3 Days Winter Camping with NO STOVE – Cooking with Fire!

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3 Days of Winter Camping, Backpacking & Campfire Cooking in Pennsylvania’s Pinchot State Forest.

 

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For this late winter backpacking trip, I decided to challenge myself to cook “real food” using only fire for the duration of my trip. If you know anything about my patience for making fires, you’ll know this will truly be a bit of a challenge. 🙂

For shelter, I went with my minimalist camping hammock and ultralight backpacking tarp set-up. I also utilized a grill grate, a folding saw for harvesting campfire wood, and some extra cold weather clothing layers, as the temps were forecasted to head down to  around 15° F or so. There was also a chance of snow, sleet, and even rain, so I brought a full set of rain gear for warmth at camp and keeping dry while hiking.

Full Route Overview – Pinchot Trail North Backpacking Loop – Sintax77

Trailhead Used: Pinchot Trailhead
Pinchot Trail, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702
41°13’09.2″N 75°37’52.6″W


This is an easily accessible lot with room for a half dozen cars or so.

GPS Data including campsites used, water sources and other POI’s for this trip and many others can be found on my Trip Data Page.

Trails Used Day 1

  • Powder Magazine Trail
  • Sassafras Hill Trail
  • Spruce Hill Trail
  • Hayes Run Trail
  • Painter Creek Trail
  • Watres Trail
  • Camp along Watres Trail

Day 1 Elevation Profile – Pinchot Trail North Loop Backpacking Trip – Sintax77

Day 1 Mileage:  6.6 miles
Day 1 Gross Elevation Gain: 704′
Day 1 Gross Descent: 876′

Trails Used Day 2

  • Backtrack on Watres Trail
  • Painter Creek Trail
  • Scrub Oak Trail
  • White Line Trail
  • Behler Swamp Trail
  • Camp along Behler Swamp Trail

Day 2 Elevation Profile – Pinchot Trail North Loop Backpacking Trip – Sintax77

Day 2 Mileage: 5.7 miles
Day 2 Gross Elevation Gain: 543′
Day 2 Gross Descent: 466′

Trails Used Day 3

  • Backtrack on Behler Swamp Trail
  • Road Hike on Tannery Road
  • Return to Bear Lake Parking

Day 3 Elevation Profile – Pinchot Trail North Loop Backpacking Trip – Sintax77

Day 3 Mileage: 2.3 miles
Day 3 Gross Elevation Gain: 160′
Day 3 Gross Descent: 93′

 

Grand Total Mileage:  14.6 miles
Grand Total Elevation Gain: 1.435′

Notable Backpacking Gear

Camera Gear used for this episode