Solo Camping in HEAVY SNOW - the Calm Before the Storm

Hello, welcome to another adventure. This one is going to be a doozy I think. The skies are darkening and the clouds are looming. There's this funny feeling in the air, it's like that anticipation of the calm before the storm. It's going to rain heavily tonight and then come morning we're going to have heavy snow. This is the kind of weather I love to go out hiking in. Absolutely love it and you can bet when I saw the snow on the forecast I was packing my bags straight away. Come on. So even though it started to rain I'm holding off putting my raincoat on because it's too hot. I'm just going to end up sweltering in it. like I don't know why she doesn't put her rain tarp up first and usually if you ask people they'll tell you why and there's usually a pretty good reason for it. So for me if I put the tent up before the rain tarp it's because the ground is quite lumpy and bumpy and there's only one or two places the tent can go so if I put the tarp up first I can't position the tent in relation to the tarp in the way that I want to. That's the reason. This is indestructible and I think if you're coming out knowing you've got heavy rain and snow you need to be prepared with an indestructible tarp. Look at that. I love it when there's a tree right where you want it. So I just need to make sure there's enough fall on the tarp that it's not going to get any pulling but at the same time I don't want it down too low because I want to be able to see the view. It's a happy balance. What do you think Indy? I get my stuff into the tent and then I can feed you some dinner. Oh yeah, oh yeah. It's raining quite hard now. I think that I got that tarp up just in time. How are you off yet though? I'm telling you off yet because you're going to go back out in the rain aren't you? That's the night when it starts before it gets cold. This is what she wants isn't it? Oh you're sitting. Oh you're such a good girl. Do you think I should just feed you now? Looks like I am hey. Water yet because she has been drinking out of all the rivers en route and there's a stream just down here so she can help herself but I will go and gather some water in a minute and leave a hole out for a really simple dinner. I've got instant noodles, I've got family dinner last night and some broccoli and I'm just going to cook that all up, have a little bit of dinner and we're going to go to bed because tomorrow's going to be a big day. If we do get the snow that's forecast I might be hunkering down here for quite a while. I've chopped some of the wood up into smaller pieces so that it's ready for the fire tomorrow morning. Tony and I are going to go to bed now and we'll see you guys in the morning unless something crazy happens in the night. Unfortunately things are not ideal. So I've had a great sleep so far. It's about 3 30, maybe it might actually be four o'clock now. I just woke up and heard a funny noise. I looked outside and the tarp had come down so I've gone out to see if I can fix it but the rain is quite snowy and icy. It's very very heavy rain. It's got quite a bit of ice in it and it's sticking to the tarp. It's just very very heavy and I couldn't actually get the tarp back up easily so I've just laid it down. I've left it on the ground mostly covering the wood hopefully. I'd like to move the wood back a bit and make sure that it's covered so it's just lying on the ground and I think I'm actually just going to leave it there until it's light because I can't really deal with it in the middle of the night. I need to climb in under the trees. I need to get my wet weather gear on. It's probably better not to have to worry about it and just leave it lying on the ground and I'll put it back up when it gets light. I'm just a bit worried now about the weight of the We have a bit of snow. I'm just warming my hands up and drying them off before I put my gloves on. I thought I could do this job without gloves on. I don't want to get them wet and it's really hard to do fiddly jobs when you have gloves on but they're getting so cold. So it was an interesting night to say the least. I had such a good night's sleep until 3 30 when the tarp came down. We had really really wet snow so the snow was supposed to start at 7am but I was right. The weather system must be a bit early because it started raining early yesterday and the snow started earlier but it was really really wet. I mean it was just slushy. I'm going to show you in a moment. It's all accumulated on the tarp but the weight of it just brought the tarp down. It actually just undid one of my knots which has been there for forever. I don't know that I've ever had to redo the knot but it just undid a knot. Somehow the weight of it. So now I need to get all of this weight off the tarp and get the tarp strung back up again so Indy and I can come out. I've told her to stay in the tent because I don't want her getting wet when we don't have a fire to warm up with. So she can come out as soon as I've got the tarp up. Okay let's get this done and then we can get a fire going. has to be because I don't want to burn the tarp. It's so lovely and warm isn't it? Without further ado I'll give Indy her breakfast because I know that's what she'll want for breakfast. You don't really want to go out in the snow do you? All right that was a bit of a mission. The thing that I'm concerned about now is actually getting out with my car. I'm trying not to worry about that because I'm really enjoying this but I need to be mindful of that so I don't think I can afford to stick around all day. I'm going to need to get to my vehicle and see if I can get through the roads. So for breakfast this morning I have brought with me bacon and I've brought a skewer and I'm just going to cook it over the fire. That's the plan anyway. I've got a piece of beautiful sourdough bread that I'm going to toast up and I've got some avocado to put on it as well. Now puppy are you finished? Okay can you hop off? Let's bring you back here. I'll put her there so I can sit out here a little bit. Oh dear. And this helinox chair is there. I love it. It's so low to the ground I mean you just about might as well be sitting on the ground and I actually don't mind sitting on the ground. The other thing we need is coffee. I'm going to get a coffee going first. Sitting by this fire I'm just sitting here with my two woollen layers on and no puffer jacket. I'm not actually cold. I think I will cool down once I'm sitting for a while so I'll go and get it but it's surprisingly warm. I mean you know when I say surprisingly warm I'm not saying it's warm. It's just not as freezing as some of the other trips I've been on. I thought it was going to get to minus three but I had a look at the forecast and it's actually only minus one so that's not all that cold. Can I share your mat? Put my stuff there. I gave up on heating the water on the fire. It's taking too long. I need my coffee you guys. Indy's retreated into the tent so I'm going to use her sleeping pad and I'm just going to sit on the ground. I'm so much more comfortable. I often bring my chi thinking that it's going to be great and it just isn't. Hello! Was I talking about you? I see you sniffing. Oh that's right I've also got some mushrooms and garlic so I'll do those over the stove I think. I think it's just going to be maybe too hard. It's even going to be too hard to cook my bacon over the fire because I'm going to have to go out there and get wet. Okay I'm cooking over the gas stove so if anybody asks why is she cooking on the gas stove when there's a perfectly good fire that's why. Don't want to get wet. Don't want to get wet. So I have checked the road closures because I have got just enough internet access here and guess what the pass is shut so at this stage I can't get home which is a bit of a problem. Well the weather might be horrendous but the food is delicious. I can't put my food in front of me because it's snowing in it. There we go. Where's my spoon? So I've got toasted sourdough bread with avocado, salt and pepper, bacon and brown mushrooms. Oh and garlic. Not bad for a bush breakfast. Amazing. The snow's really coming down now. I thought it was heavy before but it is really heavy now. Oh amazing. Had a little bit of a disaster about 10 minutes ago. The teeth collapsed. The weight of the snow just collapsed it so I'm just going to have to be vigilant and onto that all the time otherwise I'm going to bend my poles. The fire's amazing and I'm really enjoying it. It's certainly not roaring at the moment but I need to chop up more wood to put on it and I've decided I'm just going to enjoy what I've got there rather than go to all effort of chopping that up. The reason for that is that it really is snowing heavily and it's supposed to keep snowing heavily so I actually want to walk out while the snow's not too deep. I've got lots of supplies at the car so if we get stuck at the car that's fine. I'd also like to be on hand if the road opens. They might only open it for a while. They might clear it and let cars through and I want to be there when that happens. So I'm going to enjoy my breakfast and my coffee underneath the tarp. That's the nice thing about having a tarp in these kinds of conditions. Amazing. So exciting. I'm out of water so I just got a whole lot of snow, put it in the billy, stuck it on the fire and just started packing up the inside of the tent and voila I've come out and it's boiling. That's good news. I want to have a cup of tea. I'm not really ready to go yet. This is just so lovely. I'm caught between wanting to stay and enjoy it and the need to go and ascertain what the situation is back at the car and the Indy. Hi there snow dog. Hi snow dog. You've been out exploring. Now in case anybody's worried about Indy in the snow, please don't be worried about her. I am a very conscientious and caring dog owner. If you've watched my videos before you know that and I have sought professional advice regarding her breed and New Zealand conditions and she's absolutely fine in the snow. It does not bother her one bit. Her paws are fine. She doesn't need snowshoes. They would bother her more than, it would bother her more to have them on than not to. She's absolutely fine. Hi. Did you want to come and lie down here because I can make room for you. Come lie down here with me and the people. Good job. Hey because we need to say thanks to the people don't we. We need to say thank you so much for watching our video. This is not the end of it. I have no idea what's going to happen when we get to the car. The walk out is going to be crazy so don't go anywhere. Oh boy. I have made the fire so smoky. I think when I bash the tarp. Oh sorry. I don't even know if you can see me. I'm going to get packed up. Just got to bring the tent down now and I'll try and do that underneath the tarp so I stay nice and dry and then I'll bundle the tarp up at the last minute. Looks like the fire's going to put itself out but I'll kick some snow over it and then scatter the rocks so that it isn't a noticeable fire pit because I don't like turning up to places and seeing fire pits. I like to pretend that I'm the first person to ever go to that place which is never true is it but you know it's a nice feeling to get somewhere and just feel like you're in the wild but when you come to a place and there's a fire pit it's like no someone else has been here before so I'm going to get this fire pit dismantled and packed up. I'll tell you how bothered Indy is with the snow. Zero. She's out there playing in it. Oh my goodness my gear is so wet and dirty. Oh I'm just thinking about the mission I'm gonna have when I get home to get it all clean and dry. Do you guys like my new jacket? I've had that other sort of pink and pink and red puffer jacket forever forever. Hello and I saw this one on sale now that it's the end of winter and thought right I'm gonna treat myself. I'm treating myself with the money from my buy me a coffee and youtube super thanks donations so thank you so much you guys those of you that have left a small donation for the channel for Indy and I for some camping treats we really appreciate it. I have bought two new hiking poles so that I can use those for hiking but also for my trekking pole tent and this new jacket. I'm absolutely thrilled thank you so much. Be warned if you're thinking of coming on a trip like this these conditions are so brutal for your gear. In the middle well in early this morning the tent collapsed under the weight of the snow and then again while I was having breakfast and the poles have bent so I'm going to need to get a replacement set of poles so yeah you need to factor that in. The conditions are not good for your gear great fun an amazing experience and I'm so glad I came and I wouldn't have it any other way just bear that in mind. That's better I just need a little bit more height it's getting really frustrating working in a crouched position don't know why I didn't do that earlier. Nearly ready to go pups. Excuse me. I've worked out a system pull the pegs out with this one do the fine work with this one. So far my hand's staying warm. I've never seen snow through here this is incredible so beautiful. Good thing I know exactly where the track is. I'm really familiar with this area otherwise it would be a bit a bit dangerous to come out in the snow if you don't know where you're going. There are also poles here with orange tape on the top it helps you see where you're going. Is that fun? Are you having fun honey? Oh you love this. Let's go. Cute. I'm going to put the phone away I need to concentrate and I'll catch up with you when we get to the truck let's see what the situation is. The pass is still shut but I think what we'll be doing is driving up to where the gate is and sort of camping out there for the day until it opens. Well the track heads into the trees here but it's really hard to figure out where we're actually going to go in. There's so much snow on the branches. This is going to be fun. Right brace yourselves for a bit of snowfall. Yay we made it Indy. So the situation is that a road works person has been through. I'd say they're going through to check the conditions of the road. So as of 26 minutes ago the road was still closed the pass but I'm hoping that will change once this fella gets back and reports to the big guy. Let's see what happens. It's sort of eerily spooky because there's no one else like the only person that I have seen is that road working guy and that's because we've been up in the mountains and so everyone else who's around here who's got houses is obviously inside their houses and the only car out here is the crazy who came in from the mountains. There's another pass further on. So this one's called Porter's Pass and there's also another one called Arthur's Pass. Both of them are shut which means nobody can get along this road whatsoever. There's no other way to get here so if both ends of the road are closed the only people that are out and about are people like me. All right the grader has just been through to clear the road. So I just stopped and had a chat to one of the guys that clears the roads and whatnot and he said there's some trees down that they need to clear. So at this stage they're keeping the road closed until tomorrow morning but he told me just to go through. So that's awesome. I think when you're driving a vehicle that's able to manage these sorts of conditions they're not too worried. So yeah he was really good about it. He just said keep going go all the way yeah no worries. He's a good dude. Hey so that means I'm going home. I'm getting home tonight which is awesome. A great ending to a great trip. It was really challenging full of all sorts of seen and unseen challenges but I really enjoyed it and I've come away from it with a massive smile on my face. It was absolutely brilliant. Well there you go it's a happy ending. I'll be home in time for dinner. Thanks for joining me everyone. Indy and I will see you on the next adventure. Till then, bye.