Short answer would be: Definitely not like in summer.
Last weekend I went camping with my girlfriend, in the month of October which can get pretty cold. I chose a Järvi Pikkjärve camping spot as a location for this time. Its a big patch of land with lush forests and wetlands. There are also couple of lakes and we found a nice spot right next to one lake, to set up camp there. There are several state maintained camping spots around the lakes and we chose one of them.
This is the lake we camped next to, you saw some photos of the trail we walked on in my last post.
On the spot there is an outhouse, a fireplace and a massive table, which is definitely much bigger than we would need to have😄. We also found a wood shed which still had some timber inside for us to burn. It was great, because I didn't need to burn the wood I brought with me. Can use it some other time. It had been rained recently and forest was damp and wet, no good burning wood can be easily collected there.
The forest path leading to the campsite was extremely muddy and wet. I was worried about getting stuck with my car but I managed to pull through of this mud hole.
The campsite was so very scenic. Right next to the water and with a beautiful view of the fall colors.
The evening was great. Very quiet, because we had almost no wind, clear sky and about 11 degrees C(51.8F) temps. In October, the direct sunshine still gives off a good warmth.
The view in the lake's direction.
Right next to our camp spot was one more fireplace, that was a bit smaller but it looked brand new. Like no one had ever used it before, it was so clean. Either way, we did not use this fireplace and left it new.
Shortly after arriving there, we went to look how our surroundings look like, so we hiked into the forest.
My girlfriend gets very excited about mushrooms or stuff she can pick up and eat hehe. While she was buzy looking for fungi, I used this opportunity to capture some photos of the forest we were walking in.
We went off trail and pretty much wandered randomly in a forest for a while. The scene sure was beautiful in this area. Full of pines and evergreens.
When we got back from our forest expedition, we went on another trail next to the lake. The hike of which photos you saw in my last post. Back at the campsite we enjoyed some last rays of the sunshine and then set up the tent before it got dark. The sun went down around 6.30 in the evening. From there it got dark and temps started quickly dropping.
I think the early darkness is the most bothersome factor of camping during off season here in Estonia. There is always more to do and see when it's bright outside. Just after dark we made food on the gas stove and soon lit a fire in the fireplace.
By 10 in the evening, the temperatures dropped to 5 degrees C(41F). It's not particularly very cold, but if you sit outdoors for a long time then this is a temperature that will make the stay very chilly. Fortunately, we had the fire going at all times and it was warm right next to it. We also grilled some sausages for additional munchies and had some drinks.
The moon was extremely bright. This forest and this area is very dark but the moonlight lit the place up so brightly. Here I have photo taken with my phone at night. The bright shine is the moonlight.
When we finally went to sleep, the temperature showed me 3.9 degrees C(39F). I heated up the tent with a gas heater a bit. I can't use the heater during sleep because it's unsafe. I got the temp inside the tent to about 10 degrees C.
Of course, after switching off the heater the temp starts to fall quickly, but we had our sleeping bags, rated to -1 degrees C, It was still chilly at times during the night. We both slept with clothes on but my feet felt a bit coldness at some point during the night.
Overall, it's for sure doable to camp in October, and at least until the temps don't fall below zero. A bit chilly but fine. If there was a stronger wind, that would have been another story.
Will we go camping in November? Well, we will see. If we do, then I will definitely make a post how is the experience then.
Soon I will upload some night shots with a strong moonlight taken with a camera, these are pretty dope. Stay tuned!
