanks for bringing us along.

 

[tonym]

Wow, what a great trip!

I would love to go camping with you bro!

How did that Walleye taste over the fire?? Yummm

 

[IUKE12]

Looks like a great time Brian. Why no gaiters while out and about on the snowshoes? Wet pants can't be fun to dry.

 

[Brian Andrews]

great pics brother, what's the name of the pack you have???

It is a Kifaru Express.

Looks like a great time Brian. Why no gaiters while out and about on the snowshoes? Wet pants can't be fun to dry.

Because I haven't made the ones I want yet I had a pair of your typical OR/REI style, but decided to go without them as I am not a huge fan of them.

The wool pants seemed to do just fine. Most of the snow brushed off. I got some clumping right at the bottom, but it broke off, like ice. No real wetness at all. The guy in jeans was a completely different story! His pants were by the fire for a LONG time.

The chaps I want to make are gaiter versions of Filson's tin cloth chaps. I will just get the same material, make them up, them coat them with either the Filson treatment or Drizabone's treatment. I will probably never get to it though......among my thousand other "projects."

B

 

[kgd]

Great stuff Brian, I like that wool jacket/hoodie combo. Did you make that? I'd like to talk you about the pattern if you did

Looks like you guys brought a lot of stuff but you had several activities you were engaged in. The ice-fishing obviously necessitated a lot of required material as well as camping position. A power auger wouldn't be my first choice (well I just couldn't spend that much money for one.....I buy the manual's 4" ones for $60). At least you caught fish! I hope you ate them also.

I have two sets of traditional snowshoes of that style. One set was given to me by an uncle and are pretty old. They have a worn off label on the top of them indicating 'Chestnut Canoe Company, Frederickton'. The company went out of business in 1978 so I know that they are at least 32 years old. They work great and give lots of flotation. Like your picture, I find that traditionals are better floaters than modern ones, but I do appreciate the modern ammenities like toe cleats for climbing.

Thanks for posting the photos of your trip.

Oh yeah - good idea about the fuel tank cozy! I never thought of that.

 

[Tim the Slugman]

Great pics ! Brian what is the green pullover that you are wearing called & where can they be found. we dont have anything like that in the south, but it looks warm.

 

[Brian Andrews]

Great stuff Brian, I like that wool jacket/hoodie combo. Did you make that? I'd like to talk you about the pattern if you did

Hey Ken,

The hoodie is the Swanndri Bushshirt. Like most of my gear that would be high dollar new, I bought it used. I got that particular one from eBay. It was very cheap, and seemed new to me :thumbup:

However, my wife did just get done making one for Brendan that is a combination of mine and pictures of Rick's Anorak that he has posted here. I will take some shots of it here soon and get it posted.

A power auger wouldn't be my first choice (well I just couldn't spend that much money for one.....I buy the manual's 4" ones for $60).

I don't own one myself, and like you I am too cheap to buy one. I also have a manual one. I like fishing, and all that, but am not super into it. I was leaving what gear they brought for fishing up to them : ) The only thing I can say to justify their choice is that region of the UP can easily see 2' to 3' of ice. Couple that with multiple tip up holes, and the possibility of moving and I can see why he erred on the side of convenience.

but I do appreciate the modern ammenities like toe cleats for climbing.

Boy do I have some climbing stories for you next time we get together Yeah, each definitely has their purpose, and it is nice to have both. But it all really depends what you are into. I am not into mountaineering, and really don't have that desire. I like the snowbelt of the lower penisula, the UP, and Canada north of Superior. For those locations, if I had to pick one, I am sure it would be a traditional set. But, like everything else we weigh and re-weigh, everything is a trade-off, and everyone has their own personal preference.

B

 

[Big K]

Wow that looks like a great trip!!!!

No carbon steel pan cooking pic's?

 

[pitdog]

Great pics Brian, I'm always jealous of your trips !!!!

 

[Bushman5]

wicked pics! i'm JONESING for snow here! lucky dawg!

saved and bumped up the saturation & warmth on these pics....man these are great!

 

[Bushman5]

BTW, treat your PULK to a liberal spraying of silicone lube spray on the bottom.......then buff with a cloth.....makes it glide free over the snow