We’re here in Flagstaff, AZ, en route to Colorado for our annual family ski vacation, and I’ve got my tent set up in my parents’ yard.

No—it’s not that my folks are driving me crazy. With overnight lows an invigorating 8° and two to three feet of snow all around, I thought now would be an excellent time to set up a snow camp and run a few tests. (more…)

REI Santa Monica has a monthly offering of free courses and clinics (and some fee-based programs as well).

On 11/12 there’s a free Snow Camping clinic which sounds interesting.

I haven’t attended one of these myself, but I’d bet you’d get at least a few useful tidbits of info.

ONE OF THE THINGS I haven’t mentioned about my recent PCT hike was that I froze my butt off at night.

At first, I was convinced the problem was the sleeping bag I’d chosen: Marmot’s 30° Hydrogen.

Since it was mid-August, I was anticipating temperatures to be mild. Instead, overnight lows dipped down right to freezing, even leaving a bit of frost on the coldest morning (at Crabtree Meadows). (more…)

LATE SEASON STORMS aside, I’ve been looking forward to ditching the ski gear and switching to hiking and climbing.

After all, summer camping in the Sierra is easier in almost every respect than winter. There is one big difference, however: in summer, we share the mountains with bears.

I must say I ordinarily harbor no ill will toward bears, but as a hiker I find they present an added layer of complexity that I would be happy to do without.

Talk to your friendly forest ranger about bears, and you’ll come away all but convinced bears possess magical powers. That may be an exaggeration, but bears can present a significant threat to both you and your food. With a few simple strategies, however, you can greatly reduce the chances of an unwanted encounter (more…)

Sheltered Location

Use a Lid

Filtering Debris

WITH OPPRESSIVE TEMPS currently baking Southern California, I thought I’d escape for a moment by listing a few tips on melting snow for water that I’ve learned these past few seasons snow camping.

What’s attractive about melting snow instead of carrying water is you can save a lot of weight.

One can of fuel (weighing about five or six ounces) can easily give you four liters of water or more, which would be prohibitively heavy to carry up the mountain—especially when you factor in the cruel load of winter camping gear and climbing hardware.

Regardless, carrying water becomes moot once the temperature drops past a certain magic number and your bag or bottle of water freezes into a solid brick.

So, if you’re going to camp in winter, you’re going to want to know how to melt snow to get water.

Sounds simple enough, right?

Well, I’ve found it’s a little tricker than you’d expect.

Melting snow takes a great deal of energy—ie, fuel. Efficiency is therefore going to be one of your primary goals. If your melting methods are poor, your water yield per can of fuel will plummet. Here are a few tips that should make a big difference: (more…)