When my boyfriend, Joseph, first suggested that we go winter camping I was hesitant. My feet are perpetually cold, even in the living room with my crazy colored fleece socks on and I sometime wear a long underwear layer in the house. When I need my body fat to do its job, it just sits there.

But, I love the outdoors. Hiking is special because it gives you a chance to get away from the city, noise, and people all under your own power- and in the winter all the benefits are heightened. Not as many other campers/hikers are out in the cold weather. You get more solitude, and the snow absorbs the sounds of any near by roads or voices on the air and you are left with such sweet silence. You may have never heard this before and you will love it. It feels kind of like church- not in a stuffy or formal way, but there is a sense of sanctuary and peace that almost feels sacred.

Even better than the solitude are scenes that can only be caught if you get off the road, miles into the snowy forest. Depending on where you are camping, you will see blankets of snow leading up to dramatic rock faces, frozen alpine lakes or meadows of flat soft snow and pine tree branches heavy with white. This is the stuff of Christmas cards and it may seem boring sitting on your mantle, but in real life, you will be in awe.

I agreed to camp with Joseph for a couple of nights last winter in Red River Gorge in Kentucky. We had a wonderful hike in, not too hard just a few miles. No one had been on the trail since the snowfall and the only foot prints were animals' that seemed to keep to the trails a good deal. Those animals, they're smart and know about the path of least resistance.

By late afternoon we found a unique spot where two creeks came together and created a near island. Just 25 yards away the creeks ran into a pond that was completely frozen over. After eating our dinner, we made our way to the frozen pond, felt it out slowly and then skated on it in our boots in the light of the moon. An owl hooted- it was haunting and beautiful and I felt like we were doing something worth doing.

Sleeping was the problem. My sleeping bag was only a 3 season bag, meaning it was not meant for winter camping. I was trying to make due because nice bags can be so expensive. It was a rough night. I was so cold I couldn't fall asleep and my mind began getting crazy, hearing every sound and imagining a hungry cat or bear outside my tent ready to eat me up- because it was winter and maybe they were really really hungry. That night was so miserable in the morning we hiked out and went home.

I will share what I learned from that cold night. You are only as good as your equipment. I don't mean you have to have the best brands and highest tech. gear. What I do mean is that some facts count. My sleeping bag was inappropriate for the cold weather and I should have known. If you are going to winter camp you need to have a bag rated for the temperature that you realistically plan to be in--and plan for the worst. There is other essential equipment, but the bag is a good place to start.

This fall I moved to the Denver area from Indiana and I am seeing what a rugged winter can be. In November we planned a two night camping trip in the Rocky Mountain National Park. There is a glacier in the park called Andrew's Glacier and you can hike to it beginning at Glacier Gorge trail-head and then taking the Loch Vale trail. You end up with mountainous cliffs on both sides of you and the glacier before you. It is very dramatic and a ranger told us that it is the hike he likes to take his visitors on, so we knew it must be good.

Getting ready for this hike, I got a -20 degree rated bag with down filling. I picked a REI brand bag and therefore got a better price than the big name brands run. Also I got my first pair of gaiters. They are a protective layer covering from your shin to the the laces of your boot, with a strap that runs under your boot heel and a cinching cord at the top just under your knee. In the winter they allow you to walk in deep snow and they keep it from getting up you pant leg or into your boot. You can find both water proof and water resistant gaiters, but I found that the less expensive water resistant ones worked well for me and I was tromping in some deep snow. Finally, wear waterproof pants like you would for skiing and definitely waterproof boots. Then you can be worry free and get into the snow all you like.

On the hike to the Andrew's Creek camp site near the glacier, we gained elevation steadily so that the snow got deeper and by the end, ours were fresh tracks and we had to follow the blazes on the trees to find our path to the camp site in the snow. Even then we took a slightly wrong turn and ended up camping by a weather station in an open snow field. The best part...I could enjoy it because I was toasty in my sleeping bag and actually got some rest. And so we stayed both nights, and actually found our proper camp site on the second day.

One of the changes you may have to make for winter camping is going to bed much earlier. (I mean crazy early.) Lots of winter camping areas do not permit you to have a fire and so you must cook with a camp stove or eat lots of energy bars and dried fruit. That also means that you can't leisurely sit around the fire keeping warm, chatting and listening to the crackle. And since you can't stay warm when you aren't active after nightfall and the temperatures are dropping steadily after sunset, you may have to eat dinner and then hit the sack just to stay warm. We went to bed by 6:30 both nights. Unable to sleep, we listened to the ipod together and tried so hard to get sleepy. And eventually it will come, as will morning and by then you will be extremely well rested.

Some tips to keep in mind when camping and hiking in the cold...

1. Dress in non-cotton layers (when cotton gets wet it doesn't dry fast enough and being wet in the cold is dangerous) so that as weather changes you can easily adapt.
2. Watch for signs of frost bite. It starts with tingling and then numbing.
3. Stay dry! Bring plenty of changes of socks and clothing so that you can get out of damp things.
4. Have something to start a fire with in case it becomes a necessity.
5. Check in at the back-country office or rangers station before setting out. They can give you current weather reports and expected low temps. and animal reports for the area you plan to hike into, so you will know if there have been any bear sightings or dangerous pika activity...he he.
6. Have a food storage plan, especially if in bear country. Either a bear canister (virtually indestructible, fairly scent proof and can be set on the ground) or rope and bags to hang your food in a tree either by placing the food bag 12ft. up and 10ft. out on the branch or by the counterbalance method which is safer and requires two bags and a little more time.

Camping is somewhat about learning to deal with different levels of comfort and discomfort, but the rewards are so great. In winter camping both of these are more extreme. I find that so far, with my handy new sleeping bag, that the pleasure is great, unique and worth the effort. Even by the second night of sleeping in the cold, I had grown more relaxed about being in these elements that don't acknowledge that I am a human, they just are, and I get to see it.

You will grow comfortable with higher levels of dis-comfort and this is a good thing, a good challenge. Just watch your body and listen to it. If you need to hike out early, do so. If you need to crawl into you sleeping bag at 5:30, do so. Think ahead and plan for the worst and you will be ready to have an amazing time. As for me, I want to get some snowshoes next and then cross country skis to get into some really remote places, and then, and then...