Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Winter Camping and Activities :: Tough winter camping stories
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MackinawTrout |
Pinetree: "MackinawTrout: "Pinetree: "I always bring some graphite paste used for skiis so snow don't stick on. Also have used for sled bottoms. Can be a life saver." Thanks Pinetree. I’m looking at a ski across the Bdub and ice fishing along the way this winter. I will give the graphite floro a try. I have used Floro waxes before on sleds and they wear off in a day or so. Agreed on the plastic sleds becoming less and less slippery the ole emscos and Paris exp ain’t half as slippery as they were new. I’m going to try the untippable pelican trek 60 with runners and a uhmwpe bottom and two in tandem this year it fits perfect in a snowmobile or dogsled track. Thanks again! |
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Pinetree |
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treehorn |
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Minnesotian |
On Sunday, 10 inches of light, fluffy snow dropped. Beautiful to watch. Nerve wracking too. The next day I had to leave. That meant breaking trail for 3 1/2 miles. In 10 inches of snow. Crossing Tuscarora was tough with wind in my face the whole way, forecasted to be -19 windchill. The portage from Tuscarora to Missing Link was tough, with my sled wanting to slid of every which way and catch on the most minor of tree branches. Yanking that sled up the steep inclines didn't help either. At one point a knot on my tow rope let go and my sled went sliding downhill a good 10 feet or so. Damn it! Missing Link was quick, but still a slog and by this time my goggles had frozen over. The portage to Round was probably the easiest segment of the whole day. But then there was finally Round Lake. My truck was so close, I could taste the burger at Fitgers, but the wind had picked up and was now completely in my face. I was stopping about every 30' just to catch my breath, and wow, I was tired. Not jelly legs tired, but getting there. It was quite an ordeal. And I want to go back and do it again. Next time I won't go out as far when 5 to 9 inches of snow is predicted though. It was the hardest hiking I have ever done, which gives me a whole new level of appreciation for anyone who has crossed the North or South pole via walking. I went 3.5 miles and I barely made it. So, what are your most harrowing and tough winter camping stories? |
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gonorth1 |
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4keys |
But we were 4 unprepared and poorly outfitted college kids. We decided to hike the ice age trail near Medford over fall break (30 years ago). The night before we left it snowed 6-8 inches. We went anyways. 2 A frame tents, cheap sleeping bags (no Down, no zero degree rating), wore jeans and we did not have dehydrated food. Cheap hiking boots which warped from the heat of the fire, made for uncomfortable walking. At least 1 pair of socks had burn holes from drying near the fire. Slept on those old foam pads. Part of the trail had become a pond (beavers). And the creek that was supposed to be 2-3 feet wide was more like 15. So one guy stripped down to cross it to find a few logs to toss across it for us to walk on. It was a cold wet learning experience, but we survived. With the same gear I know I would not do that trip now. Of course if I was 20 again, who knows! |
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Minnesotian |
tg: "Geez Craig-glad you made it out ok! Hey Rich! Thanks! And the sleeping bag worked great. Got down to -20 one night and I was toasty warm. |
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tg |
Rich |
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WhiteWolf |
#1- Getting lost or "disorientated" on "Besty's Portage" from Big Sag to Sagonogans (spelling). 576 rods of mainly bush. Later we found out that the Indians in the area would cut down trees on purpose to confuse people. It worked. Ended up after doing the portage basically all day , we came to a gravel road (covered in 4' of snow -- this was in March) that really confused us. Why was a Gravel road in the middle of the Q? (I had no clue at the time that roads to exist in that area). I had one of the first GPS made that just gave you your LAT/LON with NO map and a FIsher MAp. Of course with all the twists and turns we did through rather thick stuff being it winter we has totally no clue how much distanced we had covered. Ended up camping that night (cold tent) in low spot on the gravel road next to a few swamps. This is where I learned to sleep with as little clothing on as possible and let your bag work for you. I had no temp measuring device like I carry now, but easily -20F, likely -25F. No wind. But I remember we cooked (or tried) Chicken thighs . Once one side got cooked? and you flipped then over to the other side, the first side froze.... We ended up following are tracks back to SAG where we camped one more night on the way out. Got to my truck near the SAG boat landing and it was plowed in with 4-5' of snow. Dug it out with snow shoes. Truck didn't start. Flooded. Ended up putting the old Coleman 442 stove under the oil pan for several minutes and I remember the oil pan getting very hot. SHe started on the first crank... P.S- it's probably a blessing in disguise that my group got lost. For if we had hit Sagonagas , the plan was to take it back W and ultimately through Cache Bay on SAG and out. Likely would have found open water in the many current areas that exists on that route. We were 20 yr old kids and stubborn as hell. Very likely may have met our Maker considering how inexperienced we were. Learned a lot from that trip....... including don't bring your Dave Genz Fish Trap as your "pulk". I did fish-- no catching. |
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Gadfly |
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SevenofNine |
Once we hit South Hegman we ran into deep snow with slush. I stayed just above the slush but my heavier buddy would sink a lot farther, both of us had wet boots by the end of the day. Travel was slow but we took our time, avoided thin ice near the portage between North and South Hegman. North Hegman had less snow and travel was a tad faster. The portage into Little Bass was packed from previous travelers and mostly shaded so it wasn't bad at all. We stopped along the way and re-hydrated. I had brought a Nalgene bottle of water which got consumed quickly as I think I wasn't hydrated before our hike. I also brought a bottle of Gatorade and that went fast as well. Perhaps it was the exertion of traveling in heavy snow and slush either way I didn't have enough water. By the time we got to our campsite on Little Bass I was thoroughly dehydrated and cold once I stopped work from setting up the tent. Immediately I knew we needed water and I needed it asap. It was just one of those feelings that you know you will be in trouble if you don't get a fire going and snow melted. Thankfully we got a decent fire going, melted snow and drank all of it. Stripped off wet clothing and warmed up by the fire. Lesson learned avoid dehydration in the winter. |
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tree |
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Pinetree |
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Pinetree |
MackinawTrout: "Pinetree: "I always bring some graphite paste used for skiis so snow don't stick on. Also have used for sled bottoms. Can be a life saver." There are different brands but I often use F4 Floro and some have the label as flo with graphite. I use it on my skiis all the time when snow is sticky and makes a huge difference in just fallen snow and warm. Also on occasions have used it on the plastic sleds. Makes a huge difference but not a 100% cure all. I also have noticed most plastic sleds at first are slippery when new,but over time they get scratched etc.-it seems snow sticks more than. I tried cooking oil once and not a real lot of luck. The F4 paste goes on sale often in the spring and quite common to get it at half price. Yes I have seen sleds pick up so much snow underneath they hardly move,and also ice crystals and ice underneath make it worse. I am sure some of the real big time skiiers would have some great comments on this product and others. F4 Florocarbon |
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Gadfly |
tree: "after reading all these trips i wonder, when it's windy and zero visibility, if any of you ever used a rope to tie people together as you hike in or out so everyone stays in the same area?" We were on snowbank one time when it was snowing pretty good and the wind was really reducing the visibility but it wasn't so bad that we needed to tie up to each other. Chances are we would have gotten lost without a compass though. |
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jwartman59 |
We did a trip to the porcupine mountains in Michigan when I was in college. It was a winter when Lake Superior froze over. Record low temps being broken everywhere in the north, nearest town was 45 below. Again I had my target sleeping bag, but this time we had a tent. Of course we had a bottle of whiskey along and other important gear. We drank most of the whiskey for lunch on the bluffs above lake of the clouds. In our impaired state we decided to snowshoe down the steep hill to the lake. We mostly rolled down the hill, out of control. When your young bones don’t break easily. We wisely decided to setup camp at the base of the bluffs. We collected tons of firewood and built what was to be our life giving fire. In that valley the snow was easily ten feet deep, the fire melted its way down to a point where it was useless as heat, our whiskey was frozen. Called it a night. Three of us in the tent, kelty timberline, really cold. In the morning we saw a person slowly come down the lake. This was olden days, we were totally bandit camping. We packed up and shuffled away. I can’t remember details after that but I remember that the biggest concern in those days was whether the car would start or not. Same winter we were skiing at spirit mountain. Wind chills were 70 below. I’m not making this up. Winter of 78 or 79. There was actually quite a few people skiing that day. We stayed till dark. My friend somewhere along the line must have become hypothermic. He took off or lost his glove and was found by the ski patrol wandering in the woods. It was time to go, the car wouldn’t start, spend 15 minutes playing with jumper cables and screwing around with the carborator. My friend at this point was definitely suffering cognitive issues, we thought he was drunk. We had to use physical force to get him into the car. Next morning my friend comes upstairs. His hand is black and dead skin hanging from his fingers. He spent a month in the hospital for serious frostbite. |
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MackinawTrout |
Pinetree: "I always bring some graphite paste used for skiis so snow don't stick on. Also have used for sled bottoms. Can be a life saver." Please tell us of the specifics in using this graphite paste to fight the Kryptonite of winter travel ......the dreaded slush that slows and drags things to a halt. I've heard of old timers using WD40 but never tried it on my skis. Please tell! |
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ABisbee |
That winter we were ready to give it a go. We carried our gear, the tent, and our snowboards up the back side of a ski hill that was conveniently located on the Finger Lakes Trail in Central NY. We followed the trail (about 2 feet deep, as no one hikes that leg in winter) up the steep mountain side. We get to the top and start to set up the tent for its first time. We lay it out, stake the perimeter, then run the cross-rope and hoist it into the air. Well, we didn’t account for the 2 feet of snow and assumed the edges were flush to the ground. We ran the stove pipe and gathered wood. First thoughts were a good impression of our achievement. But as the night went on, we began to realize that our snow anchors didn’t quite reach the ground. As the snow began to melt from the stove heat openings began to develop at our sides. We kept pushing snow to create walls below the ground line of the tent’s edge. Eventually we had 2 foot walls built up beneath the bottom of our teepee and nothing but mud beneath us. Exhausted, we added what seemed to be sufficient wood to the fire to last the night. It was our first time winter camping so we had no idea. Remember that hole I read about at the top of the teepee. Yeah, bad idea. By 1am the fire had extinguished and it got really cold. Of course our tarp was covered in frozen mud from the high temp burn that convinced us we’d be warm all night. Everything mud, now frozen.we gathered wood all night to keep the temp bearable. Got cold, not below zero though. But the wind on a small mountain sure takes the heat away quick (as does a freakin’ hole) we woke up and hiked out to the ski slope with all our gear. Snowboarded/skied down to the lodge and made arrangements for pick up. Nobody slept, everyone froze. Since, we have made modifications to the tent and stove and enjoy using it as often as possible. But we sure made a lot of rookie mistakes. |
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ABisbee |
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Soledad |
First day was great, a little slush from time to time but not too bad. We would tip over the toboggans, scrape the ice off and be on our way. Luckily we had two ice scrapers for the 7 of us so we could share. It was snowing and just above 0*f. Perfect. We set up camp that night while it kept snowing, drank some beer and went to bed. Next day we decided to stay put and figure out what our options for travel would be. We decide that on the third day, to pack up camp, move closer to the falls and take a day trip on the 4th day, then all the way out on the 5th. It kept snowing- each day 4" fell. On the 4th day, we had decided that we were not going to make the falls. A couple of day hikes across the lake made it very obvious that the slush had increased with the weight of the snow. Anyway, to summarize things a little, the 5th day out took us almost 8 hours to travel 2.5 miles. We had to flip our toboggans over constantly. We were wet from walking in water which was on the ice. (those 2 ice scrapers were not enough-we used credit cards and anything else we could find.) It was still around -5* and we were exhausted. One of our group, was showing signs of hypothermia. For instance- he had dropped his toboggan line and when I asked him how he was doing he said Great!, I then asked him where is sled was and he had no idea. His speech was slurred and we had a bit of an issue to deal with. On the edge of the lake, instead of 3 tents, we set up two. Slush was right outside our tent door which made getting water really easy, but everything else tough. We made a few phone texts to let folks at home know that we decided to spend another night. Learned a lot of lessons, and unfortunately did not take a lot of pictures. |