Snow Cave Camping

Ah, the infamous snow cave campout.  You know the one.  It's the one you did as a kid where you froze your tail end off trying to warm up around a fire after getting soaked digging the cave, then retiring to the cave for bed and not believing how you could possibly stay warm in a cave made out of ICE!

Dug down to ground, now starting to dig out the cave

Entrance to a snow cave

Hard to get a picture of the inside of a cave when it's full of sleeping bags and boys

When there isn't enough snow, dig a snow trench and put the tarp over you.  You'l still stay warmer than sleeping on top of the snow

Well, I've been on 13 different snow cave campouts and have a few ideas to share about making a snow cave campout successful.  I’ve piled up snow when there was less than 2’ of snow to make a cave, and I’ve dug into over 6 feet of snow for a cave and everything in between.  I’ve slept in them when it’s been in the low 30’s, and when it’s been closer to 0 degrees F.  Here’s basically what you need to know (click on each link for more information).

• Digging the Cave
• Clothing for Snow Caves
• Shovels for Digging Snow Caves
• Sleeping in your Snow Cave
• Surviving the Night in a Snow Cave
• Stove Fuel
• Foods
• Lessons Learned 

Oh, and hey, the scout office likes to remind you to collapse your snow cave before you leave so nobody accidentally falls through it while snow shoeing, or skiing or snow mobiling.  So, that's a lot of fun, especially if you have a video mode on your camera!  Nobody was hurt in the making of the below video:

Below is the list we give our scouts of what to bring:

Can or 2 of beef stew

Omelet (see instructions on the right)

Sturdy water bottle (so we can add boiling water and put it in your sleeping bag-Nalgene type works best)

Two Complete changes of clothes

Waterproof clothing (where possible)

Warm Coat

2 Pairs Warm gloves (or more)

Wool/thick socks

Lots of layers of clothing

Hood/cap

Tarp

Hand/feet warmers

Flashlight / Headlamp

Sturdy Snow Shovel

Small digging shovel

Warm sleeping bag (or 2 stuffed together)                   

Foam pad

We will provide bowls, spoons, & cups

Warm Boots (or 2 pairs if needed)

Candy Bars (works great to warm you up)

Any snacks you want – but don’t get carried away.

Any required medications – see parent permission slip


Want to download a word document of the permission slip we use?
CLICK HERE

50 Miler, Backpacking Foods and Cooking

In the past, I’ve always done things like oatmeal for breakfast, and for dinner we would pre-dry some hamburger to go with hamburger helper meals and lipton noodle meals.  That way they were cheap, and lightweight.  This time we decided to simplify and try some of the pre-prepared freeze-dried meals.  They were expensive, but they were pretty easy to cook and prepare, and they were very lightweight.

Only brought one spoon?  It's ok, you can fix it

For low budget meals, try hamburger helper.  You usually just need to add water and hamburger and then boil it.  So, try cooking the hamburger before you go, and then drying it on a food dehydrator.  That way you don’t need to refrigerate it, and it will be as lightweight as the freeze dried foods.

For breakfasts, you can’t go wrong with instant oatmeal packets, but if you want to add some variety, there’s also instant cream of wheat packs, and instant grits packs.  Then you can just boil some water and add it to your oats (or whatever) in your bowl and eat it.

Lunches are always hard because your usually hiking during lunch, and you don’t want to stop and set up a kitchen.  We typically bring granola bars, jerky, trail mix, and I’ve found that string cheese will stay good for the whole week in your pack.  One time we brought a “yard of beef”, it was actually only about 18 inches, but it was a summer sausage.  It added 3 pounds of meat to someone’s pack, but it was good when we brought it out part way through the week!

I know everyone thinks they need one of those fancy mess kits to eat with and cook with – you know, the aluminum ones like the ones your father had when he was a kid?  I like to go to All-A-Dollar and buy a cheap Tupperware type bowl and cup and plastic spoon.  I’ve found that you rarely need a plate on a backpacking trip.  Then I’ve got a lightweight “mess kit”, that won’t burn my fingers as I try to hold the bowl with hot food in it like an aluminum bowl would.

I have one, 2 liter pot with a lid that’s aluminum.  I use that for anything while backpacking.  Most foods only require heating up water so it’s perfect for that.  If you will be able to catch fish and are planning on eating them, bring a small frying pan as well, or if you can have fires, bring some aluminum foil and cook in the fire.

I like the "old fashioned" coleman backpacking stoves that run off of white gas.  They have them out now that run unleaded fuel, white gas, or kerosene as well.  They work at low temperatures, and you can see how much fuel you have available.

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Fuel for Winter Camping

I’ve found out the hard way that when it gets cold, propane shrinks and doesn’t come out of the bottle very well.  Here’s what we’ve found:

• Stove Fuel:
  
  
• Propane will freeze if the temperature is below 30 or so.  It'll still come out of the bottle, but so slowly that it can't keep up with the heat loss of whatever you're heating.  Bottom line, you eat cold stew.
  
  
• White Gas is somewhat of a bother with the pumping and everything, but I've used it in temperatures down to the single digits and haven't had a problem with it at all.
  
  
• I haven't had the chance to try a butane or other type of stove, but I know my butane lighter doesn't work too well when it's really cold.
  
  
• Propane Lantern uses so little gas that it seems to work fine even when the temperatures are in the single digits.  I haven't ever had the chance to try one out at lower temps then that though.

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