2 Feet of Snow, 3 Days in the Forest - Overnight Adventure

[Applause] without a doubt this is going to be my campsite for the next couple of days it is Saturday roughly two o'clock in the afternoon a major winter storm is barreling this direction how much snow well I'm not going to say because anytime I do it's always wrong now as you all have noticed I haven't wasted much time filming my adventure up here it's roughly two mile hike to this location now this is part of the force that I actually grew up in I spent a lot of time in these forests as a kid a lot of time out here do a bushcraft playing in the snow and big storms just like this it's really neat to be able to share this type of adventure with you all because this is what I did when I was a kid and I did it like right here in the forest now because we have such a big storm barreling in I did not waste much time filming because I want to get here I want to get set up and get to work this trip will be about snow camping bushcraft and so on a mix of everything coming together it should be a ton of fun without a doubt I need to set up my tent then I need to set up a tarp and I have some other plans as well I also need to make some tools we will get to that later go folks let's don't waste any time let's get to work the tip that I'm using for this adventure is one that you all have been asking for what we have here is the snug pack scorpion 3 oh yes snug pack is one of those companies which have been a real topic of conversation recently because of their poor quality controls because apparently they did switch their operations to China and the quality whip won't what I can't tell you is that this used to be a good tint it still may be good if you go out to purchase one of these tints make sure to set it up and really look it over [Music] as you all could see here the tent has been set up I'm going to move all my gear inside of it now and then I'm going to set up the tarp the tarp is very important for this type of trip because that is going to give me a ton of protection from the pouring snow later on tonight tomorrow and the next day this is a multi-day adventure which I'm out here for so I really do need to set up a living area look at this palace oh yeah got the ground sheet sticking out here in the front so I have a nice place to kneel down to get my gear I could put my boots out here and everything one of my biggest tips for new backpackers is to learn how to use a ground sheet ground fly some people call it a ground tarp you would be surprised at how many comments I see about this from people who simply do not know how to use these correctly the main purpose for a ground fly is to protect your tent the next purpose is to keep it cleaner trust me it's super important when it comes time to break down your tent to take it home to dry it out and so on plus if you want your gear to last forever you will take care of it the tent setup is done let me show you the gear that I'm working with all right so you guys already know the tent the Scorpion 3 the fjällräven kaya pack we have a go light down bag therm-a-rest X therm sleeping pad and a German sleeping pad just to give us a nice barrier from the cold clothing bag rain gear folding saw my weather Ling's hatchet can you guys hear that howl it's like saying the snow is coming the snow is coming that's awesome so as you guys could see the tarp has been set up we have a nice slope on the back side that is going to block some of the driving snow now with the back stakes I ended up putting these gigantic rocks on top of those because that is the weak point for this tarp now with the front right now it's fairly flat and I could fully adjust this as I need to depending on the conditions now I need to work on firewood I also need to work on a place to sit because I will be spending a ton of time underneath that tarp there's no doubt about that especially with this much snow coming in I have an idea when it comes to the seating arrangement check this out [Laughter] [Laughter] so folks when you're in the outdoors it is all about working smarter not harder choosing the right tool for the job and that may mean using an axe at a specific time or using a handsaw or using a wedge what I have here is some bank line very good stuff I'm sure some of you have guests already what I am doing if not you will see in just a minute I am close to having this done here so check that out you can now see what I've been up to I created a sitting platform I have some larger pieces of wood I'm going to collect more now and basically get ready to have a fire tonight some good dinner the storm should hit late tonight oh man this is going to be exciting everybody it's been a long time since we've had a winter storm of this caliber I definitely have a good supply of firewood big stuff but not little stuff that is what I'm going to focus on now it's getting dark it will probably be pitch black by the time I get done gathering small stuff small stuff is the most important stuff I could find big pieces of wood when the ground is covered in snow but the small stuff that is definitely different now luckily I have this fallen tree right here and this is going to be awesome for small stuff well I've collected just about as much firewood as I possibly can I have quite a bit here enough to last me for a few days a number of really good warm fires now when it comes to this setup here after scouring the forest I decided this was the perfect spot it's somewhat flat I had enough space to set up my tarp there were some good positioning between the trees lots of materials access to water there's a creek right over here this really is a good spot also there's no big trees that could potentially come down on me this is an old forest this is a non-blocking road that goes through the forest so there's a lot of deadfall trees come down all the time so this looked like the best spot in my opinion when it comes to site placement it really is important if you're out backpacking you're doing a simple overnight trip it's not that big of a deal but if you're going out for multi days in the same location if you're going out for a bushcraft trip it really does become very important that you picked the right spot make your life easy no dead trees lots of materials access to water that's what you're looking for as you all could see it is snowing nicely now I finished grabbing a whole bunch of firewood so now it is time to get fire going let's have some dinner ah it is snowing finally it is finally snowing yes guys it's on now when it comes to my tarp setup here I set this up so I can lure it at nighttime and then raise it during the day that way it doesn't become overwhelmed with snow because it definitely would anytime you have a tarp shelter you will have to adjust it over and over and over again the material itself will stretch the lines will stretch that's how it goes with my fire I'm going to have this right on the outside of my tarp I'm going to keep it away from the tent because that is my protection right there you don't want to take any chances with your protection so I will have it over here on the side instead I'm going to set this up right in the snow using some solid fuel after a very wet fall getting good dry firewood is not easy for the last month or so every single week we've had a storm - ice storms a snowstorm and here we are now this is not bad at all I have the fire to my left the heat is radiating off at the top of the tarp this is a nice setup it really is it really has been a long time since I've gone out and a storm this big I am super excited super excited of course I'm wondering how much snow are we really going to get that's the question now when my brother and I were little we would go out in snowstorms like this all the time and of course back then we didn't really have any gear you know what I mean at one point in time we were actually using a shower curtain as a tarp and that worked just fine really most of the time my brother and I we didn't have any fancy backpacking gear outdoor gear no sleeping bags or anything like that we would go out with every bit of clothing that we had as many blankets that we could put in a backpack and I tell you what we loved it we loved every minute of it for dinner I have a packet gourmet meal chicken fajita sounds pretty good to me talking about my brother and I camping we would camp out in this area being miles away from home all the time I am so thankful that I had parents that allowed us to go be free and wild we were definitely free and wild that's for sure completely different time completely different generation back then that's basically what parents did you woke up you went outside gosh we were so lucky for it to so lucky if we got hurt we dealt with it most of the time you didn't want to take your injuries to mom that was usually a bad idea she would take care of you but then you wouldn't be able to do what you were doing when you got hurt again so you never wanted to take that chance and have those privileges take it away or at least my brother and I we didn't all the times that we'd be running around we would come across snakes Black Bear Bobcats and so on and we just thought it was the coolest thing the coolest thing and it really was it really was I think that's why it's so awesome to be able to share this location with you all I mean this is exactly what my brother and I used to do growing up it is dinnertime let's eat got a nice fire got snow right here mmm good dinner bone Appetit mm-hmm that's good now while I'm having my dinner here I will go over some items which are important for a wintertime trip so if you want to go out on one this is going to make your life a whole lot easier when it comes to your rain gear you do not have to have gore-tex save yourself a ton of money unless you're doing really technical climbing otherwise go with nylon but with your anger make sure you have a zipper that way you can access your pockets for them in make sure that you have a crotch zip that will make your life so much easier so much easier with every single one of my adventures I make sure that I can handle this situation no matter what that situation may be and there's multiple components to that knowledge and the right gear so if you guys are going to go out make sure that you have both especially in a storm like this in the middle of nowhere far from home as you all could see it is snowing nicely now I'll let the fire go out this is an awesome snow this is absolutely beautiful I tell you by morning we may wake up to a foot and then we have all day tomorrow tomorrow night and Monday whoo it is coming down the rate of snowfall is I mean inches and inches it's impressive oh yeah it is coming down remember that view everybody it is going to be different by morning there's a lot of snow out there already and this tent so far is doing a good job now because of the design of the tent it requires quite a bit of work that's the only bad thing about it the snow will gather right on top of this thing so yeah it requires a lot of work now because it's snowing so hard I am going to set an alarm for roughly four hours just so I can make sure that the tent is okay if I have to I will get outside of the tent and dust it off I mean even the strongest of tents will buckle under enough weight so if you're in a big snowstorm you really have to be diligent pay attention to the tent take care of it so it can take care of you so that's the plan I'll bring you guys back in a bit and a couple of hours let's see what it looks like outside oh yeah by the way I'm going to fall asleep while watching a movie got one on the phone here Smokey and the Bandit the first one I haven't seen that movie since I was a kid I remember it being pretty funny we'll talk about it in the morning all right guys good night thanks for watching alright guys good morning it is roughly 6:30 and I've got to get out of this tent and shovel off some snow I've been kind of pushing on it all night long but there's so much snow out there that this whole thing is just kind of coming in upon itself I'm not sure how much is out there I would say we're getting really close to a foot easy easy it's been pouring all night long I don't want to get up but I have to I have to so yeah let me get dressed let's do this so we're looking at the front this is the door and this whole thing is just packed full of snow all the way up to here I believe let's see what's out here everybody I can't even get to the zipper yeah that's funny all right be right back that was not easy okay good lord that is a lot of snow check that out guys how's that for some snow snowfall accumulations right now is around 10 inches possibly a foot incredibly deep and this tent is seriously weighed down so there's the tarp look at that later on this morning as we have a fire going I will be working on making a shovel a bushcraft shovel I need something to basically take care of camp with because there's way too much snow here way too much snow so right now I'm simply going to use my feet my hands kind of move some snow around that's not very effective that'll just wear you out stomping and shoving with your hands doesn't really work whoo what a way to wake up the morning all right everybody what a chore that has been is it snowing absolutely it is coming down so fast so fast I was able to clear out the tent make a path basically around it and that's about it okay so we have the tarp to take care of at the moment to fix the issue at the tarp that's pretty simple all I need to do is shake off all the snow raise the ridgeline and tighten it up perfect when it comes to ice and snow it really doesn't matter the angle that you have it pitched because it's going to stick it's gonna stay it's gonna weigh it down this is absolutely awesome I need both hands for this I'll bring you all back in a minute so the tarp is back up I have somewhat of a path to walk the tent is covering in snow again whew let us know let us know guys let's get a fire going let's have some coffee I can't talk my mouth is frozen who this tarp is invaluable it really is this is going to be my fortress for the next who knows how many days I am going to get a fire going here you know mm should I got a fire going or should I just make coffee might eat the firewood for later I think I'm gonna hold off on the fire I'm going to make some coffee later on when I'm making this shovel I will start a fire the good thing is is that it's not that cold right now I mean we're looking at low 20s maybe even in the teens but that's not bad not really solid-fuel for the win this stuff will make your life so easy on so many occasions [Music] now as you guys can see the snow builds up pretty quick we are lucky you and I because it is not very windy I mean there's a little bit of a breeze in the air but it's not bad it's not that at all that would truly make this trip miserable turn it into a blizzard the coffee is almost done oh boy oh boy now as far as breakfast goes oatmeal time oh yeah coffee oatmeal in a snowstorm that doesn't sound too bad does it at all so that's been what's the plan I'm gonna have coffee breakfast and then in a little bit I'm going to get a fire going and begin working on my bushcraft shovel because without a doubt I am going to need it I do actually have a backpacking shovel that's ultra lightweight but I let my friend borrow that years ago and I still haven't gotten it back that's how it goes that's how it goes oh man cheers everybody Cheers feels good to have something nice and hot it's really good so the movie I watched last night was Smokey and the Bandit the first one now personally I thought the movie was very funny but how well does it hold up today mmm if they release that movie today in this PC world that we live in Josh people would be so oh isn't it a shame that everybody has to be so sensitive you know what I mean take a look at this now as you guys could see it is really really snowing how deep is it 18 inches maybe it has absolutely been coming down well since I told the camera off I actually hop back in the tent took a little bit of an F so it's about 10:30 I think right now when I got up it was about 6:00 I've been hiking around here in the snow just enjoying the beauty I mean and guys it is absolutely gorgeous it really is you know the good thing about this snow is last night there's a little bit warm roughly you know 29 degrees 30 degrees so it was a little bit wet the snow today the temperatures are in the low 20s teens and it's really really dry so you can actually walk in this stuff fairly easy I mean check this out it is up almost to my kneecaps but yet like a walk just fine how about that it is time for a fire I need to make a shovel big time I have a lot of work to do here a lot of work to do I was going to start work on the shovel but then I realized hey my tent is looking pretty sad it was getting pretty weighed down there's roughly five inches of snow on it mountains of snow everywhere very very impressive so the tents in good shape not worried about that now let's make a shovel for the shovel going to use my hand saw I wish I can find some black locust but I mean I'm sure I could but at what cost you would expend so many calories cutting it up because it's so hard yeah this will do so that is plenty long enough for my shovel maybe even a little bit too long that's alright as you guys can see I had a small little mishap with the folding saw nicked my finger and blood pretty good until I got that bandage on it all right everybody the shovel has been made check that out when it comes to bushcraft it doesn't really matter how it looks it's all about how well it performs and I think this is going to perform very very well and it really doesn't look that bad either so let's give it a shot all right guys it works perfectly that is awesome and now the blade is not very wide or long which I could add to it let me show you all just how good of a job that shovel did it did really really good it takes a lot of work to keep this tent from caving in this is an awesome budget-friendly tent for season 10 but as far as for season tents go there are better out there but of course they're gonna be about double the price maybe even more than that this one the weak spot is that the snow clucks right here on top and these back poles will fold in but for the low price that this thing is being sold for it's not bad all right everyone well it's update time what a day it has been snow totals right now we're looking at over 20 inches probably 21 22 basically I've spent the day shoveling snow beating snow off the tent and staying dry that's pretty much it for the most part this storm is over we have some wraparound showers coming through now so it's some light snow a little bit of ice and that's okay this is supposed to continue all night long into tomorrow but the main part of the storm is over and that means I could actually film some now without the use of the tarp for protection for the camera so why don't we walk around a little bit let me show you all where I'm at at the moment as mentioned before my brother and I we spent so much time so much of our childhood running around in these woods in fact my very first camping trip that I did all by myself was right over here walking in snow this deep isn't super easy but at the same time it's not super difficult either you may be wondering what about snowshoes there's a time and place for snowshoes with this storm it's not the right time it's not the right place first off there are two different types of snowshoes that you need to consider there are smaller ones and there are larger ones the small ones are made for very dense very wet packed snow the larger ones are for powdery snow like this dry snow consider this snow type its powdery I would have to have the large ones now consider walking through the forest with those on rocks routes crossing streams it just doesn't work just does not work if you're on a trail fine if you're out in the forest in the middle of nowhere you don't want to be walking with snowshoes on they become more of a hindrance than a help anyways it was right here where I had my very first solo adventure how cool is that I remember that night being just cold here so cold the plan for this afternoon is pretty simple I'm basically going to take some time and really clean up my tent dig it out because it's still pretty much buried now unless it just snows a bunch tonight I should be able to just pack up pretty easy tomorrow guys I think it's time for a fire I think it's time for dinner it has been a long day it's been a hard day lots of shoveling lots of taking care of snow this has been a full-on job keeping this campsite going the snow has been so heavy that if I didn't work on it all day long it would be destroyed seriously in the matter of hours it's still snowing out there pretty good I think they're calling for another three inches something like that nothing too crazy now tomorrow that's the hard part really hiking through all this snow we have a couple of miles to do that is going to be some work no doubt about it water is almost ready to go now of course this is going to be super hot that's why I have this right here this is just a simple cotton washcloth which I have been smashing with some snow getting it wet so I can pick this up without worrying about it catching on fire perfect just like that guys just like that you know it's funny my brother and I spent so much time here in the woods we have a friend who lives like over this mountain basically so we would oftentimes hike up there watch movies play video games his dad also had a huge stack of Playboy magazines he'll talk about that another day but that was a perk we would hike home from his house after watching like scary movies like Friday the 13th and werewolf movies and stuff like that Hellraiser hiking through the woods scared to death worried about werewolves I'm pretty sure that is one of the contributing factors why I fear nothing why I can go out in the middle of nowhere deep into the forest it doesn't bother me at all my brother and I were running around in the forest nighttime no flashlights nothing like that you get over your fears real quick in situations like that well folks I'm going to finish up my dinner enjoy the fire and then it will be time for bed it's been a long day I'm actually pretty tired I'll tell ya I love for season tents I mean this thing is at least I mean at least ten degrees warmer than outside it's fairly comfortable really oh well let's watch a crappy movie get some rest we have a long hike tomorrow I'll see you guys in the morning everybody as you guys can hear it still snowing outside I did not get up last night I basically I turned in and slept really really good it does look like this tent is sagging a little bit on top walls oh yeah there's a pretty good snow buildup [Music] you have to be careful about doing that because all of your moisture that's coming from your body will build on the inside of the fly and then when you shake the snow off it rains on top of you luckily it's cold enough that everything ice up actually oh yeah now you can hear the snow well today we wrap up the adventure it all comes to an end it's time to get out of here it's time you got here gonna get up have some coffee have a snack break down camp here so the tent it's a little bit buried a little squash at the moment the tarp definitely is needs to be shook off how much snow there is out here 23 24 inches it's a lot ah I see here that the memory card is almost full and that means this adventure it's almost over coffee snack breakdown hike out that's the plan now there are two ways out of here I think I mentioned that before maybe I did maybe I didn't one follows a series of logging roads it's like through the woods road through the woods road then you can just simply go to where the woods the logging road way longer easier through the woods shorter harder mmm guys I'm going through the woods I'm plowing through the snow yeah it's play I'm playing I'm having fun and that's okay that's what it's all about alright everybody Cheers Coffee time mmm that is perfect perfect life is good isn't it out here enjoying the snowstorm peace and quiet you hear absolutely nothing I love that then of course we have you guys you're in your homes drink it some warm coffee maybe having a beer a drink maybe you're watching your kids laugh we all have it pretty good you know what I mean we all have it pretty good I could run out this memory card by talking but I'm sure you guys don't want to hear that okay I'm going to finish up the coffee pack up get out oh yeah coffee is almost done so it's time to put on the Gators if you are going to play in snow you need Gators so I'm break you down camp everybody the Sun is coming out blue sky above it's absolutely gorgeous as you guys could see all cleared up ready to rock a roll check that out now the one stipulation for using this amazing piece of property is that I always clean up my mess and I always do so everything's been discarded go right back into the forest and with that being said it is time to get out of here well everybody this adventure is coming to an end thank you all so much for joining me I wish you all well Merry Christmas maybe it's after Christmas I'm not sure when this is going up it might be Happy New Year either way strengthen honor feel free to support the channel on patreon because the outdoor gear review is agenda free no store not selling anything and always honest bye guys [Music] [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: TheOutdoorGearReview

Views: 794,893

Rating: 4.8242455 out of 5

Keywords: The Outdoor Gear Review, outdoors, hike, hiking, camp, camping, hiking gear, camping gear, tent, camp fire, solo camping, solo hiking, winter camping, winter hike, solo adventure, camping adventure, backpacking, survival, backcountry, exploring, Overnight adventure, camping in a winter storm, budget backpacking gear, snow camping, winter storm camping, 4th season camping, camping in snow, camping in a blizzard, winter storm diego

Id: 35H0O_aqCtE

Length: 47min 18sec (2838 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 24 2018