I've done a few of those overnight vigils, what we call a "woodsy". Personally, I find such "caveman bivoucs" leave me at less than optimum for the next day's demands and challenges and tend to dampen my "go get 'em spirit" but that may just be me.

As you noted it is a big improvement over last year. Last year, the pseudo-spike camp was a "safety valve" that got used in a pinch --- we were stacked like firewood and there was limited heat. This year the spike camp's use was planned right from the git go including "going in" the night before the opener which makes for a short walk to the action in the morning and if the opening day weather is severe, then warmth, food, and recharge is a short distance away instead of hiking out 4 miles and then once one is feeling better then hiking 4 miles back again --- wuff.

My "slot" was right next to the stove and the adjacent wood pile. I slept with my sleeping bag unzipped and about every 90 minutes or so I'd get cool enough to wake up and then without getting up or out of my bag I would open the stove door and pitch in some more aspen branches 2-3" by 16" or so, close the stove door and it would warm right back up. The waterjacket on the stove was boiling hot for breakfast --- coffee, cider, hot chocolate, etc. It all worked quite well!

Charlie Brown, thanks for the encouragement!

EKM