My First Attempt Winter Camping: Trip Recap

I am a fifth-generation Floridian, which means the concept of winter is foreign — let alone the idea of camping in freezing temperatures. 

But, I thoroughly enjoy challenging myself to try new things. And what could be more out of the box than winter camping for the first time?

This past February, I packed up the camper and headed West toward Asheville, North Carolina to spend a long weekend on the French Broad River with my dog. 

This is how it went. 

What You’ll Learn 

The Big Travel Day 

Like most of my spontaneous trips, this preparation to trek toward the mountains was riddled with trips back and forth from my townhouse to the trailer in my driveway while my dog paced alongside me — hoping and praying I would pack him next. 

But unlike other adventures, halfway through packing, I noticed that my rear driver’s side tire was losing air faster than normal. 

This made my spidey senses tingle since I knew I would be towing a 1,500 lb trailer over two hours through the mountains and getting a flat on that treacherous road would be dangerous as well as problematic. 

I called my local shop ASAP to see if they could squeeze me in on a Friday afternoon to replace my 10+-year-old tires. 

Luckily for me, they could! 

The Unexpected Trigger 

Since I had to change my plans quickly, unhook the camper, leave Rocky at the house, drop my Jeep at the shop, and Uber home, Rocky was convinced I went on our trip without him. 

I rescued him over four years ago but he and I have been actively working on healing his separation anxiety ever since. Unfortunately, packing all morning and then leaving him at the house was not a good combination. 

I arrived back at my front door to find that he had:

• Pooped on the stairs and the carpet in my bedroom hallway
• Rubbed his nose on the carpet trying to cover up his accident (this is a recurring behavior when his anxiety flares up)
• Ripped a hole in his travel food bag, leaving tiny pieces all over the floor downstairs
• Eaten over half of the food I had packed for him, causing his stomach to swell 
• Made light work of his two bags of treats, ensuring he left some crumbs in the bottom to prove they were full, to begin with

I was instantaneously upset, overwhelmed, and frustrated. After over four years, I thought we were past this anxiety-riddled behavior — but if I’ve learned anything in the last two years on my personal healing journey, healing isn’t linear and triggers are a thing. 

Heartbroken that my poor dog was so distraught in my absence while also battling this immense, growing rage inside my core, I worked out while he put himself in timeout upstairs. 

The rest of the day was spent waiting for the shop to call to let me know my Jeep was ready to pick up. By the time that call came in, I was ready to go to bed and try again tomorrow. 

The Second Attempt to Head Toward the Mountains 

After enjoying a hard reset in the form of a good night’s sleep, Rocky and I hooked up my travel trailer and tested out my new tires. They were rugged yet quiet and I was thrilled that I had listened to my intuition, took the time to fix the issue, and still got to go camping that weekend. 

As we passed through the small, narrow Asheville streets, I was tingling in anticipation knowing that I was only 30 minutes away from what I hoped would be bliss. 

About 5 minutes out from my riverside campsite, I turn onto a dead-end road that’s only accessible by doing a sharp u-turn underneath a bridge. I made a right after the u-turn and was greeted by a very rambunctious dog with white dingy short hair, an electric collar, and a very loud bark, signaling that I clearly made a wrong turn and needed to rectify that immediately. 

If you’re wondering how easy it is to make a full 180 turn while towing a camper on a dead-end road with metal trashcans lining the street, it ranks on a scale of 4 out of 10 — 10 being the most difficult. 

Once we were headed in the correct direction away from the cute but rowdy guard dog, it wasn’t obvious where my campsite was. 

It took two passes up and back and up again to find out that the sign for my campsite was right underneath a gutter line on a rustic wood cabin with a faded sign that read, “French Broad River.” 

At that moment, I had a flashback to my trip to Dublin, Ireland. That city was confusing to navigate as a traveler since it took my friend and I two days to finally locate the street signs — each of which was posted way above the eye line on the side of nearby buildings encrusted in gold or bronze and effectively flush with the bricks that surrounded each. 

Slightly upset about the electrical hook-up placement and lack of space to roll out my awning and camp rug, I settled in while Rocky supervised from the comfort of the car. 

This part is always the final round of frustration before I can settle in and feel the wave of calmness wash over me. That feeling always made the miscellaneous struggles before getting to camp worth it (most of the time). 

A raging river topped with squawking geese made the 32-degree weather and a stiff 15mph wind bearable. After setting up camp, I rewarded myself by turning on my camper furnace for the first time. 

Warmth didn’t come right away.

The First Night With a Freeze Warning 

For those who don’t know, a furnace on a travel trailer or RV only operates correctly when you have your propane tank on. I learned this in real-time after speaking with my dad over Facetime. 

Propane is the critical factor that differentiates a furnace from a broken AC unit in terms of heat output. 

Upon this realization, I had a bit of a concern since my brain immediately jumped to the thought of carbon monoxide poisoning since hotboxing my 12-foot camper would be all too easy for a leaky gas line. 

I double-checked my carbon monoxide meter and hoped for the best! 

This first day was a slow one filled with trial and error for my furnace alongside binging a TV series on my iPad. The wind was howling and showed no signs of slowing down. 

As night quickly approached at the late hour of 5 pm, I made a plan to cook a simple dinner: chicken and dumplings. 

Not the homemade version. 

Mountain House Chicken and Dumplings was on the menu tonight and only required hot, boiling water and 10 minutes of patience. 

One of my favorite things about camping is that I can rest in beautiful places.

I don’t feel the need to do too much, schedule too many activities, or pressure myself to do anything except take in the views. 

Nature is the one place that reminds me the world is not a rat race — at least it doesn’t have to be. 

While my freeze-dried chicken and dumplings absorbed the prescribed amount of water, I changed into my red matching PJ set sprinkled with various dogs wearing winter clothing and cute winter hats. To complete the ensemble, I put on purple fuzzy socks because cold toes are the worst. 

I crawled under my weighted blanket that was procured on my last winter camping adventure in a tiny house on a Christmas tree farm, feeling grateful for a warm meal and my cozy hotel room on wheels. 

In the morning, I was greeted by the sun and local geese at dawn. The ground and every inch of my Jeep were covered in the most beautiful crystallized water droplets, cloaking my car with tiny snowflakes (aka one of nature’s stunning design patterns). 

Filled with joy, I slipped into my Selk bag and looked forward to another first: cooking on my new Solo Stove Bonfire with the cast iron cooktop. 

The Slow Sunday 

I love food. More specifically, I love breakfast food almost as much as I love pasta and bread. 

To ease my way into my Sunday morning, I built my fire in my Solo Stove, fed Rocky his breakfast, made a cup of hot tea, and watched Rocky attempt to sneak up on the flock of geese that greeted us with their unique voices before we got out of bed. 

One major win was that I stored my firewood in a hard plastic bin to prevent it from making a mess in the back of my car or rolling around, invading Rocky’s space while we were under tow. 

This ensured my firewood was nice and dry, primed to quickly catch fire and break through the crisp winter weather effortlessly. 

With my kindling engulfed in flames, I shifted my attention to setting the table. 

One of the best ways to elevate your camping experience is by setting your picnic table. My setup typically includes:

• A long blue serving tray to keep napkins, cooking utensils, and silverware off the table 
• My multi-purpose XX towel that’s frequently used as a tablecloth 
• A cup of water and my preferred beverage of choice 
• All my ingredients needed to cook that particular meal 
• A citronella candle for sunset dinners 
• My 1.5-gallon Rotopax filled with water (thankfully I left this in the car overnight too)

It’s not a pretentious setup but I firmly believe that making the extra effort to ensure your campsite is comfortable and welcoming is a form of self-love that takes solo trips to new heights.  

Just because you’re in the woods or off the grid, doesn’t mean it has to feel like you’re roughing it every hour of every day. 

Plus, a tablecloth makes picnic tables substantially more enjoyable. 

The Breakfast Feast Surrounded by Frost 

With my picnic table set, the fire rolling, and my stomach growling, I tossed the cast iron cooking piece on top of my Solo Stove. Without a laser temperature gauge, I was relying solely on guesswork when it came to temperature. 

This is where little link sausages come in handy — or any breakfast meat for that matter. By tossing one on the cast iron, I could easily tell that I had to wait a while longer before cooking my “feast.” 

I also added some small twigs and a quarter of a log to the flames to coax them along. 

One thing I learned is that the instructions from Solo Stove surrounding how to set up your wood and how much wood to use to create coals don’t work so well when you have 15-20mph winds and a sharp 32-degree day. 

My first test sausage started sizzling as the flames were building which was a wonderful thing. I tossed the remaining five link sausages on the cast iron pan and kept my peripheral vision keen to catch a wandering puppy nose before it got too close. 

I ended up putting Rocky in place on his bed to keep him from wandering too close to extremely hot surfaces covered in yummy food. This earned him a little treat in the form of a freshly cooked link sausage. 

After I removed the remaining sausages from the screeching hot cast iron, I whipped up my blueberry cornmeal pancake mix in a protein shaker bottle, saving the blueberries in a separate container to sprinkle on later. 

I find that having dry mix prepared ahead of time makes tossing a couple of pancakes on the grill, quick, easy, and efficient. I typically pack Kodiak protein pancake mix but I’ve been on a blueberry cornmeal kick lately. 

Side note: Apparently my dad was anxiously watching my recap video to see how well his first layers of seasoning did and wasn’t aware that the maiden voyage would be recorded. 

As I poured my pancake mix right on top of the lovely sausage juices left behind, I realized that cooking breakfast is a meditative experience for me — especially when I get to cook outside in nature. 

The crackling sound of the wood; the wind whispering through the tree tops; the water running through the river with geese taking off and landing; the sound of sizzling pork on a hot cast iron pan; who doesn’t love the cacophony of cooking blended with nature singing as the sun rises in the sky? 

It’s immersive. 

I flipped my first pancake with an abundance of ease and got ready to make my plate with Rocky’s little brown eyebrow covered eyes staring at me, pleading for another bite of sausage. 

The Final Review 

Overall, I was beautifully prepared to take on a winter camping trip having no actual prior experience. The Solo Stove Bonfire with the cast iron cooking attachment made cooking meals pleasurable, even in a stiff wind. I was bundled up and ready for any winter wind chill thanks to my Selk Bag. 

My campsite selection was amazing since my site backed up directly to French Broad River and Rocky and I had the entire shoreline to ourselves. 

Rocky was protected in a fleece pullover layer with a Carhart quilted jacket shell, keeping him comfortable enough to run around and almost play in the water with the geese. Thankfully, he’s not a big swimmer. 

Related: Embracing the Cold: 5 Must-Have Winter Camping Accessories

It never ceases to amaze me how the combination of following my intuition and having a firm belief in myself, knowing I will be able to handle anything life throws at me both at home and on the road, is the perfect concoction that helps me confidently try new things. 

This confidence — even when it’s mixed with nervousness — helps push me out of my comfort zone in ways that breathe life into my soul, reminding me that life is more than what you do for a living. 

If you have a random idea in your head to do something you haven’t done before just because you think it might be fun, this is your sign to do it safely.

That whisper is in your head for a reason. 

The more you listen to it, the more memories you’ll collect along the way that shine a light on what truly makes you feel happy. 

Happy camping!