Thought I would try to contribute to the knowledge base here, as I have been the recipient of the good advice shared here willingly.

A friend and I took our second winter camping trip (only this time it was about 80 degrees warmer!)into the BWCA on the weekend of 3/13. I took my dog sled and 3 dogs and he pulled a pulk. We lightened up our load considerably this time by renting a SnowTrekker Tent (along with some serious weight saving considerations after our first slog in) We were blessed with BEAUTIFUL weather on our way in on Friday. This time we got in early enough to comfortably set up camp, along with a one hour help from DST. Oh the joys of spring camping! We think it got up to around 50 degrees on Saturday. It was a glorius day, nice enough to be able to tromp down some snow on a south facing rock, throw down my sleeping pad and take a nap in the warm, spring-like sun. (I came back looking like I'd spent some time at a tanning booth...from the neck up!)

Of course, all of that warm weather turned much of the lake to SLUSH! My friend was bound and determined he was going to catch some Crappies for supper. We found that in some places the ice was as shallow as about 6-8 inches! That was kind of a wake-uip call to us!!!

We were also fortunate to have it get down to about 15 degrees Saturday night, so we broke camp early and got out on a nice hard crust.

Some comments, the SnowTrekker Tent was a breeze to set up. Everything falls into place and assembly is incredibly intuitive. All the support tubes are shock corded together and for us, everything was neatly packed into it's proper position to be re-set up again. It is well vented adn the cotton cloth breathes well enough so that I don't think we got one drop of moisture colleted on the inside adn droppoing down on us in the morning...even in the hi-humidity coditions we experienced. The tent we used the first time was a waterproof, non-vented12 x 14 "house" intended for Deer hunting, etc. It had FAR too high a roof peak and about 6 ft. sidewalls, that coupled with the extreme cold on our last trip, left us in the cold. Perhaps IF we'd planned on simply operating in that cold evironment completely? Looking here and elsewhere, I now think the best strategy is to go expecting NOT to use the heater during cold sleeping times, but rather during meal times, etc. That way you will sleep better and not be tending a fire constantly throughout the night. That's what we did on this most recent trip and it was far less stressful.

A couple of other things. SnowTrekker tents do not have floors, as most winter type tents don't. Initially we were floundering around in sugary snow, even though we shoveled the majority off to set up the tent, leaving just enough to cover the stumps and rocks. We tried packing it well with out snowshoes, but it was just to granular this time of year. Once we got the stove going, it firmed up nicely and then leveled and packed down well.

Using the Hot tent system, it was very nice to be able to dry our clothing, etc. HOWEVER, using a tent in snow WILL melt the snow and everything that touches it gets WET! We did bring a tarp to throw down and that worked ok...but it was noisy and slippery and any snow that does get tracked in...turns to water. I think waterproof canvas for a drop in floor will be our next trip choice. We also had a small piece of carpet we'd put under the stove on the Pulk to protect the sled and that was invaluable to kneel on as we stoked the stove, cooked, etc.

I'm getting too old to sit on the ground for days. I brought a small tripod type stool to sit on and it wasn't stable in the soft snow. My friends larger folding chair proved to be incredibly comfortable ...but I'm glad HE hauled it in and out!

The wonderfully warm spring sun was like an elixer and overall it was a great experience, one I will cherish for a lifetime.

3 dog-

Thanks for sharing your experience. I have only had one experience sleeping in the cold, and it didn't go too well. Mostly because I wasn't prepared and didn't know what the heck I was doing.

I hope to take a hot tent camping trip at some point in the future.

Thanks again for letting us know what worked and what didn't