Winter Camping at French Creek State Park in PA

[Dude]

Anyone else doing any winter camping?

This past weekend I went camping at French Creek State Park in PA. My camping club and another camping club got together for a small rally. Usually we each try to do our own but with it being winter we get a small turnout so we combined to hopefully get a few more people. We had 4 sites show up. 2 canceled last minute due to illness.

My wife said it was too cold for her and our son so I took my nephew with me. In order to stay warm I cut up a bunch of pallets for firewood and had a nice fire Friday night and Saturday afternoon into the evening.

It was 20 degrees Friday night and we had a dusting of snow. There was little to no wind on Saturday and it warmed up to 30something during the day. My sister (my nephews mom) drove up to go geocaching with us and another member of my camping club. We found 4 geocaches and launched my nephews travel bug (an item that is left at a cache with a tracking number on it. People move it from cache to cache and you can track where it goes and different notes from people regarding it)

After soup and a sandwich we started the fire. My nephew got a pie iron for Christmas so we made some mini pizzas. He was having a blast. Later that evening our neighbor brought over some lasagna for dinner and we all sat around the fire. Saturday night it went down to 17degrees.

Personally I enjoy the cold weather. I don't have a propane heater in my RV so I had 2 electric heaters going. I have reflectix in all but the cab windows and it worked perfect. However, I noticed that from the waist down in the RV it was freezing and very drafty. I suspect it came from the rear and side compartment hatches under the bed. I need to insulate that somehow before I go out next January. I also need to put reflectix in the cab windows. My nephew was quite warm in the bunk over the cab, getting to 65.....heat rises. My rear bed was about 51.

I'll post some pictures once I get them off of my camera.

[shilohdad]

Matt,

One thing people, including me, forget to do is make sure the cab heater is set to the "off" position. If you don't do that you can get a draft coming in from the cab heating vents.

Also, even with reflectix on the cab windows, the cab area can still get pretty cold. You might try bringing extra blankets and hang them from under the cab-over bed's mattress. Do whatever it takes to block off the cab.

There may be some leakage from the under-bed storage area, but it is basically dead air space, so should not be too bad. Even saying that, though, we still keep trying to figure out how to insulate that area. No good ideas yet, so would be interested in any ideas you come up with.

[shezonit]

Good for you! Sounds like great experiences for you and the nephew.

No propane heater? You mean the furnace is broken? Good point about closing cab vents.
I have one of those shiny sunshades (made of reflectix?) for the windshield. I put that up in heat and cold. So that insulates 50+% of the cab. I have lined cab drapes that help, too. What Shilohdad said about closing off cab is correct. Either use a quilt or buy an insulated drape. I put one between rear bed and lounge for privacy, but it's amazing how much heat it retains in the "bedroom".

Normally, the furnace ducts under the rear bed to the bathroom,warming the space under the bed. If you're NOT going to use your furnace, I would put either closed cell foam or reflectix under the beds. Also get some double side Velcro and make a reflectix cover for the skylight. Maybe then the cabover will hit 70 degrees....
Bring a couple hot water bottles for your feet. It's amazing what a difference warm feet make!
Last but not least, a couple of bed dogs or cats. ( just kidding)

[Dude]

I didn't think of the in cab heat vents......you are right there probably was a draft coming from there. I know I had the heat on the way up there.

[Dude]

Here are a few pictures from my trip. I'll be here again next January probably during MLK weekend.



Made some pizza mountain pies




We burned most of this wood

And left with this much

And what camping picture montage is complete without the obligatory picture of the campfire....and the gatorade bottle perfectly balanced on a log

[shezonit]

Great pictures! Your nephew looks like he's having a great time.
Yeah, you burned a whole lot of wood!
Great to see the BF out in the woods......
You never said if your furnace is broken? Maybe just the thermostat? My previous RV, 1996 Class B needed the thermostat replaced and the one in the 1992 BF has been replaced. White-Rodgers brand- under $20. Just an idea. I had thought the furnace in the Class B was broken.

[Ray]

Dude - great pic's - thank you

The pic's of having fun with thier BF's are great - we should all post more.

Question - BF, vehicle, trailer of wood ------- How do you pull all that?

Nothin better on a cold night than a fire and a self made hot pocket

Have fun - be safe

[Dude]

The furnace is currently not even in the RV. They mechanic pulled it out (I couldn't figure out how to get it out) and diagnosed it as old and shot. Something was rusted out on it and causing it not to fire. The thermostat was working fine. (I was hoping it would be the $20 fix...sadly it wasn't) Right now it is sitting in my garage. I may try to find a replacement but my cool weather camping usually has electric....except for 1 fishing trip in March that I will use my Mr. Buddy heater.

The minivan was a friend of mine who drove up separately. I pulled the trailer with the wood.

[shezonit]

Dang.... And these RV systems are always spendy. I am facing a pricey repair on the automatic leveler system. Do I NEED them? Nah, but they are sure nice when they work. I could level it with blocks.... But that doesn't stop the bouncing around when parked. I was quickly spoiled on having jacks.

[richanb]

Did you insulate the holding tanks?

[Dude]

No, the tanks are not insulated. I had the water system winterized and I just used the bath house right across from my campsite.

[stevek]

Wonder how hard it would be to insulate the holding tanks?
Home Depot has 4x8 sheets of Foam Insulation Sheets,
Poly Faced on both sides..
and glue them to the bottom of tanks?
Or would it be more complicated than that?

[Dude]

For me it isn't worth it to insulate the tanks. I do weekend camping so I don't need the shower and I can limit my dirty dishes and wash them the old camping way in some wash basins (or use paper plates and bring the pots home). If I want to shower I'll use the bath house and that's where I see a man about a dog.

I have friends with TT's and HTT's that will use the potty for the overnight pee and dump some jugged water down the toilet to rinse it. That little bit of water if it freezes in the tank won't do any damage. They dump it when they leave or when they get home they "water the lawn". It isn't much.

[richanb]

Has anyone else done extended freezing weather camping? How did you protect the plumbing? Thanks in advance for your stories.

[shilohdad]

Don't know if this qualifies as extended freezing weather camping, but we have done several days in the teens overnight.

We run either our propane furnace or our standalone electric heater and keep the coach interior at 50 degrees or more. We open the cabinet doors wherever there is fresh water, either tank or lines. In our 24RB that is all doors under the sink or stove, the under-vanity doors in the bathroom and the closet door in the bath. We keep the hot water heater turned on. This protects all the fresh water lines.

As for the holding tanks, if we are in temperatures that won't go above freezing during the day, we put some pink antifreeze down the toilet and kitchen sink. Even then, we don't try to dump in below freezing temperatures. If we are camping in continuous freezing temperatures, we try not to wash dishes or take a shower in the coach. We use campground facilities instead.

One trip we thought we might be in 10 degree weather or below. We asked Kim Olson about that, and he kind of hemmed and hawed. Our assumption is that this might be problematic. We pushed our start date up a day and stayed with friends where the temperature would be above 15 overnight. By the way, that worked, and we have stayed in temperatures in the teens using this protocol with no problem.

Joe and Lucinda
Morpho and Tonto (and Shiloh, who has, unfortunately, gone to the rainbow bridge)