Happy Thanksgiving! Lately I've been super antsy to get outside for a little adventure, so yesterday morning I spontaneously decided to go for a winter camp! I wasn't packed and ready to go until after noon, so I couldn't do anything too ambitious or distant. I headed to a place not far from Ouray where I knew that a short ~1 mile, 400 vertical foot hike up from the trailhead would take me to a nice meadow with views of towering peaks across the valley.

Part of my motivation for this quick winter camp was to test out some new winter gear I've acquired recently. With temps dropping as low as 5º F (-15º C) this night was a good test, and I was pleased that I was toasty warm all night long. My goal is to have my kit so dialed that winter camping is not just borderline survival, but actually comfortable! So far so good. If you're interested I've written in more depth about my winter backpacking gear here.