Solo Winter Cold Camp and Bushcraft - Ramona Lake, Western Uplands Trail, Algonquin Park

Description

Solo Winter Cold Camp - Ramona Lake, Western Uplands Trail, Algonquin Park

http://myselfreliance.com/winter-backpacking-the-western-uplands-trail-to-ramona-lake/

For two days last week, I took some time alone to backpack from the trailhead of the Western Uplands Backpacking Trail at the Oxtongue River Picnic Ground to Ramona Lake and back. The hike north from the parking lot was made easier by a party of hot tent winter campers that broke trail to Guskewau Lake, but soft deep powder beyond that point to Ramona Lake required the use of snowshoes. The temperature was -24C when I set out and dropped to -29C that night, but it proved to be a comfortable temperature for hiking and for sleeping in my -30C sleeping bag and Outdoor Research bivy.

Tags: algonquin park,backpacking,snowshoeing,winter camping,camping,western uplands,bushcraft,bivy,osprey pack,Atlas snowshoe,arcteryx

Video Transcription

- 32 celsius right now with the windchill factor - 24 just temperature-wise like that breeze is cold so I'm going to do things a little bit differently today I'm going to dress a little bit warmer and see if I need to take some layers off my gaiters you all raven pants oh it's different I'm wearing actually because so cold I'm wearing two hundred weight hundred weight icebreaker base layer 260 weight icebreaker base layer both Marino merino wool and then the synthetic Marmot jacket which I usually wear when I'm snowshoeing even if it's minus 20 or 30 this is usually more than enough we'll see what it's like today art Eric hardshell a rain jacket that I can put over top to block more the wind if I have to and then I've got down vests and a down jacket to put off my stock probably should have brought some starting here sounds like there's less elevation change a little easier here follow the creek but so Dave I'll stop there I'll probably stuff up here around ramona lake and maybe just base camp it's I don't know we'll see what the snow conditions are like see if I want to travel further than that so here's the fork in the road left goes Maple Lake

Maggie Lake so up the west side of the trail and east side of the trail goes to just go like or whatever it's called and then Ramona lake beyond and then they loop three different length loops above that listen to those trees exploding in the cold foot paths foot traffic there now sledge here don't all fire codes but in this case I am taking the road more traveled rather than less traveled because easier it is longer I can go these are the trail is forget this pack down so I don't know maybe I can do the whole loop

well that's exactly what if I click find a topographic map that big Ridge runs all the way along the trail runs I guess it Novelli at the base of this ridge for woody kilometers I think and there's a gusty cow creek down in the valley that's the cause of the valley but streamlines the full length of thought it was going to even though it's minus 32 winners wind chill dude you can't over dress when you're hiking or snowshoeing it's just too strenuous and you sweat my mistake today was wearing long johns I never wear them I always just wear pants with the Gators on my calves and regular underwear I get hot enough so should not have worn them I'm still tempted to take them off I'll try this going down to two layers on my upper body first took off the two course I can take this on and off but so cold that were more worried about frostbite on exposed skin so I have to keep it covered at least with the thin material same on my neck and face but I'm down to two layers we'll see if it's maybe a little bit too cool for those conditions you'll see can always take the 200 weight off but to 260 put the 260 stop shop might be the right might be the right clothing for today but I'll try this

she doesn't even feel too bad right now so I think this is probably this is the trail from the north side first most tracks I've seen in the wash this winter I'm having problems with this which I suspect that I would can't get it in deep enough I guess my pipes too tight down here and anyway we're sticking out starting to freeze end up just using that to refill the 1 liter Nalgene and keep drinking out of it can't keep the holes thought anyway otters doing some traveling so where it gets more interesting nobody's been here through here in a while

same spot different tree but look at how many scratches are on those two trees clumps of branches that the Bears reach out and pull in state sit up in the branch and the fork there and then grab branches and pull them in and eat the buds and leaves and then mostly that and sometimes nuts they'll pull them in and then eat them and then just grab another branch break it off and pulling it move on to the next hole kind to them through here so I'll leave the trail here head north there's a portage between Ramona Lake and dates lake so I'm gonna go down there and see what that looks like looks like a creek but there's beaver dams on it so that's probably just show and mercy I'm hoping it's gonna be a bit of a Ridge there on the other side but it can't fly and then find a little bit of open water that I can get down to without going through see if we can make pretty good camps later let's find out yeah well it's the valley down there that runs east-west sort of east-west between I guess Maggie Lake refer to the west and then Ramona Lake here to them the right to the east where face lake in eua connects between button expected

so when he started preparing this campsite I wanted that log there to sleep up against for protection upon a tarp above it yeah I thought this rock would block and maybe even deflect the heat from the fire and I realized when I started digging how deep the snow was here and how big that hole is so I've got a bit of an issue here now with with water when that fire gets going but it's gonna start melting in so that is gonna end up being a pit of water down there so I'm gonna wait bunch of these logs out

it's a hemlock tree that's still green so cut all those boughs off for a bunch of them lay them down in that pit so I keep my feet dry they had a curve a bench into that that snow pack snow there and then I'm gonna lay my pad every 10 sleeping bag and sleep right against that tarp up on those sticks above it so I can sit in me comfort

it's set for seven o'clock it's probably getting close to minus thirty stop working stop cutting the win if at all not quite all my layers but another layer on so two layers on two extra layers I put on so base layer 200 Barrino 260 Moreno environment synthetic Eddie Bauer 800 fill light though down jacket America Turks hardshell franca two hats

liner and plus a Dickey that I pull down over my Nexus very warm just I let the fire die I'm sure I wouldn't need a little bit but see fucking thugs be a little more like that it's at least 300 calories extra to keep you warm tonight 500 calories and the chili what did I put in there 300 calories of pasta let's 8-under I get another 2 or 300 from the oil thousand calories to digest over me

to rehydrate say the coroner's taking a little bit more time to rehydrate in the beans give it a few more minutes already and get so much water in there I don't think I can fit all that one go so but I need the calories so I'm staying up until I finish it so it might be up for a couple of hours something I never do especially when I'm solo camping that's set to have a big bonfire big campfire but I think the situation think about winter camping on a regular campsite summer camp sites so it's always lots of standing word around melting snow for water for drinking and for cooking is very inefficient it's about ten to one maybe he's height is 20 to one depending on the density of the snow know what it is it's I do not like doing this I really prefer to camp near a stream I should have said that last night if you looked around snow gets quite contaminated your immediate area for a variety of reasons but just processing wood and thinking of branches and stuff there's too much debris in the snow to use the snow around the campsite for milking so you have to keep going out and getting fresh snow further out from the camp and in a little pot that's not very efficient either most people bring a bigger pot I try to keep my gear weight down since it's all on my back so what I get on brought this 10 liter collapsible bucket and I don't need the shovel necessarily but I used the shovel to fill it up so 10 liter buckets should boil down to or melt down to about a liter of water easternmost campsite of the campus Lea number three spot private these are off a side trail off the dangerous traffic you accuse people coming down