I arrived at Dunn Street campsite in the dark and unpacked my car, before driving off site to park – I’d booked a “Backpacking and Cycling Pitch. Strictly No Cars” (though I’d emailed to ask if I could drive on site to drop stuff off at least).
I’d piled my kit near the gate to the camping field I’d been to before, but when I walked back up to the site and shone a light out into the field I saw dozens of pairs of eyes shining back in the darkness.
Realising the other, smaller, field must be used during the winter I lugged all my kit down the track to the other field.
Set up was quick thanks to the pop up tent I’d brought and soon I was layered up and trying to cook some soup – I say trying because I’d brought a cheap single burner stove and it was struggling to light and stay alight in the cold. Eventually though the soup warmed through and I retreated inside the tent to eat despite having a picnic bench and my own camp chair outside.
Unsurprisingly I had the site to myself, it seemed no one else wanted to camp in sub zero temperatures. The water pipes were frozen in the kitchen area and the bathroom, so I had to be ration out the water I’d brought with me. I also couldn’t get the bathroom lights to turn on and assumed the power was turned off over the winter on the assumption that it wouldn’t get used. So I brushed my teeth via torchlight.
Grateful for my thick winter sleeping bag I settled down to sleep. I woke in the morning to frost inside the tent and just the wrong side of a comfortable temperature, realising the warmth of my bag had been counteracted by a not fully inflated sleeping mat.
The sun was already up and beginning to sparkle on the frost outside. Everything was covered in a layer of frost, including my stove – which struggled to light even more than the night before, the gas now properly cold. Perhaps my backpacking stove would have been a better option, as it has a thing on it that helps to warm the gas up. I would have kept the gas in my sleeping bag overnight as is common practice in cold temperatures, but the gas for the stove I had with me was in an aerosol type container and I didn’t want to accidentally push the trigger overnight and gas myself.
After a valiant effort from the stove it finally heated up some water enough for a coffee – taking about twenty minutes instead of two. While I was waiting for the water to heat, I put my pain au chocolats in my jacket pocket to thaw out.
I was glad to have my ‘big jacket’ because waiting around for the water to heat up and my breakfast to thaw out would’ve been pretty cold otherwise!
While I was faffing, Gordon, who runs the farm & campsite came out and checked I was still alive. I mentioned about having dropped my stuff off and walked back up to the site, at which he looked confused and said it was fine for me to park on site. Turns out he’s had to add the rule about no cars on site during the winter in response to some people having completely misaligned expectations about the site and its facilities out of season and getting some needlessly negative reviews.
Garden headed off to do farm things and I drank my rapidly cooling coffee before getting ready to head down to my car and go out for a walk around Wye, which is a short drive south of the campsite.
I enjoyed a few hours of walking around Wye in some unexpected winter sun. Coming back to the campsite in time for a lovely sunset, a quick dinner and an early bed time.
I had to leave the outer door of the tent unzipped slightly, a build up of ice/frost made it impossible to close fully!
Having fully inflated my mat this time I slept perfectly warmly, cosy in my big winter sleeping bag. Again I woke to frost inside the tent, providing a shower of cold sparkles whenever I brushed the tent walls.
My stove once again struggled to warm up some water, covered as it was by a thick frost. Sipping on my coffee I packed all my kit up and lugged it down the track to the car, grateful I’d now parked on site.
With a loose plan to go for a ride at Bedgebury I left the frost covered field behind and drove down the hill, into the early morning fog, now shrouded from the early morning sun I’d been treated to while I was packing up.
It took me a while to summon the enthusiasm for a sub zero lap around Bedgebury, but eventually I got into my bike kit, and headed out for a ride. The trails themselves were surprisingly free from ice given the temperature, but this just meant that I got absolutely covered in mud.
I returned to my car, packed everything away, and made good use of my makeshift car seat cover.
The gear explosion that followed when I got home was worth it – I’d had a really good time camping for two nights, walking & cycling. All in conditions that a few years ago I would have avoided completely – it felt almost like cheating, like I’d gained some extra time outside doing things I enjoy and not just waiting for “nice weather”.
My family might’ve thought I was a little nuts but I insisted that while it was cold outside I never actually felt cold – thanks to a warm sleeping set up and warm jackets & other kit. Why would I do it if I was getting cold I asked, to my unconvinced family.
I’d intentionally gone camping, knowing it would be cold – in part to try out my warm kit in winter conditions but in a low risk way, being so close to home. I definitely plan to to more winter camping and would like to do a winter trip to a National Park at some point.
