Snow Camping

[Bigfattyt]

So I had an opportunity to take some 11 year old scouts snow camping the other weekend. I was concerned about the weather, but it cooperated. No new snow on us. And the wind stayed away for the night and day after.

The snow on the ground was still about 2 feet deep.

We did not get the tents pitched until 9pm or later. We were able to get a good fire going in the fire ring.

It ended up being about a 1/2 mile walk to the camp site. Not a big deal when you are only carrying your pack. But we had to make at least 10 trips to get the gear in and out. We had like 4 sleeping bags for each person, three tents, the food, and we had to pack all the fire wood in. No burning the local wood, except for a few dead pieces already on the ground.

I was so stinking sore after lugging in all that stuff. We did a few trips lugging tarps as makeshift drag/sleds Other wise it would have been many more trips.

I had two heavy canvas sleeping bags, and 3 pads to sleep on. I also kept warm hat with tie down ear flaps on all night. It was fun. We did not do too much the next day, except keep the fire going, and have the scouts cook their breakfast, and lunch.

 

[mymindisamob]

Looks like a great time!:thumbup:

 

[Lil' Foo]

Man... I haven't gone snow camping in ages.

Bet you all had fun once the hauling was done. :thumbup:

And from the looks of that one pic... you guys hauled a lot!

Did you let any of the scouts use some INFI?

Thanks for the pics.

.

 

[woodrat]

I haven't been snow camping since I went up by Paul Smiths College in the Adirondacs years ago (1993 probably). My wife is taking off with my daughter for spring break to see her folks (I'd go with her but plan to see my dad soon and can't go to both places) and some friends of mine were talking about snow camping the weekend she is gone.

definitely looks like a good time, and has me motivated to go now!

 

[vic2367]

great pics,,im sure everyone had fun,,

 

[RedbeAR15]

Good Deal - the next generation is coming

 

[1Tracker]

Man, that brings back some great memories....I remember when I was a Scout and all we had to eat after a long hard slog was some 'shoe leather'. Looks like dinner's almost done there, or at least turn that boot to crisp up the other side,LOL! Actually, the venison on the hoof looked MUCH tastier, just saying......1PorkerTracker

 

[Bigfattyt]

I did not let them use the Infi. I did not much infi work. I made a few sticks for cooking hotdogs, and roasting marshMallows. They are 11 year olds. I have had some basic knife safety training with a couple. but would not let some of them touch a butter knife yet if I had a choice. A couple of them, I was nervous about handing them a sharp stick.

 

[Dennis in MA]

One of them $100 surplus sub-zero bags would have kept you quite warm. They are a pain to put together, but they are warm.

Nice pix. I haven't winter-camped in over 40 years. Of course, I'm 40, so that means NEVER. LOL

Bet your calves and thighs are mega-ripped now, tho.

 

[Maqua]

What's all that white stuff all over the place?

 

[Strabs]

Oh man, winter camping is my favorite!
No bugs, no hot weather, cozy sleeping in sub zero weather and Nalgene hot pee bottles to keep you warm:thumbup:

...but I still have nightmares of not finding the hole to breath out of

 

[Bigfattyt]

I really need to get a cold weather bag. I had a really nice north face mummy bag. Let me tell you, winter camping in the Teton mountains is not the time to figure out that your old mummy bag does not fit you at all, because you have grown so much (both taller and fatter!). That was a near death experience, and a real test of my fire building skills in the snow at 2 am while suffering from hypothermia!!!!!!

Since then, I have not bought a new cold weather bag. I am going to be poor for the foreseeable future, so I won't be gearing up any time soon.

 

[LMT66]

That looks cold with all the snow. Still looks like a good time though!

 

[Strabs]

Hey PM66, most of my winter camping has been up there. We get one shot lift tickets to the top and hike in until we were fried. This was well before we thought to build sleds, DUH!
A 40+ pound pack (we all carried our own booze in ) and thigh deep snow beats the hell out of you pretty quick.

 

[fivefold]

You're a good man. I did the scout thing with my son for many years and have memories that will last a lifetime. Good job!

 

[alaskanativeson]

When I was a scout my dad made us a stove to pull with us into camp. It was a proper Yukon stove: a 55 gallon drum laid on its side with a door put into one end. To that he added four pieces of angle iron that went down and attached to skis on the bottom. We'd put the stovepipe inside and one person's job was to pull it to winter camp. When we go there (it was never more than a 1/2 mile to where we'd camp) first this was for one group to set up the 12x24 tent we all slept in while the other set up the stove and gathered firewood. This was in the mountains of the North Front Range in Colorado (West of Ft. Collins) and there was always plenty of dead wood around. There were times we'd have that fire stoked so well the top of the pipe would glow. We'd gather around the stove to get warm, and there was always a big tub of water sitting on a flat plate bolted to the top so we'd have hot water whenever we'd need it. I really wish I knew what happened to that stove.

 

[Bigfattyt]

You're a good man. I did the scout thing with my son for many years and have memories that will last a lifetime. Good job!

My kid is only 3 and 1/2, so it will be a while till he is in scouts.

I do have tons of great memories from my scouting years, including many near death experiences

 

[LMT66]

Hey PM66, most of my winter camping has been up there. We get one shot lift tickets to the top and hike in until we were fried. This was well before we thought to build sleds, DUH!
A 40+ pound pack (we all carried our own booze in ) and thigh deep snow beats the hell out of you pretty quick.

40 + pounds! You could throw a quarter or half barrel on a sled to make it simple! And feather light when you leave if you were all thirsty enough, plusno cans/bottles etc. Just keep it near the fire.
Thigh deep snow stinks ... as young guys, we used to draw straws as to who was taking point. It was amusing to watch the point guy trip on stumps and disappear!
At my age and condition, I don't think I have it in me for a long snow hike.

 

[Bigfattyt]

40 + pounds! You could throw a quarter or half barrel on a sled to make it simple! And feather light when you leave if you were all thirsty enough, plusno cans/bottles etc. Just keep it near the fire.
Thigh deep snow stinks ... as young guys, we used to draw straws as to who was taking point. It was amusing to watch the point guy trip on stumps and disappear!
At my age and condition, I don't think I have it in me for a long snow hike.

Man, I have done that too. As a young whipper snapper we were camping on the back side of a mountain in the cascades. Ski resort on the other side. We hiked down into this valley. The snow was hard enough to walk on. As the day went on, we started back to go eat lunch. The sun had softened the crust enough that we found out the snow was about chest deep. That hike back up took much much longer.