Winter camping in western pa

[bladefoolish]

Having lived in Texas most of my life, I'm doing a slow move to western pa, where my fiancee and I are building a new house on her property. It's almost done (waiting for power hook up). I'm up here for a couple of weeks between Christmas and New Year's, and we've have several inches of snow in the last couple of days. Why not take a day, and practice my winter camping skills?

Because it's cold, that why. Damn cold. My thin Texas blood doesn't like this weather, and making umpteen trips between the old house and the new one while it's snowing is fullfilling my (small) need to be outdoors.

Okay. I'm a wimp. Look for PA outdoors pics in the spring. Late spring.

 

[Mentor]

Hey bladefoolish,

Do you have access to snowshoes? If so (and if there is a sufficient snow base), I recommend going for a nice half-day snowshoe hike with a fire-making intermission geared towards producing a hot beverage. It's more enjoyable - and warmer - than straight-up winter camping, and a lot less work.

Stay warm,

- Mike

PS I can appreciate not being suited to a climate - Texas heat would probably kill me. Anything over 15 C makes me long for snowflakes.

 

[bladefoolish]

It's actually not deep enough for snowshoes -- mebbe about 4 inches on the ground right now, and I was sorta exagerating ( a little) my aversion to the weather. If I weren't moving objects from one dwelling to another, a nice hike would sound good. However, the underlying truth is that for me "cold" weather has mostly meant 40 degrees, and I'm not used to seeing single digit temperatures. I have learned I need a pair of boots with more insulation, or get some silk undersocks. Although I have several pair of nice leather gloves, what is working the best is a pair of cheap snowmobile gloves I got at Academy for less than $20.00.