Trip Report: Freezing Woman 5
This is my trip report for Freezing Woman 5, which took place November 17th to 19th, 2023 in Algonquin Park.
What is Freezing Woman?
Freezing Woman is an annual group winter camping event. (Read more about it)
As the legend goes, a group of women, the “original 6”, braved -25°C weather to winter camp in Algonquin park. They survived, thrived, and decided to return the next year. They opened it up to others, and the event has doubled in size each year since. And so Freezing Woman was born.
This year, there were approximately 110 participants this year, on 37+ campsites. This made Freezing Woman 5 roughly twice the size of Freezing Woman 4. The doubling annual growth trend has continued for 5 years straight, which is remarkable! This year, we’ve added a gorgeous logo for Freezing Woman. 💜
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What makes Freezing Woman special?
At risk of using a cliché, it really is the people, but perhaps more specifically:
In spite of how much Freezing Woman has grown, it still maintains the welcoming, inclusive spirit. The camaraderie needs to be experienced. It enthusiastically welcomes women from all over, including those who aren’t always treated well in society
At Freezing Woman:
Veteran trippers get a chance to give back to the community, and receive well earned respect for building their skills and experience.
Newcomers get a chance to learn from the experts, hear their stories, and fast track their own learning.
It provides an invaluable opportunity to see a wide variety of gear. This includes various shelters such as hot tents, cold tents, hammocks, tarps, converted vehicles… you name it!
We are all peers and equals, respected, met with appreciation, and without judgement where we are.
Freezing Woman has a strong independent-yet-together dynamic. This means each person has their own gear, food, and chooses their own adventure from a long list of possible activities. This lets each person craft the ideal experience for them. Participants can dive into activities with groups of various sizes, or solo / enjoy quiet time at any point.
How was my experience this year?
Here’s my journal for Freezing Woman 5.
Thursday (arrived a day early)
I arrived a day early, and was so delighted to bump into the “ Soo crew”. This is an incredible group of women from Sault Ste. Marie. They are active in nature all year around. They are easy to spot! When they come to Freezing Woman, they often have matching hoodies in orange, blue, and possibly other colours. With them was my “forest goblin” friend Erica who just returned from hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). Starting my Freezing Woman off bumping into them, with many hugs, was a perfect start! 💜
The Soo Crew
After setting up my hot tent, having driven from Ottawa, I collapsed into a cosy bed with a good book. I slept so well that night! I pretty much never do on the first night of a trip, but I guess the conditions were just right.
Friday (the calm before the crowd)
In the wee hours of Friday morning, the rapid tapping sound on the tent began. We knew the forecast, so this was right on schedule. What we didn’t expect is that it would keep raining, and raining, until eventually, because the ground was mostly frozen, our campsite was flooded.
“Lake Ross” - a large puddle that formed on our campsite after much rain, and mostly frozen ground
Fortunately, we were up on cots, and stayed dry in spite of the huge puddle. “Lake Ross”, as we called it, drained within a few hours, and the mud that followed froze a few hours later. Everything was just fine from there on. I am delighted the Snowtrekker handled the rain that well. I was quite worried beforehand, and considered bringing a summer tent instead.
We ran a few errands on Friday before the crowd arrived including getting some wood from a place just outside the park in Whitney, that always offers nice dry wood. Unfortunately, Ontario Parks is notorious for selling wet wood which doesn’t burn well. In the winter time, this is a safety issue!
A stand selling dry wood in Whitney. Self service - you add $25 to the box for each wheelbarrow full of wood you take.
We visited the Algonquin Park visitor centre, and did some gift shopping for friends and family. They’ve got a great selection of books, clothing, art, and more. Really nice stuff!
While at the visitor centre, I bumped into Anita, and a few others. Anita is part of the “council of Frozen Women” - a team of women that join me and help bounce ideas around to organise Freezing Woman. Working with Anita has been a delight. She’s very capable, and calmly gets stuff done without fuss. I’m so grateful to her!
Friday night, I dropped in to visit the Pot Luck, hosted by the Soo crew. Kathleen, part of the Soo crew, is also on the council I mentioned earlier. She too is a delight to work with. It was great to see the friendly faces, including a few people I hadn’t seen in a couple of years. The Soo ladies were staying in one of the fixed shelters, and were gracious enough to let me take a quick peek to see what it was like. It was cosy, and very similar to a cottage. Naturally it costs a bit more than a regular campsite to reserve, but for those who are looking for it, it’s a very nice glamping experience for people who maybe don’t have gear, or just want to treat themselves.
The dessert table at the potluck
I walked back to my campsite, and it had been dark for many hours. Feeling in touch with the weather, and sunrise/sunset when camping is one of the best parts, to me. Amusingly, it wasn’t nearly as late as I thought. It gets dark at 4:30pm this time of year. It was still late enough to start settling down. I had some snacks, and picked up my book. Saturday was going to be chock-o-block full of activities, including the polar bear dip first thing at 8:30am in the morning!
Saturday (Do, and enjoy all the things!)
We were really lucky with the weather Saturday morning. It was sunny, and calm. As we walked to the beach, the sun was glinting off the ice on the lake. Some Canada geese eyed us warily. I didn’t know what to expect for this year. Past years, there would be one or a few women who participated in the polar bear dip. This year was awe inspiring! This year, roughly two dozen women participated, in spite of the ice in the water, and low temperatures.
Here is a fun video of the brave souls who did the polar bear dip. Keep your eyes peeled for the ice in the water!
At 10am, we all gathered for the group picture. When compared to the previous 4 pictures, you can see the growth each year. What is soul nourishing about this is thinking of all the friendships that form here. When we learn who we can trust, and enjoy spending time with, we have tripping partners for future adventures.
I tend not to be a socially extraverted person to begin with, but with a group this size, and everyone choosing their own adventure, it’s challenging to meet everyone. There’s a point in the growth of any group where it is no longer possible to know everyone personally. If we didn’t cross that point last year with Freezing Woman 4, I suspect it’s arrived this year. I do strive to meet and chat with at least a handful or two newcomers each year. My approach is to invite them to join me on my campsite, and cook for them. More on that soon.
Next up was a newcomer orientation. Shirley and Julie, also from this year’s council, decided to run a scavenger hunt of sorts. Participants would seek answers to trivia questions about Freezing Woman 1 participants, and others who helped support the event. I noticed Rebecca, one of the veterans from multiple past Freezing Woman events, also playing along.
Shirley, explaining the newcomer orientation scavenger hunt.
After the orientation, the gear swap/ marketplace began. This is a bazaar-like experience where Freezing Woman participants can sell gear or outdoors clothing they no longer need to those who are seeking it. As always, there are some real bargains on quality gear! It’s especially nice to ensure the gear gets used.
The Gear Marketplace
I wandered around a little to chat with people after the marketplace. I met a small group of newcomers, and chatted just a little. They asked about the event, so I talked just a bit about the culture of Freezing Woman, and some of the common activities. After that, it was back to the campsite for lunch. We made toasted cheese sandwiches with some fancy bread and smoked cheese. They were really yummy! With a belly full of warm food, we were hit by a wave of “the sleepys”, so had a quick nap, planning to hike soon.
My plan for Saturday night was to cook my famous fish stew for all comers over an open fire. But before that, I hoped to do a hike, and take some pictures. We only had time for a short hike, as I had plenty of vegetable chopping and other prep to do. It was still wonderful to do some forest bathing, and I brought my fancy camera along for some pictures. This one was of a waterfall. I am pleased with how it turned out.
A beautiful picture of a waterfall. The water cascading over rocks full of lichens with greens, greys, and oranges.
At Freezing Woman 3, I offered to make a stew for all comers. There was enough interest that I brought a large cast iron dutch oven I affectionately call “a hot tub for a small child”. It’s HUGE! The stew was well received, and we had plenty. We even ended up with leftovers. It was cold enough that year that the stew was close to freezing overnight. That’s one of the handy things about cold weather camping. I carefully thawed the cast iron dutch oven, so as not to crack it by heating it too suddenly, and brought it up to temperature to re-heat the stew the second night. Sadly, we had enough that we didn’t get to make Cathy’s delicious chilli she had planned.
For Freezing Woman 5, I asked ahead of time how many people wanted to join us for stew. There were approximately 30 hands, so I figured we’d likely eat all of the stew. That estimate was pretty much spot-on. I think only one person came a couple of hours late asking about the stew, but it had all been eaten by then. I really appreciate those who came by early to help. With such a heavy pot, someone has to lift the lid, someone has to stir, etc. It really helped me a lot!
It was a very nice feeling to just sit back and watch everyone chat around the fire. There’s no vibe like it… happy, peaceful, hopeful, and caring. This makes all the effort organising so worthwhile. And as Carla said (paraphrasing as close as I can) “this makes the world a better place!”. I agree. 💜
The hearty stew, being served piping hot. Photo credit: Cathy Taylor-Teel
I seemed to have gotten a snootful of birch smoke from the campfire. I thought I was far enough away from our group campfire as people tossed some birch on the fire. Apparently not though. I am very allergic to it, so I had a sore throat, was itchy, and very stuffed up in spite of the allergy meds I took. I am sorry to my campsite mates as I’m sure I snored badly that night!
This year we moved the group picture to Saturday morning, and I think that was a good decision. A number of people have very long drives, and the Saturday group picture meant they could hit the road hours earlier on Sunday and maximise the use of daylight. The result for me was that Sunday morning was more relaxed than it was in the past. As I packed up, various people popped by to say hello and chat. I love this more than I can put into words. It’s the relationships that make this event special.
Gear geekery
A long standing tradition I have with my Freezing Woman trip report, and frankly any trip, is to reflect on any new gear. Here’s my rundown for gear on Freezing Woman 5:
My Snowtrekker hot tent, and Boreal Mountain Innovations Wood stove rocked, as always. They are easy to set up, so functional, and comfortable. They aren’t cheap, but as the saying goes: “buy cheap, buy twice”, sadly.
I want to take a moment to dispel any notion that a hot tent is required. You can be perfectly comfortable in a (cold) tent or hammock, in the winter. You don’t need a 4 season tent either. The shelter’s job is to keep the wind and precipitation off of you. Barring heavy snow, just about any tent will do. Most of my winter camping has not been in a hot tent, and I am usually torn between bringing it, or not.
I find for me personally 3 days, and below freezing temperatures, is the minimum to make a hot tent worthwhile. If you’re in the backcountry, factor the work of harvesting and processing wood. And getting water from a lake or river. Melting snow for water is a pain in the ass. Basically, a hot tent is so comfy, but a lot of work!
I was delighted that the Snowtrekker tent handled the rain as well as it did. No leaks! It meant we had to dry the tent out carefully at home, but that’s something we always do after every trip to prevent mould and mildew.
The key new thing was to use silicone baking sheets to protect our flooring from heat, and avoid melting too much snow. The silicone baking sheets can handle hundreds of degrees. Using them around the Wood Stove significantly reduces melt-pond-creation, and protects the other flooring mats we use. They’re small, light, and don’t cost all that much so I consider them a really solid hot tenting gear addition.
I really love this roughly 4 litre thermos. It’s great for keeping my water from freezing in the winter.
These wool blankets were really warm, and protected our bedding from any stray embers. We use them at home, and while camping. They’re a good deal too!
Save the dates!
Freezing Woman 6 will be November 22nd to 24th, 2024.
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And if you read this far into my report for Freezing Woman 5, thank you so much.💜 I hope to see you in the woods soon! 🌲 —Andrea Ross, 42aross@gmail.com
