White River National Forest Rifle, CO
Jan 28, 2024 20:57:07 GMT -8
rebeccad, MTalpine, and 3 more like this
Post by mocamper on Jan 28, 2024 20:57:07 GMT -8
I went on a quick overnight camping trip with my brother-in-law over the MLK weekend at the White River National Forest north of Rifle, Colorado. I wanted to test out my new Northface Mountain 25 tent that I got for 53% off from REI. (I used my dividend too.) I was expecting much colder weather so I brought some of my Army-issued cold weather gear which ended up being dead weight in my backpack.
We drove up as far as we could into the canyon past some frozen waterfalls that we planned on ice climbing the next day. We skinned about a mile and a half. I had never skied before so it was a new experience. It was fun but the boots gave me a big blister and tore off some skin from my left ankle and banged up my right shin. So, it was painful on the way back to the car.
We had planned to ski a little farther than we did, but it was already dark and I was going really slow. So we found a nice spot to pitch camp off the trail a little. After we tamped down the snow for the tent, we cooked dinner while the snow hardened. We had some dehydrated refried beans to make burritos that were tasty but took forever to cook down to the right consistency. I made some tasty guacamole with chipotle to go along with the burritos. It was a great dinner then we pitched the tent. It was starting to snow so I was happy to test out the gear. One possible flaw in the tent is the fit of the rainfly. On the sides of the tent above where the tent poles cross, the fly sags and touches the tent body. The snow collected while we slept and the inside of the tent wall got really wet. The water dripped onto my sleeping bag, but luckily it didn't soak me or get cold. I was actually uncomfortable warm that night so the temperatures didn't get too cold. I use a Western Mountaineering Alpinlite bag rated for 20 degrees and I had heavy fleece base layers on too.
In the morning we were greeted by about 5 inches of snow. The tent handled the snow just fine except for the rainfly issue. Maybe I need to tighten the fly a little more. We packed up the tent and skied down for about half a mile. Then we decided just to walk the rest of the way to the truck. On the way down, we passed the ice falls where a couple of climbers were having fun. We decided to skip the ice climbing but we explored one of the falls. Behind the falls, the rocks formed a shallow cave.
The trip was a lot of fun for my first time winter camping. Quality gear is worth the expense. And having a partner willing to teach new skills is great. Looking forward to more winter camping fun.
We drove up as far as we could into the canyon past some frozen waterfalls that we planned on ice climbing the next day. We skinned about a mile and a half. I had never skied before so it was a new experience. It was fun but the boots gave me a big blister and tore off some skin from my left ankle and banged up my right shin. So, it was painful on the way back to the car.
We had planned to ski a little farther than we did, but it was already dark and I was going really slow. So we found a nice spot to pitch camp off the trail a little. After we tamped down the snow for the tent, we cooked dinner while the snow hardened. We had some dehydrated refried beans to make burritos that were tasty but took forever to cook down to the right consistency. I made some tasty guacamole with chipotle to go along with the burritos. It was a great dinner then we pitched the tent. It was starting to snow so I was happy to test out the gear. One possible flaw in the tent is the fit of the rainfly. On the sides of the tent above where the tent poles cross, the fly sags and touches the tent body. The snow collected while we slept and the inside of the tent wall got really wet. The water dripped onto my sleeping bag, but luckily it didn't soak me or get cold. I was actually uncomfortable warm that night so the temperatures didn't get too cold. I use a Western Mountaineering Alpinlite bag rated for 20 degrees and I had heavy fleece base layers on too.
In the morning we were greeted by about 5 inches of snow. The tent handled the snow just fine except for the rainfly issue. Maybe I need to tighten the fly a little more. We packed up the tent and skied down for about half a mile. Then we decided just to walk the rest of the way to the truck. On the way down, we passed the ice falls where a couple of climbers were having fun. We decided to skip the ice climbing but we explored one of the falls. Behind the falls, the rocks formed a shallow cave.
The trip was a lot of fun for my first time winter camping. Quality gear is worth the expense. And having a partner willing to teach new skills is great. Looking forward to more winter camping fun.
