How to Stay Warm and Dry – Tips for Camping in Autumn

Summer is over, winter is renownedly coming and we are stuck in between with autumn. Winter sport season has not begun yet and Camping season is over, you might think. But we at Adventure Herald completely disagree! If you follow our simple tips for camping in autumn, this will be your new favorite camping season.

Photo by paul bica.

Do Your Research Well

Photo by Olli Henze.

The leaves are changing their colors, the woods are turning into a sea of red, yellow and brown. Fall is a very special season to enjoy the great outdoors, but to go camping now also demands good research before you pick your destination. Weather and temperatures are much fickler than in summer and not even an ocean of beautifully colored leaves can make it pleasant to spend several days freezing in the rain.

According to whether you choose solitude and put up your tent in the wilderness or if you still want to be a little closer to civilization and opt for a camping ground, you should definitely check, which ones actually still operate during fall . Whichever spot will be the lucky one, don’t arrive too late. The days are getting shorter and setting up a tent in the dark is not exactly a relaxed start for your camping trip.
 

Choose the Right Equipment

Photo by James Jordan.

Chances are that it will be cold and wet, so you don’t want to take any chances with bad equipment. You’ll need a tent, that is absolutely waterproof and for a comfortable autumn camping experience, it is worth to invest some money in it. Ideally, you’ll already have tested it in your backyard concerning how to set it up as well as its water resistance.

Your sleeping bag will face the big challenge to keep you warm at night, so it is the best to choose one, which is rated down to 0 degrees – better safe than sorry! Pick one with a hoodie at the upper end, which also keeps your head warm at night.

Waterproof containers can be true lifesavers – or at least true mood savers – since they can prevent you from wearing cold, damp clothes and from chewing on soppy bread. Speaking about clothes: bring more than you think you’ll need, we can almost guarantee, that not all of them will stay dry. A camping chair as well as a tarp and a rope, which you can use to build a rain shelter, further help you not to get your clothes too wet.  A headlamp is great for preventing you from stumbling over your tent’s string on the way back from a nightly trip to the toilet.

Keep Yourself Warm

Photo by Matt Reinbold.

Keeping yourself warm is absolutely essential for an enjoyable autumn camping trip. Freezing people are usually grumpy, and grumpy people don’t have too much fun.

Keep moving all day, so your own body heat will keep you warm. Bring a thermos flask and some well isolated cups, from which you can drink something hot all day long, be it tea, soup,coffee or cocoa. As tempting as it might be, you should refrain from mulled wine or any kind of alcohol, since it would only numb your sensibility for the cold and not actually warm you.

Wear your clothes in layers, so you can easily adapt to temperature changes and don’t sweat too much. Also thermal underwear can be of advantage. Pack some gloves and an extra pair of shoes, so you don’t have to wear wet ones. The same goes for a hat – just bring two!

Keep your tent always closed, so no dampness can get inside. Bring a thick air bed, to keep you further from the ground and put a polyfoam mat under it, for insolation. If you have the possibility, build a thin bolster of leaves, on which you put up your tent, they will help keeping  the cold away, which radiates from the ground.

Before you go to bed, it’s workout time. Some jumping jacks or squats will get you warm before you get into your sleeping bag and with a little luck you can carry that feeling through the night.

A heating is of course the simplest solution to the freezing problem, but it also kind of spoils the whole back-to-nature outdoor adventure experience. If you decide to bring one after all, make sure that it is approved for the use in tents, otherwise things will get quite dangerous pretty quickly.