There are a lot of articles about cold weather camping. Some talk about how to keep your RV pipes from freezing up. Others discuss all the equipment you need if you are going to brave the cold weather. There are a lot of articles about the 15 or 10 best camping tips for winter camping. For me, I think they are all over-thinking the cold weather. It’s really all a state of mind. If you think the cold weather is cold and uncomfortable, it will be cold and uncomfortable. Winter camping. It’s a like every other time of the year. It’s all in the head.
Those articles are right on about some things. You need to take extra stuff to keep warm. An extra sleeping bag or covers is a good start. Every RV should be equipped with an extra space heater just in case you run out of propane or actually need a little more warmth to take the chill out of the evening artic air. Maybe some long-johns and flannel shirts are a good idea. Oh, yeah, and ear muffs and gloves. But in reality, all that is just window dressing when you have the right mindset. If you can just visualize sitting on the beach and the warm tropical breeze you can sort of forget about the 26 degrees that feels like 7 degrees chilling you to the bone.
Chris and Service Dog Charlie don’t really share my enthusiasm for cold weather camping. But they both are enthused about modeling the latest in cold camping fashion. Notice Chris has her wool hat, down-lined long coat, flannel leggings and cute little snow boots. Charlie is decked out in his snow-sweater. He’s not the happiest when hiking through the snow.
And, I’ve got to say, after sitting out for a while, maybe I just can’t stop my visualization from preferring the thought of a nice warm inside fireplace. Winter camping is certainly a mixture of preparedness both mentally and physically. It’s not so much a state of mind when reality sets in—It’s freaking cold out here!
