Summary
Highlights
To prepare dinner conveniently in the cold, the camper pre-made a beef stew in a mason jar. The jar contains raw beef, beef broth, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, onions, green onions, beans, sage, basil, and cilantro. This setup allows for easy cooking by boiling the sealed jar in water.
The campers set up their Arctic Oven Igloo tent in deep snow. They quickly get a fire going in the wood stove, making the tent incredibly warm. They melt snow for water and dry their clothes using a makeshift clothesline inside the tent.
Overnight, coffee cake batter and homemade bread pudding are placed in mason jars and cooked in the tent's stove. Lessons learned regarding filling the jars (half-full is better to prevent lid popping) are shared. The boys are tucked into warm sleeping bags, including a -60 degree Feathered Friends Snowy Owl.
The morning starts with a cozy fire and warm breakfast. The bread pudding, described as a French toast casserole with raisins, and the coffee cake are perfectly cooked in the mason jars. They pack up, noting that the colder temperature has frozen the trail solid, making it easier to walk without snowshoes.
The tent poles are frozen due to melted and refrozen snow, posing a challenge during packing. Despite this, the campers enjoy sledding down snowy hills, marking a fun end to their winter camping adventure.
The Arctic Oven Igloo tent is highlighted as a very warm, double-layered tent with quilt-like material and a durable canvas ground mat for insulation. The camper notices the wood stove charring the floor mat and decides to elevate the Firebox to prevent further damage.
For comfort, a caribou hide is laid on the floor. The camper uses a Garmin inReach Mini, a satellite communicator, to send text messages and track their location for safety, as there's no cell service. They enjoy reading 'White Fang' by Jack London to the boys.
The campers enjoy hot Tang, reminiscing about drinking it on winter campouts. For dessert, they prepare brownies in mason jars, cooked in boiling water, alongside homemade vanilla ice cream made with snow, condensed milk, and vanilla extract.