Good point 330.

Try to get off of the ground a bit. I also make a nice "box spring" of spruce boughs.

Back in the day, trout fishing used to open on January 1st. here in Wisconsin. A few of us guys would carry in a few things to a nearby trout stream and set up camp. It consisted of a couple bales of straw, a couple tarps, a saw, fishing gear, food, sleeping bags and about 10 cases of beer. We would construct a lean to with one tarp, put down the straw and another tarp for the sleeping bags, submerge the beer in the creek so it would not freeze and commence to cutting wood for the really big fire in front of the lean to. We caught a lot of trout and slept pretty comfy many nights in below zero weather without any fancy gear.

Zim

I always take two Coleman lanterns and plenty of white gas and extra mantels and a cook stove just in case .
It's amazing how much heat a lantern will put out even on the coldest winter night I use a 10' range tent for years with a center pole I'd hang wet or damp stuff below the lantern to dry .
Anymore I'm a tin tee pee kind of guy and use a camper and generator but still have the lanterns around just in case remember propane can freeze up and not work well white gas doesn't.
Allan

You didn't say whether you were looking for a drive up camp or a back country camp. At 65 I still do both. Others have given good advice for when you don't have to pack in so let me address that. Get a 3 or 4 season tent for 2 people. Get one with a full fabric body and fly, no mesh material. Don't skimp on your pad. The self inflating pads are the most comfortable but are subject to punctures that make them worthless until repaired. I prefer a closed cell foam especially because I like to lay on it by a campfire in the evening and one little spark will wreck a self inflating pad. Get a good down sleeping bag rated 15-20 degrees below the lowest temp you are likely to experience. I also like to take a diamond fly or put up a lean to and have my fire in front of it. The diamond gives me a place to get out of the wind and rain/snow in the evening when making dinner by the fire. If it catches a spark or two it's no big deal, the tent is what I am really relying on for safety/protection. The fly is not absolutely necessary but having to cook in the tent vestibule and spend the evening in the tent due to bad weather is a bit confining for me.

Just using the diamond fly is another option. I've used one many times at rendezvous and it works fine. For a back country hunting camp I worry about critters making nests out of the clothing I leave behind on a nice day. If I could get over that worry I could lighten my load by 5-6 lbs.

For cooking I do not rely on a fire but use a backpacking stove.

As noted canvas can weigh a lot, nylon isn't as problematic as canvas for off season storage.
I use a "Space Blanket" as a ground cloth under the bed pad, especially good on snow/ice.
I have used 2 bags, or a blanket for extra cold weather.
Heavy wool socks and long johns for sleeping are great, especially helpful a knit "Watch cap". Keeping your head warm is 1/2 the battle, especially if bald.

Don't know where you'll be camping, but some stoves won't work well in extreme cold or higher altitudes. Liquid fuel can be messy, Propane/Butane is a lot easier, safer.
If you can take 20 lb propane tanks, they sell a heater that can be laid on it's side for cooking. I have a Mr Buddy (?) that works really well.

Yes, I did the winter camping crap. Froze my butt off, was wet, cold, frost-bit (not really) and decided back then that I was too much of a wuss to do much of that. I did, however, spend a couple Colorardo elk hunts in a dandy wall tent with a good stove and cot to sleep on. It was like home.

p.s. We had two tents on the above hare hunt....both were cold and wet.

This! My nephew and I went in on a 12x14 with a Riley stove. Outfitters cots and sub zero bags Polly tarp over the top to shed snow. I’ve spent weeks in sub zero in warm dry comfort. And trust me I’ve never dug a trench as a water barrier. Shoveled a bit of snow from around the walls though.

Go on craigslist and find a Kodiak canvas tent and a mr buddy heater. Get a cot/ cot pad and a bag rated 0 degrees or colder plus a canvas bedroll cover or sleeping bag cover. you'll be good to well below zero

you need to dig a small ditch to keep water from coming under the sides in rain. else your tent floor is mud not dirt. if you have one of those canvas floors you tie in, water and mud will come over the top of it from under the bottom of the tent sides, without anything to direct water away from the bottom of your tent. that may not apply in winter but a good thing to know in warmer weather

Cheaper to get a good wall tent

Top pic old sear canvas cabin tent still goes to capm alot
Last years cow elk camp
And a pick of my bedroll on a November deer hunt, this was a wall tent camp with just 2 of us so both cots and cook set up in one 12 x14 tent

Camp trailer for short trips

Otherwise on longer stays I use a carpeted 16 x20 Montana canvas wall tent with a wood stove

Cozy comfort , t shirt and slippers no matter the weather

I know of a guy who ran a lantern in a small tent for a heat source . He woke up one morning DEAD

Stayed in one in Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm. It was heated with diesel fuel fed stove. Some nights chimney sooted up and had a tent full of smoke. It got chilly at night during winter.

spark arrester on a wood stove needs cleaned every other day for the same reason

A welding blanket works great for sitting a wood stove on.

Sounds like Heck of a time! What river were you camping on back then?

You're surprising me with your report on the Alaknak simply because I've read many reviews on-line that talk at length about the condensation in cold weather when a stove weather wood or propane, etc. is used to keep it warm in the winter. I'm 72 and stay for abt a month or so in the Adirondacks during Mid October through the end of Big Game Season in early December. I come home abt. on day a week to say "Howdy" to my wife, shower and head back up. My "camp" is a 10' x 12' canvas wall tent w/porch, supported by an aluminum frame and covered by a solid XL Tech Fly. With a wood stove, no condensation whatsoever and rain, etc. is no biggie either??

The reason I'm responding is because at my age hauling all that gear/tent, set up, etc. is difficult at best, but the bad reviews I saw kept me away from both Alaknak and the Bighorn III. Most of the negative comments were about the condensation yet you don't seem to have that problem?? If I could keep up with my Fall/winter adventures with a lighter weight outfit it would be a big help so I'd be interested in hearing about your experience, etc.

Tim Holt Sr.

. I was told a propane stove will create condensation. I don't know I have only used a wood stove

Yes, propane heat releases a lot of condensation.

That Alagnak would have a lot of condensation up here.

Condensation is not an issue if you have a wood stove producing dry heat.

Jim