As many of you know, I host the podcast Paddling Adventures Radio. So on Family Day weekend I decided to head up to Algonquin's 'Winter In The Wild' event and hopefully spread word of the show while camping in my new hot tent at Mew Lake. So I loaded up the truck with all my gear and set off.

My new winter tent is an Esker 10' X 10' Classic, which is a 4 sided hot tent. Inside I had my Kni-co Alaskan wood stove. A tad big for this tent but if I ever upgrade tents, I won't have to upgrade the stove at the same time.

Now, back on New Years I went up to Mew Lake to check out a bunch of tents before I bought one of my own. I saw a lot lot of tents with carpeting, and mats as flooring. I assumed, wrongly I would later discover, that people had laid down wood flooring and then the carpet. Nope. Using my smarticle particles, I decided I would lay down a tarp, then my custom made 10 X 10 floor and then set up my tent. Worked like a charm As other campers saw what I was doing, that was when I found out that they were not using a wood floor. They were placing the carpet directly on the snow.

Somehow I became part of the Demo Tour as about 30 people came through my tent to see my flooring and setup. Okily Dokily!!

Anyway, I had my cot set up plus a chair, which I didn't use much, and small square cooler that fit nicely between my cot and the stove so I could use it as a table and kitchen counter and the stove was still close enough for me to reach over and cook. Was a great set up indeed. A massive palace for one person. For two people I would not bring the cot.

When I wasn't giving tours of the humble abode, I spent the days meeting a chatting with an absolute ton of people, did some hiking and enjoyed nature. Was a great weekend to try out the new tent and great weather too.


Big empty plowed out site when I got there



Putting the floor down


Staking out the corners with spikes in the ice


Center pole in in


Sides strung out and gear inside


Interior view. What a mansion for one!!


All set up and ready for the weekend


Boiling water on the stove. The side tray keeps things nice and warm


Strung a rope through the loops in the peak and put clothespins up. Great for drying wet gloves and socks


Lit up from the inside at night