Igloo Camping
What a weekend!! I've been out of touch since early friday, but bear with me. All this week, I'll be posting experiences from this weekend's winter camping trip.
Sleeping in an igloo was an even wilder experience than I imagined. Given the temperatures, we didn't get to experience the full effect of the temperature change between the outside and the inside, but I got a taste. I don't think it ever felt like it was zero degrees, and our thermometer never got below 1 degree, yet it was bone-dry inside... and EVER so comfortable.
One wall was exposed to sun most of the day, and was therefore thinner than the rest of the igloo. That wall bled a lot of light into the igloo during the day, but it was cooler at night when the moonlight (we had a bright moon) shone in. During the day, it was as bright as if you had a flourescent light in there with you. That made it tough to sleep after sunrise, but it didn't stop me from sleeping in.
I found the air quality quite good, even with 6 guys sleeping in there. The air felt clean and fresh, but there was an 'odour' to it. I guess air could pass through the porous walls, but odour could not, so we tried our best to air it out during the day. Given the warm temperatures, we could have made a small hole for air to pass through, but that's all in hindsight.
For an overall ranking, the first night I slept in the igloo, I had my best night of sleep while camping EVER. I was never colder than 'cool' inside, and the Awesomeness Factor of being able to say I've slept in an igloo makes this trip an easy 9 out of 10. Where'd the last point go? Space... we packed too many guys in there the second night, and I was crammed up tight to a wall. Also, we modified the design to fit more guys, and that meant getting rid of a trench through the middle of the igloo. That trench would have made walking around and getting changed easier as you could stand up.
I can't wait to go again, and I would recommend it to anyone who is thinking of going winter camping. Basically, it makes it as comfortable as camping in late October, or early November.
By the way, here's the tool we used to make the igloo.