Camping Capers

    When Mike went out winter camping with a canvas tent and wood stove two of his friends went out to camp with some higher tech winter camping equipment.  Good sleeping bags, whisper light cook stove, nice clothes and a lightweight tent, very lightweight. 

   The two guys snowshoed for a couple of hours into another lake nearby before they decided to set up camp.  They unpacked their bags, got out the tent bag, opened it up and much to their surprise there was no tent, only a tent fly.  By this time darkness was near so they put their sleeping bags on the snowbank and pulled the rain fly over them.  While the temperature dipped down to 14 below zero that night they stayed warm in their sleeping bags.

    The next day they spent digging out a snow cave and fishing for lake trout.  Two nice lake trout and a quinzee to call home for the night, all in a day’s work.  They stayed warm throughout the night and the next morning they packed up their sleds to join Mike at his camp.

     Mike’s group was quite surprised to find out the other two had fared so well without a tent.  It is amazing what a person can get accustomed to and how easy it is to survive in the elements even without a tent.  Some people would argue and blame each other for the mishap while others would panic.  Not these two, they were calm, a little "cool" and collected during their Boundary Waters Winter Camping trip.