A Quick Winter Overnight

hiking 2 Minutes

This past week, I have been busy studying for a work-related course. It usually seems that these courses align with the warmest weather that week, so I found myself staring enviously out the window as my boyfriend enjoyed a cold drink on the patio.

Luckily, some friends had been wanting to plan a winter camping night for a few weeks and we had set our date to that Saturday evening. It feels like a bit of a cheat to say ‘winter camping’ when it only got down to -1 to -3 degrees that night, but it was still technically winter!

After I packed up my study books for the day, and after enjoying a quick celebratory beer, I packed up my gear. We decided to spend the night at a nearby provincial park, which just by my luck is only minutes away from my house. My sister arrived and we made our way over to the other side of the lake.

Our friends had already been out for the day enjoying the hiking trails, so we arrived to a crackling fire and smokies on the grill.

With the luxury of being close to a vehicle and also close to home, my sister and I set up our tent and stuffed it silly with blankets. Not to mention that I had brought two of my dogs along with me who have proven to be excellent tent heaters in the past.

As the sun set we chatted around the campfire. The dogs barked at the nearby coyotes, and just about anything else they thought might be too close to our camp.

Much to our delight, the northern lights appeared above the lake. I have seen them plenty of times in my life, but I had never seen them dance as beautifully as they did that night. We were in awe as the green and orange lights trickled across the sky. I tried to snap a photo but of course the cellphone pictures never do justice.

Northern Lights

Eventually I had to tuck away into the tent and get an early night in before I was due back in my Zoom class at 9am the next morning. I snuggled up with the dogs and had no problem warming up. My sister, on the other hand, came to the tent about and hour later and ended up sleeping with dog paws pressed into her back instead of the furry space heaters she was hoping for.

We woke up fairly early the next more to pack up and get home in time for my class, but it was an excellent night outside. I often write off the winter season entirely for camping, but I definitely need to give colder temperatures a try next time!

It was great to have a quick getaway from studying, and our first tenting night of the year! Getting all of my gear out has only gotten me more excited for the adventures to come this summer.

A perfect sunrise over the frozen lake

Happy camping!

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Published by tiaonthetrail

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14 thoughts on “A Quick Winter Overnight”

  1. Well, it may not have been too cold, but still too cold for me! I prefer warm weather camping. However, I did try it once in winter with a temp of -20, but that was enough for me! Have a great week!😀😺🌞

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    1. I hope you had a whole mountain of blankets for that weather! I spent a night outside in cold like that but I was lucky to be in a toasty warm quinzhee. Take care and have a wonderful week!

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      1. Just two wool blankets and a nice sleeping bag that was good to -30, but getting up in the morning was not fun.😬 It actually wasn’t supposed to get as cold as -20, just -10, but it happened.🙄 I can honestly say I didn’t enjoy it!😁😂

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  2. How neat that you were able to see the northern lights!! We tried winter camping for the first time earlier this year. The temperature was around freezing, so it wasn’t so bad. We brought so many extra blankets. We also stayed on an electrical site and brought a heated blanket that we could plug in. We’re planning on going camping in April to avoid the bugs and crowds.

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  7. It’s funny to me that it’s winter camping but there’s no snow. We usually winter camp once a year, but it’s in the mountains and is usually April, but it’s still cold with plenty of snow. I have a -30C sleeping bag so it’s not bad. Lucky that you saw the Northern Lights!!

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