Winter camping in a Maine blizzard... news story

67 year old guy camping out all winter... wow. Good story.



POWNAL MAN FACES BLIZZARD WHILE LIVING IN HIS TENT DURING WINTER
by Robert F. Bukaty


POWNAL, Maine — The fierce winds, 2 feet of snow and frigid temperatures that came with last week’s blizzard paralyzed much of the northeast – but it barely fazed one Mainer who is spending the winter living in a tent.

If anything, the brutal storm did little more than cause Ed Warden to lose some sleep.

“I was up like every hour at night getting the snow off my tent, keeping it off the awnings,” said Warden, 67. “But other than that it was fine.”

Warden is the volunteer camp host at Bradbury Mountain State Park. He doesn’t get paid to live in a tent. He does it because the camping lifestyle is something he’s been in love with for 45 years.

“When I got out of the military in 1970 I got the bug to just go camping and traveling. I had a Volkswagen minivan and drove up to Alaska. I’ve camped in Hawaii…”

“I just like the outdoor life. I think communing with nature is the key to health and serenity, so that’s what I do. I hang out with nature a lot,” he said.

Warden lives in a heavy-duty 12 x 20-foot outfitter’s tent with 8-foot vestibules attached at either end. At the peak the ceiling is 9-feet high. A small wood stove keeps it comfortably warm inside, consuming about one cord of wood per month.

His site is the only one at the campground that has electricity. He uses it to power a small refrigerator and an old TV someone recently brought him. Warden hasn’t been able to find a digital converter so only uses the television to watch DVDs.

“I try to keep a balance between the old and the new,” said Warden. “I like modern conveniences but I also like my wood stove.”

The camping lifestyle has taught him to simplify things and learn to make do with what he has and get by with what he doesn’t have – like running water.

“I try not to dirty a whole bunch of pots because it’s harder to clean that up,” said Warden, who gets his water across the street at the ranger’s house.

A hiking trail just a few feet from Warden’s tent sees plenty of day-users who come in the wintertime to snowshoe or walk dogs dog – but few people come to camp this time of year. The last camper at the park departed a few weeks ago. He told Warden that he decided to buy a small trailer and was heading for Arizona.

Warden’s duties as camp host are minimal during the winter. His primary job is to keep the paths the park’s outhouses shoveled out.

Warden once worked for 10 years as a certified nursing assistant. The experience helped convince him to get back to nature.

“I saw the elderly when they start to go downhill. It was just too depressing. I just thought [camping] is what I really wanted to do.”

This is his second winter in a tent at Bradbury.

“My whole goal in life is to be self-reliant on my own piece of land. I’d love to have a greenhouse, my own little garden, and [live in] this tent,” he said.

“I survived 17 degrees below zero before and now I’ve survived 26, 27 inches of snow. [Last week’s blizzard] was the worst storm I’ve been through. Then we got more snow on Friday. “

But winter weather is no big deal to Warden.

“Even if I had to pay I would do it just to camp here,” he said while looking around at the high snow banks.

“I call it my ‘Poor Man’s Paradise’.”

 

That's a cool a$$ story.

 

I like the generic "magic heat" on the stove pipe. The real test comes with high winds and low temps...lower than -17, that is!

 

He looks to be a man at peace with what little he has laid before him.

 

Lots of homeless people doing stuff like that in Portland and Sanford I hear....

 

Looks like a great way to live. But a small, sturdy cabin would be much better for him now, and especially as he gets older.

 

I envy him...this would be fun for a while

 

I can't believe that stove keeps the tent warm enough when it's below zero and the wind is blowing. That can't be pleasant. I like reading tales of people living this way. I'd love to live a simple life but I need running water and an indoor toilet, too many close calls.

 

Years ago (late '80's), my cousin and I camped out down in the wildlife refuge in a small canvas tent he had. We had the Coleman white gas stove for cooking, goose down sleeping bags, food for a week, some ice fishing gear, and lotsa warm clothes. We did just fine.................although we were pretty "ripe" when we got back!!! Hauled everything in, and then out again on an old wooden toboggan, and our backpacks. Wasn't a day over 25*F the whole time we were out there!!

 

Sounds like a whole bunch of great memories MW... ...

 

We ate a lot of "pork and beans" and fish we'd caught on that excursion. We'd toted in a cooler with bacon, eggs, potatoes, onions etc. We didn't go hungry at all. In fact; it was pretty cozy.

 

Great story. Reminds me of the story of duck Preonoke in Alaska, doing almost the same thing under different conditions.

 

Ya I like to hunt and fish and do fire wood etc. but ef that as far as camping in a tent....Not for me...And I have ridden motorcycle in close to freezing temps, but no tenting for me.......

 

Hey milleo, they just did a story on this fellow on the evening news...said he's been lookin for a nice mountain woman for his whole life

 

Lol....He can keep looking cause I "aint'....living in a tent, not even for a weekend...

 

Need the blow drier for your hair and the iron for your clothes???

 

Ya....No....If it wrinkles then i don't buy it and I dry my hair natural in the woodstove heat....

 

We saw the guy tonight on the news too DaveGunter ... my honey said she wasn't surprised he can't find a woman... he's living in a tent in the winter in Maine!!! ...