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       Trip Report - Seagull Winter Trip
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Date/Time: 03/28/2024 02:54PM
Trip Report - Seagull Winter Trip

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Previous Messages:
Author Message Text
schwartyman 02/26/2018 08:13AM
Thanks for the positive comments! Even though we only had two days its crazy how much "harder" it is than a summer trip. I will plan some more neat winter trips with you all in mind :)


As far as gear and clothes i'd switch its really hard to say after just a night.


If i were to do a trip focused on covering more ground I would've not brought my ice shack, it was heavy and a pain in the rear to drag in. However for this trip the objective was to fish and there would be no way id be caught staring over a ice hole with no protection in -20/30 windchill, so it made sense.


We also opted to carry in live minnows- again for this trip it made sense but if we had planned to do even one portage I would've cut those out.


Another thing is we brought full-sized fold-able camping chairs, we actually didn't even use them once. I thought this would be very helpful and we'd thank ourselves for bringing them.. but it didn't end up that way. I really don't know why we didn't use them and I will certainly not be bringing them again. (i'd consider a smaller scale tripod-style chair if planning a fishing orientated trip, or just use the bucket you likely had to carry in if you're like me)


We premade a burrito dish that just needed to be thawed out over a stove which was absolutely delicious and perfect for this trip.


For clothes - My snow pants are fairly cheap ski snow pants that are definitely not waterproof. I knew this going in but being a college student I'm not exactly going to go buy brand new snow pants. But my knees were pretty much in a constant state of damp. It wasn't terrible and I could take them off when in the ice shack.


For clothes we did pretty well. I think its very important to have a thin liner glove that can fit underneath a pair of big mittens, which is what i had and then an extra pair of mittens for back up as well. I did NOT want wet hands - i used them all and my hands were happy. A pair of socks for each day is what i was told my standard should be for winter camping - again this was great.
Besides that i basically packed enough layers for 2 days of clothes - one backup if i get soaked. Also 2 hats - one big mad bomber for day time/being outside, and a backup/lighter thin hat for sleeping at night.


We did end up sweating a bit while snowshoeing but was good about recognizing it and cooling down before it became too much. Lots of people recommended bringing boots w/liners so you can dry them out at night - yes yes yes. I have pretty solid boots with high Insulate ratings and are completely waterproof - doesn't matter if your feet sweat. Being able to dry these out means there's no ice in your boots in the morning - which i cant imagine is fun.






pswith5 02/26/2018 06:40AM
Nice report. Made me feel old! You keep taking winter trips and I will live vicariously through you. :)
Pinetree 02/25/2018 11:31AM
Thanks for the nice report and always nice to hear about 1st trips.


Just curious-what will or would you change for trip two as far as equipment-clothing?
BearRaid 02/25/2018 07:13AM
That sure looked like a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the report and the great pictures.
waterdog 02/23/2018 04:58PM
My enthusiasm for winter adventures left me decades ago, but I really enjoyed reading your report! Thank you for posting! Wishing you many more fun trips!
Gadfly 02/23/2018 11:29AM
Awesome Winter trip! IMO there is nothing better than catching Lake Trout through the ice. We similar success a during a mid march trip to Sea Gull a few years back.
schwartyman 02/20/2018 02:49PM
New Trip Report posted by schwartyman

Trip Name: Seagull Winter Trip.

Entry Point: 54A

Click Here to View Trip Report