Once awake at a civilized hour we discovered a frosty -25 Celsius morning, the overnight low was recorded to be -27.8 Celsius. No wonder it was so chilly when that stove died out!
Trust me, it says -25 Celsius.
It was a cold but sunny day and we got a water hole chopped open before Jeffrey finally got breakfast made for us. Oatmeal and bagels warmed over the wood stove. Glad I had my insulated mug with me because it doesn’t take long for things to cool down at the temperatures we had.
A thick layer of snow and solid ice underneath.
We found 12-14 inches of ice cover on the lake.
Eat fast, before it freezes solid.
The styling Brandon. Where do you find a hat like that?
The day was wasting away so we thought we should get out for a bit of a hike. We set off down Pinetree Lake with the idea of exploring the south-east bay. It seemed silly taking the long way around so we bushwhacked our way between the two bays. It was nice and snowy in amongst the trees, but a few sticks poked a few eyes I think.
Making our way through a shortcut.
The trees were thick but we managed to get through.
Bunny tracks.
Pinetree Lake is a great lake, lots of nooks and cranny’s and a very cliffy shoreline, it’s a great spot to visit winter or summer. We snapped some photos and explored the shore down to the camp site where we stopped for a snack break. Before long we started back, this time walking the lake. In the narrows between the bays we discovered open water and carefully worked our way past it.
Cliffscape shoreline of Pinetree Lake.
Markus and Jeffrey looking out on Pinetree Lake.
Heading back to camp.
More Pinetree Lake rocky shoreline.
Walking back I know I kept looking at all those steep banks and cliffs, the other guys must have been thinking the same thing because it didn’t take long for someone to connect the cliffs with the toboggans we had pulled in. Time for a luge run!
Markus working up enough courage to go down.
Equipment damage after run one.
Those of us smart enough not to repeat Markus’s run got to laugh our heads off. Brandon apparently hasn’t clued in to that whole survival thing and decided to give the toboggan run a shot.
Medic!!
More equipment damage after run two.
I haven’t laughed so hard and so long in quite a while, all at the expense of Mark and Brandon. Who would have thought there would be two sharp pointy rocks on a hill?
Mother nature fights back.
After we picked ourselves up from the ground (some of us from laughing, some from rear-end injuries) we got a fire going and warmed ourselves up. It was already late afternoon, so just about the right time for Jeffrey to start cooking our lunch – delicious homemade hamburgers. The temperature was hovering around -15 Celsius and having a beverage was a hurried event. If you took too long all you’d have would be an ice cube.
Warming up around a camp fire.
My Rum and Coke's were freezing quick.
We scrounged up more firewood and got things ready for the evening. When winter camping you want to be sure not to leave any items out loose or unaccounted for. A little snow overnight would bury everything and you’d never see it again.
It seemed like we’d just finished eating lunch and Markus was starting to prepare his dinner of chili.
It's just chili. Hit it with the axe.
Of course it would take about 3 hours to heat up! Leaving plenty of time to have a pre-dinner drink or two.
When's dinner Markus? We're starving over here.
Dinner and discussions took us to about 10 PM, and then it was time to hit the sleeping bag. The temperature had been dropping and we were prepared for it to be a very cold night. Brandon, who was closest to the stove, was instructed to put wood in every hour on the hour. We didn’t have cots or chairs to save space in the tent and it was tough on the back always hunched over or sitting up on your sleeping bag.
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