Day: December 21, 2024

The temperature wasn’t bad but the wind and blowing snow was cold when I finally got out around 9 am. My skin got so dried out cooking breakfast and taking down camp, it feels like a sun burn from the wind. With so much wind even the propane heater didn’t seem super warm.

I don’t heat my truck cap but I’m plenty warm under the stack of old sleeping bags I use. People think you need speciality gear for winter camping but that’s not true. What you need is to be dry, out of the wind and with a decent layer of insulation to keep your body heat in. As I’ve gotten older I find the circulation in my feet and toes isn’t quite as good so I do wear dry fresh cotten socks overlaid by wool socks to ensure that I don’t have cold feet. And always gloves when I’m not under the covers.

Last evening was beautiful with the snow and not cold due to the lack of wind. I will take a 10 degree evening over a 40 degree windy evening any day. Wind matters far more than temperatures. That said, when it’s very cold I do watch the starting battery on my truck like a hawk as the voltage sags with the cold and oil thickens and I don’t want a weak start when it’s time to go home. I will in the winter idle the truck every other day to bring the engine to 210 degrees to top off the battery and make sure oil gets pumped through the engine at temperature to reduce the risks of weak starts.

Not camping tonight mostly due to the wind and I’m doing a family event tomorrow.

I’m good starting out my winter hiding under the covers. At some point I’ll face the morning, make some coffee and sit by the heater but I’m not rushing.

It’s cold outside. 🌬️ But it’s winter and that’s to be expected. I’m in no rush to get outside as with the wind it will be only colder and it’s comfortable under the covers. The heater and hot coffee ☕ will be nice but I also want to delay taking down camp 🏕️ and not leave until midday 🕛 when the roads are better.

With the snow ☃️ and no wind yesterday it was pretty camping and not super cold ❄️ by the standards leading up to Christmas 🎄. It was fun listening to podcasts and enjoying the fire 🔥 which I kept fairly small – warm enough but not burning through too much wood. 🪵Pretty too with the snow coming down.

I’m thinking about getting up around nine, 9️⃣ making a nice breakfast 🍳 and sitting by the heater, and then take camp down around ten into eleven and maybe doing a hike to enjoy the woods covered in snow. Head home around noontime, carefully driving in the snow 🚘 and getting home and things put away in the afternoon and maybe grocery shopping 🛒 in the evening or I could wait until morning. Tomorrow is my family 👪 event, going to see my niece at the Nutcracker ballet. 🥜