This weekend was my first snow/winter camping extravaganza! And boy, oh boy, was it an adventure.
I wanted to share some of my stories in case it helps any of y'all.
Be flexible and have backup plans. Even if you do all of the research in the world (I did literally HOURS), roads will still unexpectedly be closed and camping spots might be in less than perfect conditions this time of year. Be ready to drive around a lot, have a plan B, C, D, and E, and be FLEXIBLE! Here's a picture of the place I THOUGHT I'd have a nice campfire until a bunch of dudes showed up and ruined my party.
Trust your gut! While this isn't a new lesson, it's one I'm reminded of time and time again. After a few hours of trying to find a good spot to camp, I thought I had found the perfect place. Only for that spot to be invaded by a group of late-twenties dudes. My gut immediately told me to leave, so I didn't question it. I also found another spot I thought was PERFECT but then I saw a skunk (!!) and decided to high-tail it out of there. I snapped a photo of the skunk - first time I've ever seen one!
It's going to be colder than you think, ya dummy. Living in WA, I'm used to the cold. But I haven't camped in the winter - EVER. I don't know what I was thinking, but I definitely got colder than I anticipated at night (especially my toes) despite preparing appropriately. Definitely need to invest in a sub-zero sleeping bag and better socks. I did have my heated blanket and Jackery 240 to plug it into (thank GOD).
Always bring food you can eat without cooking it! The spot I ended up at was a pull-off by the road - not ideal, I know. Since I didn't want to be a dead giveaway that I was camping there overnight to everyone who drove by, I didn't want to break out my stove and cook the yummy meal I had planned. I was reallyyyy glad I had other snacks and food I could have for dinner but idk what I would have done otherwise!
I need to figure out how to pee at night after I've gone to bed! Probably TMI, but I always wake up around 2am no matter what needing to pee. In the winter and in the cold, this is bad. Anyone have good tips on peeing at night when you only have an SUV? I'm in a Subaru Outback so I barely have enough room to sit up, let alone pee.
Anyways, that's the tale of my fantastic first winter camping adventure! I took a ton of video, so I'm hoping to turn that into something and put it on YouTube. Stay tuned!
