4 Days Winter Camping in Freezing Rain, Wind and Snow

what's going on guys this is no Northern scavenger and I'm here with Tristan and Yan in Cape Brittain Nova Scotia we're going to be doing a 4-day trip through the highlands on an incredible Back Country Excursion the cape Ren Highlands is a mountainous Plateau on the Northern tip of Cape Ren Island the area is known for its tramatic Cliffs and deep hardwood River canyons and its interior is a wild place that bring a few groups each year to explore its magical barings though getting there is not that easy the area is notoriously known for its unpredictable weather as we're going to see temperatures swing from- 20 to a full day rainstorm a route requires a Park permit that will take us about 75 km into the heart of the Highlands where we'll navigate by compassing GPS for simply the joy of it all Tristan and Yan invited me on this trip these guys have been on a lot of adventures together and they form a dynamic duo Tristan with his Keen eyes and navigational skills and Yan with his ability to tough out any condition with just a I've heard Tales of their countless adventures together where they've navigated tough situations in remote country W wo wo wo wo fa the camaraderie in the field is one of a kind and I'm really excited to join them on this [Music] one Cape BR is an island and the shoreline where we parked is essentially at sea level and we need to go up up to the plateau it's about 20 km of a gradual slope so it's a slow [Music] burn we have left the snowmobile trail to head into the back country we're starting with a pretty big Crossing of this frozen lake well we hope it's frozen anyways this is awesome yeah like I almost feel we need to be going a little little more right of where we've been going I'm glad we had the bushwhacker oats this morning it's starting to feel relevant so a lot of this route is not on a trail but before coming out here Yan looked at satellite imagery to see the least amount of bushwacking Route possible where we're following the noes and areas of the forest that aren't as as thick and we're going to make our way to the the baron lands of the Highlands pretty soon but it takes a little bit of uh time and effort to get through these these thick patches and there's a lot of snow here too we've already fallen into a few tree Wells that were at least 4 ft deep so it's good to see there's so much snow here when in the city back in Halifax right now there is no snow whatsoever yeah heavy think it's big enough we'll make it work the sun just set and we spent the last little bit looking for a camp there's a strong wind in this area we're starting to get into the proper Barren so a lot of sparse trees a long day but a beautiful day the hiking today was awesome but we are happy just to get to camp and get a fire going we checked the thermometer and it is- 16 took a little longer to get this fire started the wood up here is a little Punky there's no good water source around here so we're melting some snow and I think we're all exhausted yeah and then cutting the firewood you know setting up the TS making the squat level clearing out of space here just takes the last bit of your energy we got up at about 6:30 today cuz we have a long day ahead of us we're making a push for for a specific spot today and it's going to require a lot of work a lot of navigational skills a lot of snowshoeing and even a river crossing when I was cutting wood I I ended up a piece of wood flew up and hit me and it looks like I got a decent cut which I'm seeing for the first time right now it's time to lay it down eh yeah should we do it let's freeze let's go oh taking some layer off to not sweat when you're traveling cuz When you sweat you get cold when you stop start cold always start cold always start cold kind of always be dressed for the activity you're doing if you're resting you're going to need lots of layers and when you're moving you're going to need like very few layers this morning we're going to have to cross a river valley a few years ago Dave West and I were in a similar situation where we had to strip butt naked and freezing water to cross we're hoping for better luck this time but the prospect of a raging river is all in the back of our minds so what I think is happening here I think we actually couldn't see the second confl or the second river and I think the main river is where all the wooded area is and the second one's kind of coming in on our left and the Confluence would be right in that thick patch of trees and we want to go that way ultimately we got to get around the [Music] [Applause] river woo we had no idea how big of an issue this River might have been for us literally right in front of us was a perfect snow Bridge y are you stoked stoked for breakfast have stuck for reaching the first Milestone of the trip fundamental flaw I did not bring some sort of instant coffee and both Tristan and Yan don't drink coffee so to not be a nuisance I I'm going to try to do a micro batch in my coffee mug with the coffee grounds never done this before I think you're going to like the texture [Music] too there's a lot of fiber in there very fibery what's for breakfast Tristan well we've got open with mango and lots of nuts I think on a straight line on a map yesterday we did 18 km but we probably did more than that bu the zigzagging and today we want to do something like 24 km so it's going to be a longer day and having these baring sections is great just for going into One Direction a lot of water in there [Applause] yeah take your time young yeah yeah no that feels good as the day carried on WE continued walking trying our best to stick to high ground and follow the baronss through the Crusty Windswept [Music] snow we were blessed with a beautiful sunset as we crossed the final Lake into dark looking at the sky it was really easy to forget that tomorrow was going to be the worst weather of the [Music] trip it is substantially warmer today looking at the forecast before we came out here it was supposed to rain 20 to 25 mm today and it's feeling that way right now it's one of the things about the highlands is it gives you everything and today we're going to feel that diversity what makes the weather so unpredictable here is that Cape Bren is sandwiched between the Gulf of the St Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean both having their own pressure systems that can clap combine this with the prevailing winds from the west and the elevation of the Highlands and it can create the perfect conditions for a weather bomb and today we all feel that in the air yeah we've got uh snow kind of turning to rain but I think it's still snow but it's right on the edge on snow stay snow we don't need any rain really crappy conditions right now probably feels like about 0° but it's been consistently raining for the last couple hours it's one of those situations where if you stop for too long you get cold and moving is is warmth but then you also have to balance nutrition and hydration and all the other fun things I'd be H I mean yeah 2:00 late in the day I'd be totally happy with that considering we we did AK pretty quick today I mean we're still not there let's get there and then reassess there may not be a suitable place to camp ground is much more wooded than long okay yeah long k pass yeah yeah this sucks we got to get out of this at some point yeah it doesn't seem like it wants to stop either what's the morel right now uh it's all right's okay got a pretty bad headache I think from the snow being so bright it's been wearing sunglasses while it's pouring down we we'll survive it's not too long before camp yeah really tough conditions today way different than yesterday it's like a totally different trip now it' be really easy to die out here if you weren't prepared we've been hiking at least 5 hours we're soon going to be looking for a spot for the night that's sheltered we're all pretty soaked and uh we're getting to that time of the day where a push a little too far uh might be the the push that makes one of us in incredibly uncomfortable we have a couple options up here and we're just going to assess as we come along to them how we're feeling and and what potential there is for camping the snow is really soggy now too and it's sticking to the snowshoes and it's almost a blessing in disguise because takes extra effort to move your feet making you that much warmer to battle this the cold rain [Applause] we made it to Camp didn't do much filming cuz it was more of a uh survival setup there we decided to set up the tarp first realized it was way too frigid um and we're so wet so we all just piled into the tents and now we're just sitting here semi wet around wet clothes warming up a bit it's it's a lot nicer in here it's also quite uh quite wet as well it is horrible outside I don't know if I put on my last pair of dry socks or wait until we go to bed why not just straighten the booty no sock into the booty o I've never tried [Applause] that you think out of the box don't you I think that's going to work there's a second [Applause] zip okay so we're going to do this very carefully oh my God food so this is yours this is mine [Music] M another day it's still foggy though ehy and Dam yeah but it um I think it dipped below zero again yeah can you feel it or is it something you actually see no I can I can feel it it's vition in his heart I'm pretty sure just taking down Camp before we head out on our final day everything is really soaked so it kind of feels nice and exciting to jump into this coat is like stiff it's just frozen stiff like a Bor and we figured that between all of us we uh have one set of dry warm clothes this is the tarp setup that we abandoned last night after it started just downpouring we have about 3 or 4 hours of tracking today before getting back out to the highway still probably above 0° maybe one or too but much better than yesterday it goes right through the snow Bridges aren't really holding up as much as they were before [Applause] [Applause] [Music] nice [Music] we've linked on to one of the National Park trails which means we're almost [Music] done W nice guys good job what an Incredible 4 days up in the cape reden Highlands weather was all over the place but that's what makes for an amazing adventure thanks so much for watching and we'll see you next [Music] time dry SU that's good idea yeah round number four yeah Beauty