Fall Camping: The Paddling Edition

While my colleague Ariane was shivering through her recent alpine adventure, I was spending a lovely week paddling round Murtle Lake, and staying warm the whole while. Partially that was because I was below the snowline and had perfect weather (some nights dipped toward the freezing point, but I had no precipitation or heavy winds.) And partially it was because, like Ariane, I have my strategies for coping with cooler weather and longer nights. Mine include:

The evening campfire

An evening fire (where wood availability, park rules, and eco-ethics permit). Getting into bed pre-warmed instead of pre-chilled is just so much more civilized. Even the best sleeping gear doesn’t add heat to your body – it just helps conserve what heat you have. So start off your slumbers warm.

An improvised hot water bottle. Having a fire not an option? First fill your water bottle with lukewarm water to avoid cracking it with thermal shock from hot water. Replace that with boiling water just before bedtime. Wrap the bottle in thermal underwear or a sock to avoid scalding skin. Be sure the lid is on tight. Warm puddles soaking through a sleeping bag are nasty and are often misinterpreted by tentmates.

A warmer sleeping pad. Nothing sucks heat away from your body faster than the cold, cold ground.  Forced to choose, I’d pick a warmer sleeping pad over a warmer sleeping bag. But I wasn’t forced to choose, so I brought both. I used my Downmat 9, which is not only toasty, but light and compact enough to be viable for backpacking.

At home in the woods.

Thicker books for the longer nights, and spare batteries for my lantern and headlamp. Strictly speaking, I could survive with just a headlamp, but the lantern adds a pleasant homey glow to my tent, and prevents the feeling that my living space is restricted to a tight tunnel of light.

An extra-large coffee mug for the mornings. Not only does the double dose of hot java wake me up, it thaws out fingers that have chilled on metal poles while packing the tent away.

Ariane already noted a couple of the pleasures of shoulder-season camping: fewer people and fewer bugs. I’ll add my personal favourite: the cooler weather making hiking and paddling briskly no sweat. That’s my favourite. What’s yours?