I finally had an opportunity to do a snow camp and get it on video, so I threw my gear together and headed out to state forest land. I had to get an early start because there was already snow on the ground, and more coming down by the time I got to the highway.
I made a brief stop at the reservoir to admire the (lack of) view and then headed for my intended parking spot, which would allow me to avoid creek crossings and get to a pine-heavy area I've camped in before.
Admittedly, I had a bit of a rough start. Finding a spot to set up was tricky due to obstacles hidden under the snow, and it seems a majority of the larger living trees in that area were marked for logging (after which the ground will likely get taken over by brambles and shrubs, boo). Once I made it through the eyesore of painted trees I managed to get set up, but the wind pulled a 180 and my intended shelter style (a modified lean-to with an overhang) couldn't keep the snow out. Grumble grumble, take down, make new shelter, press on.
The first part of the exercise was to make a fire in the snow using old-fashioned flint and steel. Unsurprisingly, I couldn't locate any dead ferns, dry grass, flower tops, cat tails, or seed pods that hadn't been soaked by rain and snow. There were also no cedar or birch trees around me, so no bark to scrape up. After hunting around for a bit, I found a bunch of long pine needles that had gotten hung up under the branches of a little fir tree and were protected from the snow. I added them to fine wood shavings I piled up (yay for dead standing) to make a bird's nest.
Spoiler alert: my bird's nest worked, and I got the fire going. Big accomplishment for me, since I haven't done fire starting in such inhospitable conditions before. Please, hold your applause until the end of the blog.
Sundown brought hunger with it, so I quit hanging out under the shelter and put food together. I was told at a family gathering that people try to guess whether I will be eating steak or brats; consider your expectations subverted. Dinner was a pair of significantly-sized burgers that I prepped at home. Ground bison, panko breading, egg, worcestershire sauce, crispy onions, and seasoning. Phenomenal.
The second part of the exercise was to pass the night with a minimal sleep system and a Siberian log fire. I brought a USGI-self inflating sleeping mat and a wool blanket, and wrapped them in a plash palatka to protect them from stray embers and snow. The improved shelter setup (modified plow point) kept me safe from the occasional snow drift but left enough of an opening for heat to get in.
Spoiler alert: I didn't die. The fire (which I now realize I didn't get a picture of, sorry) worked about like I expected it to; pine burns pretty fast so I had to get up about once an hour to scoot logs up. Having to get up and hobble around in the cold that frequently is less than fun, but I was able to maintain a heat source all night and didn't have to worry about re-lighting the fire when I got up around 6AM, when the temperature dropped to about 10F. It was a no-breakfast sort of day, since I figured the roads would be bad; I got everything packed up and slogged my way back to the car around 8:30.
Despite early frustrations I'm happy with this trip; I came out with no injuries, had some great burgers, added a new fire type to my repertoire and learned some shelter tricks. I still need to work on my visibility for nighttime shots on the youtube channel, so I have to start saving for better lighting or a different camera. Hopefully I can keep people entertained with my witty dialogue until then.
