Cabin fever. There is only so many months you can be cooped up in the house looking out the window and if you live in the north winter can seem like an eternity. Its proven that people actually get depressed during the winter months due to this. I found an awesome solution to break out of this little rut and that is to go camping in winter. Doing this is as much of an art as it is a science. Planning is much more necessary here than it is when you go camping in the summer as far more can happen to ruin your trip. When I was in boy scouts, I had my checklist of all the things I would need to bring. The scoutmaster asked, "Does anyone have an extra pair of boots?" I raised my hand, being a naive thirteen year old at the time thinking he would congradulate me on a job well done. Instead he took the boots for his brat son that had jumped in a puddle with his. Anyway, I guess the point I'm getting at is that dry clothing is probably the most important thing that you can strive for on a winter camping excursion. In hindsight, had I not brought them everyone would have had to go home because the boy couldn't have stayed in saturated boots in those temperatures without serious damage.

There are a fews thing about camping in winter that are very useful to know before you plan a trip. One is that for every ten inches of snow that you melt in a pot over the fire, you will get one inch of water. That means to get one foot of water in a pot over the fire you will need to melt ten feet of snow!!! Another thing to think about is that any water you bring with you will turn to ice. Cotton clothing is an absolute nightmare. Cotton socks, t-shirts, sweatpants will all become useless the second they touch snow. All socks should be nylon, bring nylon fleeces instead of cotton sweatshirts, and underwear should also be heavily weighted toward synthetics. Another great thing to bring with you is wool sweaters. Although not synthetic, wool dries quite well.  Be sure to layer your clothing and remove layers as you become too warm.  Sweating can cause your clothing to become wet and can make you cold just as easily as getting wet from external sources.  A good way to prevent this from happening is to wear a moisture wicking base layer which can be found at any sporting goods store that sells camping equipment.

When camping in winter, its important to note that frostbite is a major concern. The blood from your heart reaches your fingers and toes last and it can come quickly. To prevent this from happening layering socks and making sure you take two pairs of good snow boots is a necessity. Several pairs of good gloves are important too. I've tried the cheap department store kind and although they may look the same as the expensive kind, they soak right through in many cases. At least one pair of Gore-tex would be a good investment. There are many types of face masks you could choose from and I would strongly recommend bringing a few of these along. The reason bringing more than one may be a good idea is because I have yet to find one that doesn't get wet from simply breathing into it. Rotating the wet ones for dry and placing the wet by the fire will ensure that it will serve its purpose for the entire trip.

Another thing that many don't realize when camping in winter is that your body heat can escape from the hole in the top of a sleeping bag. To prevent this, you can line it with a reflective blanket for few dollars from any camping store. They put these in emergency roadside kits in case you get stranded somewhere they are so effective. You need to put the shiny side facing inward toward your body to reflect your body heat back in toward you.

One of the most effective ways to keep warm on a winter trip is to keep a nice fire going. A definite challenge to this is that all the wood that you would use for fuel will most likely be wet if it has snowed. Bringing a few bales of dry wood may be a wise decision to get the fire going at first. A small shovel to dig out a pit will be necessary as well. The fire pit can not be more than a few inches deep or oxygen will not be able to get to it. Because of this digging snow out from around the pit or tramping it down would be beneficial.

I know what you're thinking. How will bringing wood sustain a fire for a long period of time? It is possible, once you get a good blaze going, to place other wood around the fire that is a little bit wet and dry it out for use. This may not work with saturated wood as easily but if one side has been in the snow its possible. Also, it important to note that wood laying in light fluffy snow will not be as difficult to dry as wood that has been in heavy wet snow. The best place to get wood when its snowy is from under thick shrubs, tall grass, or under trees where the snow hasn't reached it as well. As a bit of extra energy may be necessary to start a good blaze, bringing a nice little ziploc bag of dryer lint to use as a firestarter would be awesome too. Be very careful with this however as it is extremely flammable!!!! A more natural solution would be to use birch bark from dead logs. Unfortunately, this may not be in ready supply. Use the dryer lint for a catalyst. It is possible to whittle the outside off some sticks you find for tinder and they should be dry inside. Snap the twigs first to listen for the snap to determine if they will be dry after you shave them.

I probably haven't covered the tip of the iceburg here (couldn't help the winter humor) but hopefully this will make your descision to go camping in winter a far more enjoyable experience. Another bit of advice, bring plenty of snacks in case you can't get the fire going or at least a small propane or sterno camp stove.  They make these small enough to take up almost no room in your pack and they are ready to use almost immediately.  To be honest, I use the fire for warmth and the stove to cook.  Cooking anything on a fire takes a very long time and quick meals are not an option unless you have a ready blaze.  If you do decide to cook on the fire there are plenty of places on the web that will give you some ideas about how to go about it or what is best to cook.  One of my favorites is to prepare a sliced potato with peppers, onions and oil wrapped in tinfoil.  This can then be placed in a corner of the fire where the coals are glowing red as this is where cooking conditions will be most favorable.