Winter Camping at Ponca State Park
We've had a slow start to winter this year in the Midwest. Up until a week ago, I had planned to spend the long New Year's weekend camping in Minnesota. That changed after I consulted the snow depth map and discovered that they didn't even have an inch of snow yet. Cold weather camping is always enjoyable, but snow makes everything more beautiful. Also, I wanted to test out my pulk setup before I go on a big trip with it in January. Pulling a sled without snow is not a recipe for success.
The closest direction that did have snow was west, in Nebraska. I settled with Ponca State Park because they had some hike out spots that looked promising. Before now, I'd never heard of the place, but I got the impression that it would be very busy during the warmer months. Thankfully, due to the cold I had the whole campground to myself! Seriously, a lady at the office told me I was the only person out there.
Unsurprisingly, they don't plow the snow inside the Ponca State Park Campgrounds (there are three), but the access roads were all clear. My sedan is rolling on slippery tires right now, so I decided to park as close to the entrance as possible, at the bathhouse. With my pulk, hiking a little extra distance was no problem at all.
My pulk setup consists of a pre-made harness attached to a couple of eye bolts on the sled. Additionally, I threaded the two cords from the sled to the harnesses through 3/4" PVC pipe. This makes the setup safer when going downhill. With just a cord, the sled might gain speed and run into your shins. With solid pipe, the sled is kept at a distance away from you. I also criss-crossed the pipes because that's what I saw people doing on the internet. Everything worked great, and pulling a sled was definitely easier than backpacking. Also, I was able to bring stuff that I'd normally leave behind due to the weight.
The campsite was placed on the crest of a hill overlooking the Missouri River. A beautiful spot, but without any natural protection from the elements. Thankfully, tipi tents handle wind really well. Especially in the winter because you can pack snow on the edges to seal them off. Of course, you don't want to make your tent airtight. I left a few gaps in the edges, and didn't zip up the door all of the way when I was burning stuff inside.
For keeping warm, I followed a system that has worked well for me. During the day, I stayed warm by moving. It's remarkable how many layers I can shed while hiking, setting up camp, and cutting firewood. Eventually, the sun started to set and I moved into my tent. Not before enjoying a hot cup of coffee and watching the sunset, of course!
Inside the tent I started a fire in my collapsible wood stove and fed it for the next several hours. A couple small pieces of wood every 30 minutes is all I needed. This my favorite part of winter camping. I find it deeply satisfying to stay warm because of a fire I created and am tending to.
An hour before I went to bed, I let the fire begin to die out and switched to my propane heater. I ran that until I was ready to fall asleep. There are two reasons for this. First, I don't feel safe going to bed with a hot fire still smoldering in my tent. My two carbon monoxide alarms simply don't provide me enough confidence to know that I'll be waking back up. Second, I don't like my stove to still be releasing heat from its embers when I'm first crawling into my sleeping bag. Otherwise, I might not initially put on enough layers because I think it's warmer than it truly is. For this same reason, I don't understand why some people recommend using a hot water bottle in your sleeping bag to stay warm. It will help for a few hours, but then your left back in the cold. It's much better, and safer to just have enough layers in the first place.
I stayed for two nights and the temperature never dipped below 20° F. Since I run like a furnace, this meant that my 35° F rated Wiggy's sleeping bag, and my NeoAir XTherm sleeping pad were sufficiently warm. I'm getting much better at sleeping with this system. It's always a bit fitful, but I got some solid hours of sleep both nights.
For food, I mostly ate dehydrated meals from Mountain House. Four pouches a day is enough to keep me well nourished. I've enjoyed all the options I've tried so far, except for the breakfast pouches. Those never seem to rehydrate properly. To be fair, the granola one is good, but it's basically just a pouch of cereal. I prefer something hot in the morning.
During the one full day I had there, I got a chance to hike around much of the park. It took me a few tries, but I eventually got on a trail down to the river. The elevation changes in the park made the hike nicely challenging, and gave me plenty of great views over the river valley. I also got to see two resident bald eagles sailing through the hard winds.
In all ways I felt this was a great trip. Usually, I return with a list of things to improve on, but this time all of my gear worked perfectly. Also, the park was in a good location and had plenty of privacy. I could have wished for more snow, but I was thankful to be around any snow at all. Hopefully there will be more of that to come!
