Preparing for winter...already?

Isaac has returned from his filming foray into the Canadian coastal wilds, and we are again preparing to head out to the wilderness.  Hunting season begins on September 15th, at least in the wilderness.  This year that date is especially significant because wolves have joined the hunted species.  We are trying to get out there for opening day to be able to talk with some hunters and hear their perspectives on this historic event.  It will also be interesting to experience if or how quickly the wolves behavior may change in relation to the new open season.  

Here in McCall the weather has begun to turn towards fall, and people have begun to eye us strangely when we splash into the lake for a swim, as the temperatures have been dropping rapidly.  As we prepare to leave town this time, the task seems a little more serious as we intend to be out for about a month solid and after that, only through town perhaps one more time before heading into the mountains for the entire winter.  Things that seemed so unimportant during the hot summer months (warm winter sleeping bags, good down coats) have suddenly been topping the list of things to check into and get ordered/donated/shipped.  Our winter tent, the homemade teepee job that has spent the last few months balled up and zipped into a duffel bag in a dark corner of our storage shed, needs to come out into the light, be set up and measured for new poles to help it hold its shape in snow/sleet/or rain storms.  These are all things that seemed so far away only weeks ago, but now are coming into sharp focus as we realize the nearness of the first snows that will cut off our retreat routes back to town.

But this is all exciting.  Again, we are happy to be heading out; looking forward to the simplicity of hiking purely to get from one place to another, of thinking of little more than which routes to take where we will be most likely to stumble across wildlife... These things always sound intriguing after a few busy days of repacking, organizing, and planning, even if we will have to take a few extra layers of clothing to compensate for the new chill in the air.

We have been trying on various sizes of down clothing: parkas, bib pants, and even booties.  Now this may not seem like such a bad task, until you realize that the yurt and deck which we consider our summer living space, can easily reach temperatures upwards of 90 degrees even in September.  Then the task becomes a bit more daunting.  All the down gear might seem like overkill, but we have to remember that when filming, you spend so much time simply sitting still, waiting, being quiet and trying to melt into the landscape, none of which allows for vigorous arm swinging or jumping jacks to keep your body warm.  Sitting for long hours in single digit or negative temperatures can really chill down the body, so we are preparing by compiling mountains of the types of clothing that require stuffsacks bigger than those for our current sleeping bags.  How are we going to fit all this into our backpacks?  Well, we're not exactly sure yet.  One dilemma at a time, right?