Cold camping...

[Penney H. & Mike E.]

Needing some encouragement to go camping in winter weather.....I know it is almost spring, but here in the NW winter came late! After a mild winter we are having nights into the 30s. We never cold weather camped in our little Burro, except the occasional unexpected cold night. Last fall we had some cold nights at Mt. Rainier and I believe there was a bit of frost at the fall N. Oregon gathering. The Escape can get pretty chilly!

We've been seeing Casitas, Scamps and even a few Escapes here on the Olympic Peninsula, and those 'siteings' combined with longer, lighter days & the promise of dry sunny days this weekend has made us antsy to go - but the forecast is for 32 at night!

Okay, so I'm a wimp, and I don't sleep well running the heater all night, though we'd have to run it some. Just thought it'd be nice to hear from others starting their camping season in some chilly, blustery March weather.

Penney

[Mike Ames]

Needing some encouragement to go camping in winter weather.....I know it is almost spring, but here in the NW winter came late! After a mild winter we are having nights into the 30s. We never cold weather camped in our little Burro, except the occasional unexpected cold night. Last fall we had some cold nights at Mt. Rainier and I believe there was a bit of frost at the N. Oregon gathering. The Escape can get pretty chilly!

We've been seeing Casitas, Scamps and even a few Escapes here on the Olympic Peninsula, and those 'siteings' combined with longer, lighter days & the promise of dry sunny days this weekend has made us antsy to go - but the forecast is for 32 at night!

Okay, so I'm a wimp, and I don't sleep well running the heater all night, though we'd have to run it some. Just thought it'd be nice to hear from others starting their camping season in some chilly, blustery March weather.

Penney

We run an electric heater and let the furnace take up the slack.

[Donna D.]

Hot drinks before bed. And, I turn the electric blanket on and get the bed nice and toasty. Once under the covers and my feet are all warmed up, I shut off the blanket. But, it's always there and available if I should get cold in the middle of the night... or after a quick "walk" to the flushy. I prefer to NOT run a furnace at night.

And a big roaring fire during the day/evening in the NOG fire pit.

I don't find the plain cold as hard to deal with as wet-cold. Get out camping this weekend Penney... it's supposed to hit 70 degrees here in Portland!

[Brian Van Snell]

Needing some encouragement to go camping in winter weather.....I know it is almost spring, but here in the NW winter came late! After a mild winter we are having nights into the 30s. We never cold weather camped in our little Burro, except the occasional unexpected cold night. Last fall we had some cold nights at Mt. Rainier and I believe there was a bit of frost at the fall N. Oregon gathering. The Escape can get pretty chilly!

We've been seeing Casitas, Scamps and even a few Escapes here on the Olympic Peninsula, and those 'siteings' combined with longer, lighter days & the promise of dry sunny days this weekend has made us antsy to go - but the forecast is for 32 at night!

Okay, so I'm a wimp, and I don't sleep well running the heater all night, though we'd have to run it some. Just thought it'd be nice to hear from others starting their camping season in some chilly, blustery March weather.

Penney

Penney:

You may have seen our post at http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/in...howtopic=39136 We also posted on the Escape forum if you follow it. http://escapeforum.org/index.php?topic=1061.0

We had five wonderful days of camping with our little 13 foot Escape at a small campsite in Washington State one week ago. If you pick days with sunshine it makes quite a difference. We have a small quartz heater and our trailer has extra insulation and double glazing. At night the heater goes on and off but does not bother us too much. In the morning we turn the heater up and run our Maxx fan to get some fresh air. We did have some snow and frost on our trip but nothing to stop us.

Brian

[Penney H. & Mike E.]

Whoa! 70! That is not the forecast for here! Only the 50s during the day - we tend to go west this time of year - toward the coast and the nights are going to be in 30s and days lower 50s. Maybe we should go to Portland! But we don't want to go that far.

I'm not an electric blanket fan, but I am a hot water bottle addict! That and a good warm hat my usual night time fare.

Brian, we do wish our Escape had the extra insulation, but we bought it used. Maybe you are one of the Escapes we saw. What brand heater do you use? We have an older little box heater.

[Darnelle]

Hi!

We have camped in late November in MN where the daytime temp did not get above freezing and it snowed a bit while we were setting up. (The campgrounds are real quiet and private that time of year!)

I don't trust sleeping with a propane-fired furnace so we used an oil-filled radiator-type electric heater only. Kept us toasty warm at all times and there is no fan making noise nor hot elements to worry about. Although I can't hold my hand on the heater, accidental contact does not cause any burns.

Our trailer is a '74 13-foot Scamp with ensolite. The storage compartments under the dinette and bunk had nothing on the walls, so during the restore I had added 3 1/2" of plastic-wrapped fiberglass insulation next to the outside walls and put a 1 1/2" layer of polystyrene insulation on the floors of the rear dinette compartments. This was super easy as the polystyrene just lays on the floor and the fiberglass friction fits between the wood support bar for the bench and the polystyrene. We have never missed the small loss of storage space and I plan to do about the same to the bunk storage area.

Our friends who camped with us have a Class C motorhome and they used the same type of heater and stayed comfortable as well. I'm pretty sure they had made no modifications to their rig.

Head out there and enjoy!

[Brian Van Snell]

Whoa! 70! That is not the forecast for here! Only the 50s during the day - we tend to go west this time of year - toward the coast and the nights are going to be in 30s and days lower 50s. Maybe we should go to Portland! But we don't want to go that far.

I'm not an electric blanket fan, but I am a hot water bottle addict! That and a good warm hat my usual night time fare.

Brian, we do wish our Escape had the extra insulation, but we bought it used. Maybe you are one of the Escapes we saw. What brand heater do you use? We have an older little box heater.

Penney:

We have a small "Honeywell" quartz heater which we bought recently at Walmart. There are many similar ones available. Ours has a thermostat and a fan. Its main advantage is its size (it is small and light), and it is reasonably quiet. You need to be careful to keep it away from anything that would burn. A small oil-filled heater would be okay too, but it would be a bit big for our small trailer. We do have warm duvets. We have a small dog who has to manage with a blanket on the floor. We have hot water bottles, but have not used them. We have just graduated from a tent, so just being off the ground is quite a luxury for us! The nice thing about camping at this time of year is that campsites are available and there is a lot going on already -- lots of spring flowers, birds, trees coming into leaf. Great opportunities for photography if you are so inclined. You need to get out there!

Brian

[Penney H. & Mike E.]

Thank you all for the encouragement!

Brian, I wonder if your quartz heater is quieter than the little ceramic one we use - it's noisy but quieter than the heater in the trailer.

Yes, I am inclined to photography! Even make and sell photo cards. Definitely one reason to get going - especially if it's to be sunny.

So was that you my husband saw on the Olympic Peninsula a few weeks ago?


Darnell we have thought about getting a oil/electric radiator - definitely would be quieter which would be wonderful! I wasn't sure about size, if it'd be in the way or not. Good to hear it works for you.

Penney

[Brian Van Snell]

Thank you all for the encouragement!

Brian, I wonder if your quartz heater is quieter than the little ceramic one we use - it's noisy but quieter than the heater in the trailer.

Yes, I am inclined to photography! Even make and sell photo cards. Definitely one reason to get going - especially if it's to be sunny.

So was that you my husband saw on the Olympic Peninsula a few weeks ago?

Penney

Penney:

I was wrong -- our heater is a [b]ceramic heater. I can get you the model number if you like. It was quite inexpensive. It looks similar to http://www.honeywellstore.com/HZ-315

I was not on the Olympic Peninsula a few weeks ago -- we just camped for five days at Bay View State Park near Mount Vernon / Burlington -- so could not have seen your husband!

Brian

[Larry&Carrie]

COld camping???? hmmm 5 different hunting trips in Oct & Nov... All we use is a Mr Buddy. Do need to add some insulation like Darnell did- will help the clothes in the cupboards from getting clammy. Larry

[Ricky 4]

We will be cold weather camping this weekend-Fri. night 39 and Sat. night 27.
No electric available.
This is cold weather camping!
Lots of blankets, longjohns and quick runs to the potty!
It`s fun to cold weather camp once a year.

[Penney H. & Mike E.]

Yep, no electricity is cold camping! The places we camp here on the pennisula don't have hook-ups, we generally don't camp where there are hook ups, though we might if they were available in this cooler weather.

So save 'face' - I haven't always been a whimp! BFGRV (before fiberglass trailers) I've camped in a tent, and the back of a car in the snow, and with our Burro (I forgot this!) we camped a week in the Canadian Rockies in freezing cold rain, slush, then deep snow and below freezing temps. The weather just kept getting worse as the week wore on! Battery ran dead so only heat was when we cooked and had a burner on. That was cold, and somewhat exciting - but we sure soaked up the sun when it showed up on the trip home!

All that was in a younger, healthier body!

You are all inspiring!

[Darnelle]

Hi Penney,

Yes, the oil-filled radiator heater is large and bulky. At that time we used the bunks without mattresses to have more counter space and storage. We placed the heater on the lower bunk area by the door so it was out of our way. Bungeed it to the upper bunk support rod during transport.

Now there are 3 of us and I have modified our camper. The rear dinette stays a bed and the front bunk is now a 2-person dinette that converts to a single bed. I'm considering adding an electric oil-filled baseboard heater in the toe-kick area under the stove and sink -- will experiment with a block of wood to see if the loss of toe space is worth it.

[Miriam]

COld camping???? hmmm 5 different hunting trips in Oct & Nov... All we use is a Mr Buddy. Do need to add some insulation like Darnell did- will help the clothes in the cupboards from getting clammy. Larry

I love my Mr. Buddy! Especially last May (yes, mid-MAY!!!!) when it snowed the whole week. We have insulated curtains (with a layer of that foamy white stuff on the back) - cheaper than insulating the whole unit and blocks off an unbelievable heat leak!

[Ellen B]

Picked up our Scamp 19 in Backus MN on 03/15. Not as severe cold weather camping as we anticipated. Had frost a couple of nights, but daytime temps in the 50's. We considered cutting a hole in the floor & heading out onto the lakes to catch some walleye

[Penney H. & Mike E.]

We went........promises of warm weather fizzled - though the rest of the state had it! On the coast at Grayland State Park Saturday, first day of spring, was a stormy, cold day and night. But it was SOoooooo good to get out and go, even if we had to hunker down in the trailer more than we'd like, and long walks on the beach were blustery.

Not cold like pictured above - just classic March!

Photos here:
Grayland in March

So we are off, planning April's weekend, May's vacation and wishing all you in the more northern and easterner climes a spring that will soon arrive!

[Nancy]

Penney,

I loved the photos. Looked at the Rialto Beach shots and the four directions beach art really caught my attention. Thanks for the picture of the historic lights in Paradise Inn. I have a friend who will really enjoy that.

Nancy

[Penney H. & Mike E.]

Thanks Nancy, I'm glad you enjoyed the photos, it's nice to share. Come visit Washington sometime (perhaps you have).

Here is a page with more photos of those lights, they are absolutely stunning, so large and with such beautiful botanical prints. I was so taken by them, I wanted to just stare at them (which is a bit hard on the neck!)

Paradise Lights

Penney

[Deb & Chuck]

Penney,
Thanks for sharing your wonderful pictures. Even though I have lived in Washington for over 35 years I haven't seen all the places in your photo travel pictures- more places to add to my travel wish list now.
Deb

[Gerda, H]

Yes, thank you for sharing the great pictures. I just cannot wait myself to go out with my little daughter to explore places with Cafe Egg! Among other little weekend trips, we have two lined up to the shores of Lake Michigan, on the WI side.