Unpleasant. This past winter I had the brilliant idea to go camping in the desert. Actually, for the most part it was awesome and even though I was sick for the first half of my trip I was able to see my desert in a whole new season. And aside from a couple of nights spent in a hotel while I tried to recover from being sick I accomplished my goal of tent camping in the desert winter. I've camped in cold weather before and felt I was prepared for what I was getting myself into, but I'll be the first to admit that I didn't do everything perfect and definietly learned a lot. For anybody wanting to try winter camping, I've put together a short list of things you shouldn't do if you want to enjoy yourself. I mean, not that I've ever done any of these things. I've just heard about them.
When I pack for any trip I start with an extensive checklist of everything that I could ever possibly need for every scenario I could potentially find myself in. I know this packing method doesn't work for everyone, but it ensures that I don't overlook anything and allows me to cross off what I know for certain I won't need. That's the theory, anyway. In practice it works very well, though it wouldn't be a camping trip if I didn't forget something that I actually needed. Something you should definietly not forget, though, is a second blanket to stuff inside your sleeping bag to provide yourself more insulation. Now, I know this mostly works for car campers, and I wouldn't want to carry another blanket if I were backpacking in to a site, but if you've got the space, a second blanket goes a long way to making your night warmer. If nothing else, wrap the entire blanket around your feet and keep those toes toasty.
So, say you packed everything you could possibly need into your car, arrived at your site, set up your tent, made dinner and finally climbed in to your tent when the sun set (or after your blazing bonfire). As you get yourself snuggled in, trying to make sure you are completely covered, you come to one or more horrifying realizations: you forgot a second pair of wool socks, or a hat, or didn't grab another layer for your core or your legs. Allowing for the fact that everybody sleeps a little differently and wants different parts of their bodies to be warm, insert your own "omg I forgot to grab more ____ to keep ____ body part warm." No matter what you forgot, once that vulnerable part of your body gets cold, good luck warming it up.
Ok, you remembered everything you need, you have all of your layers in the tent with you, and you're snuggled down and drifting off to sleep. Then the most unwelcome thought crosses your mind, "I have to pee." You went to all this effort to get and stay warm, and in the hustle, you forgot to go to the bathroom. You'd better buck up and brave the cold to relieve yourself, otherwise you're in for a long night of an uncomfortable bladder. Not to mention all the energy you're wasting in keeping all of that fluid warm. Trust me, just get up and go.
In the business of keeping warm, nothing works as well as a water bottle filled with hot water stuffed at the bottom of your sleeping bag. Just please, for the love of all that is warm, make sure you double check it to confirm it doesn't leak before you put it in your bag. No matter how warm you are, if you've got all your layers on, a second blanket in your bag, and you did jumping jacks before crawling into your tent, if you lay down in a wet bag you are going to get cold. And it will be a miserable night. You might just choose to spend it in your car.
Remember, I don't have any personal experience with these...I just heard about them somewhere.
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