Winter Camping

Friday I went camping with Ben Parker and his best friend Nathan (I don't remember his last name). I was my first time to ever go winter camping. To be honest, I was a little scared. Growing up in Texas, my idea of a cold night was about 40 degree. After all, in Texas during the summer it stays at 80 degree at night.

We snowshoed 1.7 miles into rock canyon and made camp for the night. It got to be about -5 degrees after the sun set, so it was a pretty cold night. I was pretty warm for most of the night. I had one sleeping bag inside of another one and that did wonders. I also had my therm-a-rest. That helped a lot by creating some insulation between me and the ground. For anyone interested in winter camping, make sure you take a full length sleeping pad. You don't necessarily need it for padding, but it will keep you much warmer by acting as a protection layer of insulation between you and the cold ground (snow). I also sleep with three pairs of socks (two wool) and a pair of cheap gloves.

In the morning, we packed up and hid our backpacks off of the main trail. Then we snowshoed up to Squaw Peak. I had never been up there before, and it was a wonderful view. All in all we traveled about 8 miles, so it was a pretty good workout. I reminded me that I need to start training for this years marathon. I've gotten larger and softer than I would like to admit since last year's marathon. Those darn donuts!