Camp-life in Jeagersberg

Last week Wednesday, as a class we have organized a over-night trip in a nature reserve next to campus. At first, I thought that planning this will be easy and I won’t have to pack too much clothing and necessities to make it through the night. On wednesday afternoon we met in the classroom to pick up any necessary equipment that was needed. I needed a shovel, tent, rope, and a kitchen set also known as a ‘storm kitchen.’ As I gathered up my needed equipment I realized that my backpack will be at its fullest capacity.. To my convenience, I put the ‘most used’ items in the easiest places to retrieve them when I need them. Some of the items that I packed for easy accessibility were; headlight, goggles, compass, and my map. I did this because if conditions change quickly, I will will have a better chance of braving the weather when I can retrieve these items quickly instead of digging around in my pack in bad weather.

After equipment pick-up we made our way to Jeagersberg. Our instructor illustrated the route on the map of the nature reserve that the class should take to get to the campsite. The route to the camp-site was not easily accessible to walk on foot so we put on our cross-country skis and made our way down the desired route. On the way to the site, we stopped as a group to rest and make sure everyones equipment was ok and needed no adjustments. We traveled as a tight pack due to the darkness and by headlight, we arrived at the campsite.

Our instructor gave us brief instructions on a typical campsite such as; a common bathroom, and a common firepit. The common bathroom was a dugout area behind a hill. the seat was a branch that was put over the hole. To warn people that the bathroom was ‘in-use’ we placed a branch across the walkway and to show that it was ‘open’ we stuck the branch vertical in the snow. After instructions were over, it was time to prep the tent site. At first, our group thought the best decision of packing down the hip high powder snow was to pack it down with skis.. After one step off my skis, I realized that this method was not working because the snow still came up to my knee. So we thought of another plan of attack. Plan B was to stomp the snow down with our feet to insure the snow was packed down to our liking. once this was done, we sawed off pine tree branches to isolate our bodies from the snow when we laid down or tent. After difficult walking and cutting we met our desired quota on how much layering we thought was needed. Next, it was time to set up the tent. Before we put the external shell of the tent down, we laid out a tarp layer over the pine tree branches that we first put down for extra isolation from the snow. We slid the corners down into the snow with our shovels to insure of it from moving around. Next, we unfolded our external shell of our tent and slid the poles into the holes for the interior frame. The two girls in the group were incharge of one side, and the other side was for the guys. When the poles were in place, we placed the external shell to our desired location over the tarp and pine tree branch layering. With the shell in place, we dug out snow for the placements of the pegs for support for the outside. Once the pegs were in place, we covered them with large amounts of snow and packed it down. This was the best option due to the frozen ground (which worked). The final step was to install the internal shell of the tent. This was the most important piece to the tent because it was the part that holds onto the body temperature and keeps us warm in the cold environment. With a couple hooks to clip onto the external shell, the internal shell was installed. The next step was to establish a ‘common area’ to place all needed equipment for everyone to use. This is a very important area to have because everyone will know where everything is at all times.

Once the tent was set up, we could then get out of the snowfall and start to prepare to living space within the tent. Our tent was spacious enough to have an area in the back to place everyones pack inside. The area was very handy because it kept our packs dry and also it was easily accessible within the tent. The next thing we did was we dug out an entrance to the inside of the tent. We dug the snow out all the way to the ground so our sleeping area was slightly elevated. This dug out area also doubled as a perfect place to do our cooking with our storm kitchen with the proper ventilation.

For dinner, our group previously decided on an appetizer of simple hot dogs, a main dish or ‘tee’ as the Aussie called it as burritos, and the American dessert of smores. We cooked and ate the appetizers and main dish right in our tent to warm up and also for comfort. For dinner we all did our part wether it was chopping up veggies for the burritos or cooking the meat. The dinner I had on our overnight trip was WAY better than any other dinner I’ve cooked on my own.. We had plenty of leftovers for fellow classmates to join us and munch on. For dessert we went out to the community firepit and roasted our marshmallows over the fire and melted our chocolate for the sweet cracker. After we ate our food, it was time to relax and talk to classmates around the fire.

As the night went on, we all decided to go to bed as a group to make sure no one was disturbing others. I attempted to heat up snow to make into hot water to put in my thermos for warmth but failed. Luckily, I slept comfortably the whole night. The morning came quick, and after a wonderful pancake breakfast in bed, it was time to start packing up to leave. First we rolled up the sleeping bags and mats and packed them into our packs, then we packed up our storm kitchen and the rest of the food. After our personal items were packed away, we took out our packs from the tent.

Taking apart the tent was interesting.. At first we thought we lost the bag to our tent! But after some digging and freaking out we stumbled across it inside the tent. The first step we did in taking apart the tent was digging up the pegs from our compacted snow the we put on it. Then after all 6 pegs were removed, we hooked the internal shell and removed it from inside the external shell. Next part was to remove the poles from the external shell frame which was quite the hassle.. After 30 minutes of fighting with it we got them all out. We packed the poles and pegs in there separate bags and spilt them up within the group to pack them away in the backpacks. Next, we rolled up the external shell and interior shell together and stuffed them into the tent bag and packed it away.

Once the shovels and saws were packed away, it was time to leave! So I put on my skis and loaded up my heavy backpack and headed back down the route back to campus. With my skis being outside all night, the wax was making the snow stick to the bottom of them which made gliding very difficult. But it greatly increased my leg strength with my backpack on!