I had to take a detour due to a forest road closure that the GPS didn't account for, but still made it to my parking spot by noon. I walked along a (different) forest road for about .7km before turning off towards the spot I had picked out on the map, some 200m off into the trees. With the sun still up the temperature was sitting around 20/-6; the local forecast I pulled up showed about five degrees higher, which is normal.
The area had a significant amount of downed trees but I zig-zagged through until I found a clear spot to set up in. On a whim I went with a plow(Plough? Plau? Pliaw?)-point shelter; there was no precipitation in the forecast and I hadn't made one with a frame before. Getting everything balanced took a little fidgeting, but the end result had plenty of depth and vertical space.
For my sleep system I ran my usual bivy and air mat, this time with the addition of my flannel blanket as a "mattress cover" and an as-of-yet-untested down backpacking quilt I recently added to my gear hoard. To spoil myself I threw in a packable camp pillow (seems to be filled with shredded foam; I'm not a fan of the inflatable ones).
The quilt is from Paria, and it seemed like a good economic option for getting into down-stuffed sleep systems. It has snaps that let you run straps under your mat or turn it into a sleeping bag (defeating of the purpose maybe, but options are nice), and about 15 inches of zipper at one end to make a pseudo-footbox, which is important for me. I've had frostbite on my toes and the damn things just don't stay warm like they used to.
Getting a fire going was pretty easy; just about everything on the ground was icy but there was lots of dead standing available. My tinder of choice was cotton rounds with a little olive oil flavoring. Since my primary interest was heat (the sun clocked out early and the temp started dropping fast), I built it up and let it go for a while before I started on food.
Dinner was the pinnacle of high-society cuisine, steak and taters. Potates went in tinfoil with some oil and seasoning, and my two new york strip steaks went on sticks. In retrospect, I should have cooked the steaks separately, which would have made even cooking easier, but they came out fine all the same. I had planned on enjoying cocoa after dinner, but lured by the siren song of disaster, it was dashed upon the rocks and tragically lost after a mere two sips.
Joining me for dinner was my good friend Osmo. He ate little, and said even less, but I was grateful for the company. We faced the biting cold and endless dark as brothers.
With the temperature dropping into the single digits I turned in and read my book (Conan and the Emerald Lotus, thanks Wally) while I waited for the sleep system to warm up, then called it a night. Between the quilt, my thermals and two hand warmers, I didn't have any trouble getting to sleep. Unfortunately, my decision to leave the pad straps off of the quilt came back to haunt me, as any time I moved in my sleep it would make a crack in my fortress of solitude and let the icy hand of death in to poke me in the ribs. As 7AM and sunrise came around, my thermometer showed a sultry 0/-17, which was 15 degrees lower than the "comfort" limit on my quilt. As my toes remained warm the entire night, I'd call it a win.
Breakfast was a haphazardly-toasted bagel with cream cheese, guacamole and salmon. Can recommend. I brought two pouches of salmon, but mistakenly got one that was low-sodium at the store. Turns out that was a good thing, because while the regular one was frozen solid, the low-sodium was fine. Strange fishy science.
Getting everything packed up again was tricky because it was all covered in frost and my hands were dumb, but I made good time and got back to my car around 9:30AM, with the temperature soaring to 5/-15.
Overall I think the trip was a success; I plan to make some improvements to my packing list (backup hot chocolate) and my video setup (better lighting) before heading out again. I'm happy with the addition of the backpacking quilt and will be using it again in the future.
PACKING LIST:
Bag - Frost River Isle Royale Jr
Shelter - Aquaquest Defender, surplus German groundsheet
Sleep system - MSS bivy, Klymit Static V air mat, surplus flannel blanket, Paria Thermodown 15 quilt, Therm-A-Rest compressible pillow
Cooking - Ozark Trail steel cup, enamel mug, surplus German utensil set, seasoning, cutting board
Tools - Agawa Boreal 21 saw, Council Tool 28" boy's axe, Condor Bushcraft Basic knife
Fire - Ferro rod w/striker, cotton rounds w/olive oil, matches
Light - Nebo Mycro headlamp
Misc - Cordage, gloves, boo-boo box, SpotX, hygiene kit, hand warmers, socks/boxers, book, trash bag
Video for this report:
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