The local people, with whom we were on friendly terms, urged us to be prudent as regards clothing and to take large quantities. They made it sound very frightening and serious. When we saw the reality with our own eyes, however, we realized that it was twice as bad as we had been told. Each of us was wearing a tunic, and over that a caftan, on top of that a cloak of sheepskin and over that again a felt outer garment, with a head covering that left only the two eyes visible. Each of us wore a plain pair of trousers and another padded pair, socks, horse-hide boots and over those boots, other boots, so that when any of us mounted a camel, he could hardly move because of all the clothes he was wearing.
Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, an Arab envoy traveling north along the Volga in 922
This year marked the second experiment in the snows of Colorado. The trip was in April, rather than January, meaning rather deeper snow accumulation. Since the tents are not freestanding, we spent the weekend before the trip with modern snow shovels, clearing a 20′ x 30′ space for the tents and fire pit. Additionally, we added another night to the trip, so two of us set up most of the camp on Friday, then the rest joined Saturday. We had 6 stay overnight Saturday.
The weather was rather more mild than the previous winter camp, meaning we did not catch an overnight storm and wake up to 8 inches of fresh snow in the morning.
This year, more focus was placed on food preparation and some diversity from the previous iteration. I made a new cook stand for the fire and we picked up a steel pot. Both worked extremely well and made for easily enough food for all. Rather than just the stew and bread from last year, we added oat cakes and fresh trout, as well as homemade jerky and flatbreads.
Knowing where the camp was set, we invited a few people to come out and join during the day, who would otherwise not venture into the snow or join for the overnight camp. That proved to make the trip more accessible, while still maintaining the adventure of the overnight. It additionally led to people working on projects during the day, as the camp was set up earlier and the only particular task was cooking.
Another new camper for the year, we had a baby goat with us. He even braved the overnight and was warm and content throughout.
If the first year was in service to finding out whether we could make use of modern experience with winter camping and accomplish the idea of setting a camp in the snow and making it safely through a night, this year proved to be a good step closer to the real aim. When the act of setting up the camp and tearing it down a day later consumes most of your time, there is little opportunity for simply being in the environment. This year demonstrated that there is plenty of space in the trip for music and storytelling and coming up with entertainment.
Given the work and planning that went into the first camp, there was rather less new clothing that needed making, for most people. That left us with time to make improvements to the sleds we hauled everything in on. They still lack for a quality visual aesthetic, but neither sled broke this year.
Enthusiasm grows and we’ve had opportunities to start talking more widely about what we’re doing. This next year will bring a chance to branch out and see what we can add to the adventure.
For a final image, we have proof that Cinara is indeed a disney princess.
