AboutMike Expertise I can answer questions about backpacking a snowshoeing in the American West: Mountains, Canyons and Deserts.
Experience I've spent much of my life backpacking, hiking and snowshoeing in the Cascades, Rockies, high Sierras and the red rock canyons of the Southwest.
Publications Just letters to the editor in Backpacker and Outside and my Backpacking homepages
Question Hey Mike,
I've had this idea of an extended camping trip for quite a while now and I'm finally seriously considering pulling it together. I am an Eagle Scout and ever since my first year at scout camp 13 years ago, I've wanted to plan and execute a several month stay some miles out completely isolated fishing, hunting, trapping and growing my food. My child hood camp sits off of Highway 4 in California's Bear Valley conveniently located on the north fork of the Stanislaus River just south of Alpine lake and east of Bull Run lake. Outside this camp is where I would like to do this. The elevation of the area ranges from 5000 to just over 9000 feet. Snow depth at 13 feet is not uncommon. My experience with scouting has taken me through several extended backpacking trips in both summer and winter months, construction of igloos and log cabin shelters using only hand tools, hunting, fishing and I want to use these skills in real do or die situations. I'm considering extending my stay through the winter months. Highway 4 closes during the winter and this would most definitely isolate me more than 30 miles from people for close to 5 months as opposed to maybe 5 miles. I know that geology students from CAL would come up and stay in a cabin during the 20's in the middle of winter and they survived. Though there were stories of two of them going crazy.
Anyway, I think my only concern would be how to store food for such a long time and what if anything to hunt during the winter months.
I guess any feed back is appreciated.
Thanks!
-AL
Answer Hi AL,
The longest I've stayed out was 9 or 10 nights and I was carrying all my food, not hunting or fishing. And I was cooking on a backpacking stove, not over a fire.
I'm afraid I can't be of much use to you on this nor can I think of where you might look for advice. Perhaps some survivalist websites?
