I was pretty exited to head up to the survival shelter this past weekend, I could see the surrounding mountains had what looked like a decent blanket of snow on their tops. Unfortunately as I got closer to shelter range I realized that the snow line was probably 1000 ft higher than the survival shelter location.

The lack of snow provided me with a good opportunity to finish up on some vital preps. The hike up to the shelter location in Winter will be a 4-5 hr trek, snow shoes will be required with cross country skis also being an option. I know from past experiences that the last chore I want to do at the end of a challenging all uphill snow hike is find wood and process it.

In addition to firewood prepping I decided to build a lightweight framework over the fireplace. The framework is primarily a way for me to extend the “working area” in front of the doorway by draping a tarp on the framework. Also it may offer some protection over the fire area from light rain or snowfall.

I am sure there will be more systems tweaking as I get further into the Winter season.