Needed to go outdoors, been 2 years, finally some cold/cool weather, no rain and school vacation! Big pond in Catskills has a few walk in primitive sites. Parking lot good for 10 cars. People ice fishing over there. Perfect for my laziness and bringing as much as the truck can hold! Temps in 20’s and night around 5f. My wife is a great cook so we had chicken noodle soup, chicken pesto, egg quiche, pop tarts! And much more. Finally got the Snowtrekker out. My buddy MOC had his teepee with... Read more ..read more

Needed to go outdoors, been 2 years, finally some cold/cool weather, no rain and school vacation! Big pond in Catskills has a few walk in primitive sites. Parking lot good for 10 cars. People ice fishing over there. Perfect for my laziness and bringing as much as the truck can hold! Temps in 20’s and night around 5f. My wife is a great cook so we had chicken noodle soup, chicken pesto, egg quiche, pop tarts! And much more. Finally got the Snowtrekker out. My buddy MOC had his teepee with... Read more ..read more

Recently I was listening to a yarn told by a Dubliner. He reminisced about when he was a chiseler (a young lad) and the traditions around Christmas time. This fellow mentioned "New Christmas" and "Old Christmas", being the difference between Julian and Gregorian calendars and particular habits around this time leading up to Epiphany. Diving in (sort of) to figure all this out lead me to one such tradition of "wild swimming" or winter swimming. Whether an act of contrition or celebration, it... Read more ..read more

Just curious what everyone prefers for winter footwear (please list the conditions and activities you use them in as well). I've personally moved away from all sorts of footwear with water proof/resistant linings and use plain leather. I use my Redwing work boots with steel toe for all my winter walks and they're good down to -10 below (F) with regular cotton socks. Below -10 they begin to get a bit cool but with thicker socks -15 isn't a problem as long as I'm moving and I've done -20... Read more ..read more

There's a show called Alone: The Skills Challenge, in which participants attempt to complete bushcraft builds using only basic tools and the natural resources around them. You need to catch fish to eat from a hard frozen lake in mid-winter with stone age tools. No metal augur, axe, shovel, hammer or chisels. How do you make a hole and catch fish? The ground is frozen, too, with lots of snow cover. No bugs or worms to be seen ..read more

Years ago I bought an 8x10 wall tent package (tent, angle kit, stove). I cut conduit pipe for the interior frame and set out for my first trip. My outfit was so heavy that I soon realized I would be limited to car camping. I wanted a 4 season outfit, but most importantly I wanted to be able to get into the backcountry with my kit, no more car camping. I decided to downsize my tent and stove. I... Read more ..read more

Last couple years my dog Jake and I would hike about 4 days a week and spend the day in winter camp, a snow trekker base camp set up in my pines. . This year after a summer of saving, I purchased a 10x12 wall tent. It is set up as deer camp, but after thanksgiving will be Winter Camp for Jake and I. I am looking forward to another winter of hiking, snowshoeing, hot chocolate, camp chores and the surreal quiet of the winter woods. ... Read more ..read more

Hi, Dont frequent this site much but a great friend got me into hot tenting years ago and am now looking to downsize to something I can load into a canoe…and mainly for one person…two at most. The Panther wall tent has been great but I like the lighter, smaller Snowtrekker short wall. Aside from Snowtrekker, are there other manufacturers worth looking at? I’m sure there are. What are you happy with? Leads appreciated greatly. Thanks! Btw…Panther Primitive wall tent for sale very soon... Read more ..read more

Maggie says the wooly bear caterpillar was a good predictor of winter when she was growing up. The type of winter predicted varies by the amount of brown in the center of the caterpillar, as per this chart: Here is a picture of a wooly bear Maggie took on our driveway recently: I think the head is on the left (antennae?). Overall, it looks like a mild winter in southern New England that ends somewhat harshly. What do your caterpillars look like? If you don't... Read more ..read more

Hi, Dont frequent this site much but a great friend got me into hot tenting years ago and am now looking to downsize to something I can load into a canoe…and mainly for one person…two at most. The Panther wall tent has been great but I like the lighter, smaller Snowtrekker short wall. Aside from Snowtrekker, are there other manufacturers worth looking at? I’m sure there are. What are you happy with? Leads appreciated greatly. Thanks! Btw…Panther Primitive wall tent for sale very soon... Read more ..read more