Night 30

Hi and welcome back!

Brand New Snow

First, I have to say thanks to the people who have sent me things to make the tent more comfortable!

Last night was warm, but we had strong winds and about two inches of rain.  Unfortunately, a LOT of that rain got inside the tent, so it was a damp, uncomfortable night.

We got about a half inch of new snow today, and the temperature has fallen into the 20s, so it feels like winter again.

Stay tuned for a guest blogger on Saturday!  My best friend since preschool is going to sleep out with me, and I can't wait.

That's all for now.  I promise to write more tomorrow!

Night 29

Hi, and welcome to the people who've joined us from Croatia!

Last night was the warmest yet. Overnight it was about 46 degrees and it was driving me crazy because I was sweating in my sleep. I slept in my 40 degree Slumberjack sleeping bag, which I thought I might be cold in but I thought wrong.

While I was hiking with my dad this morning my hair got soaked. It rained so much overnight that water was dripping down from the trees and it made it feel like I was in the shower.

This morning I also slipped while hiking, partly because I had a weighted backpack on, and partly because there were a lot of slippery, wet logs on the ground. I probably should have tried to avoid that log. 

Thanks for reading!

P.S. I think we've finally fixed the comments.  Sorry to everyone who had problems with that before.

Night 28

Maisy wishing she could hike again

Hi!  I'm glad you're still reading.

Yesterday after I posted I looked and saw that people from the U.S.A. (obviously), Poland, South Korea, Germany, and the U.K. had viewed my blog. I was blown away. It also said that over 650 people had viewed it in all.

Last night I repitched my tent, because the forecast said that we were going to get quite a bit of freezing rain. Overnight it did nothing but rain, which didn't really surprise me, because the temperature hovered above freezing all night.

As soon as we got home from hiking this morning Maisy hopped up on the bench near the window in the back of the house and looked outside, because she wanted to hike again. My dad and I felt bad for her, because he had to go to a meeting today, and I had to go to school, so neither of us could hike with her.

Thanks for reading!

Night 27

Hi and welcome back!

It was a somewhat warmer night last night, with a low temperature of 21 degrees Fahrenheit. My dad was psyched last night, because it was warm enough for him not to have to sleep outside. Even though the temperature said that my dad could sleep inside, my mom was thinking of making him sleep out because of the snow that was going to come overnight, but she was feeling nice and didn't make him.  

Testing the ice on the edge of the pond

This morning I woke up to my tent partly caved in by the weight of the snow. It was hard to get out of the tent, because the vestibule doors (the vestibule is the space made by the fly on either side of the tent) were pinned to the ground by the snow. Thankfully, after I brushed some of the snow off the top of the tent, the vestibules and the tent went back to their normal shape.

We didn't have school today, so my dad and I used the extra time to hike to the pond near our house. When we got there we noticed it was frozen on the top, so we tried to break through the ice with our hiking sticks. We had no luck, so we tried walking on it. Amazingly enough it supported all of our weight the whole way across the pond. But unfortunately, it is going to warm up around here in the next couple of days so the ice probably won't last.

Thanks for reading!
   

Night 26

Hi!

Sorry that I didn't post earlier. I was busy, and I have to go out to the tent now, so I will get you up to date tomorrow.

Thanks for understanding!

L.R.C.

Night 25

I'm glad you're still reading!

Last night when my dad and I hiked there was over an inch of brand new snow. Whenever we hike we time ourselves, and last night we noticed that the snow seemed to really slow us down.  It took us just about 17 minutes to get to the top of the hill, compared to around 15 minutes with no snow.

The snow also reflected the moonlight so well that it seemed almost like it was the middle of the day at 9:00 pm in the woods!

While we were hiking my dad and I were very busy, because our dog Maisy broke her leash, and we did not have a backup leash with us.  Maisy is our one-year-old beagle, and she really loves to hike.  As soon as we get our boots on, she starts barking and tries to pull her leash off the hook where we keep it.

Right after her leash broke, Maisy started wander away from us, and I had to chase her. While I chased Maisy my dad was trying to tie her leash back together, which must've been hard to do with two pairs of gloves on. I then caught Maisy right as dad finished tying her leash, and we headed back home without any more problems like that.

Last night was a milder night compared to the really cold ones that we have had lately. Overnight it was about fifteen degrees Fahrenheit. At about 3:00 in the morning it was so warm that I unzipped part of  the sleeping bag to cool myself off!

Night 24

Hi and welcome back!

Last night I had some trouble falling asleep, because I could hear a coyote's faint howl in the distance. The howl became progressively louder and started to drive me crazy! I ended up falling asleep about half an hour later than I wanted to because of the coyotes.

I have never actually seen a coyote, but I hear them often enough that I know that they live on the hill. I hope that some day I will see a coyote.

This morning was the coldest morning yet. I'm really bummed out, because it was so cold that my dad somehow convinced me to not hike. He told me that if we hiked later we would get to hike in the snow (because it was supposed to start this afternoon).  Due to my dad being so soft, now we have to hike this evening, which I am not a fan of, because I always like to see the sunrise. Here's a picture of the sun coming up that I took this morning before school.

No matter whether it snows overnight or not, I always get snow in my hair when I'm getting dressed in the morning.  It turns out that the condensation buildup from our breath becomes frost on the inside of the tent every night.  It makes it interesting to get out of bed in the morning!

We're off to hike in the snow now. So far we have about two inches on the ground, and it's still coming down.

Night 23

It was another c-o-l-d night in the tent last night!  Like most nights, I went out early to read a bit before bed.  Right now I'm reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

It was hard to sleep last night because I just couldn't wait to hike in the morning (even though it was supposed to be single digits) so I could wear my new green Marmot three in one jacket.

Dad fell asleep inside while he was watching t.v. last night and didn't come out until almost 1:00.  I have a feeling he was just putting off coming out in the cold.  Maybe he's softer than I thought.

The instant that dad's alarm went off in the tent I scrambled out of my sleeping bag only to find dad half-awake hitting the snooze button on his alarm. While hitting the snooze button he said "L___ get back in your sleeping bag. I don't want to get up quite yet."

After about five minutes of trying to persuade dad to get up he finally did. Once he went inside to get dressed to hike I huddled in my tent trying to get my down jacket on over my t-shirt and then my new jacket on over that. The night before I had asked my mom if I could wear her mittens to hike (because my gloves weren't quite warm enough) and thankfully she said "yes". So there I was just able to put one foot in front of the other and push on into the cold and the mittens are working like a charm.

Thanks again for reading!

It's Cold!

Hi! My name is L.R.C. (mom won't let me use my real name).  I'm ten years old, and I've decided to spend every night of 2013 in the tent I got for Christmas.

So far, I've slept outside for 22 days in a row, and even though it's been really cold the last few nights, I'm still having fun.    

My dad said I should start by writing about why I decided to do this.  I've gotten really interested in climbing and mountaineering lately, and I guess I'm doing it to prepare for just about anything any mountain would have to offer weather-wise.

When people find out that I've been sleeping in a tent, they usually tell me I'm crazy, then they ask how I stay warm when it's so cold (it was 2 degrees overnight last night).  Here's a little bit about my gear:

The tent I've been using is an Alps Mountaineering Zephyr 3 and it's holding up amazingly well for a 3-season tent in the winter.

Right after New Years, when the weather was warmer, I slept in a 40 degree Slumberjack Everest Elite sleeping bag, but lately, with it being really cold, I've been sleeping in a North Face Cat's Meow 20 degree bag on top of a Ridge Rest (made by Cascade Designs) for extra comfort and warmth.

Because sometimes it's cold even in the sleeping bag, I always wear the same thing to bed: top and bottom baselayer, Smartwool socks, and a hat that my grandmother knit.  My favorite thing about the hat is its color ("goose turd green").

Starting with my first night, every morning at 5:50 a.m. (or a little later if he sleeps in) my dad has come outside to wake me up so that we can go for a hike to the top of the hill behind our house before I am expected at home to get ready for school.

The last three nights, though, my dad has come outside at about 11:00 to sleep with me (my mom says he has to whenever it is below 20, because she's afraid I'll freeze to death).  We've been zipping two 20 degree sleeping bags together and sharing them to keep warm, and it works perfectly.  That is, when he doesn't hog the bag with the warmer lining.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll stop back to read other posts.  I'll try to keep you informed about how I do!