It’s the dead of winter and while most are thinking of snuggling by a warm fireplace with hot cocoa in their hands, a group of friends thought it would be fun to camp out in the elements of Otto, N.Y. with just the clothes on their backs.
“A few rules are nothing to sleeping on,” said Jacob Brosius of North Tonawanda, who has camped out with his friends in the winter three times now. “And no items to help with a fire except flint. Can only bring what you can wear. We bring a pack of hot dogs and each person picks a can of soup, which we all cook over the fire.”
Since no sleeping bags or tents are allowed, the shelter must be made completely of branches, brush or anything found in the woods, which Brosius and his friend’s successfully accomplish like it’s nothing.
“The first year we didn’t make it through the night. It was 35 degrees with 50 mph winds and down pouring the entire time. It was a disaster. The second and third year we made it without any issues.”
But who would want to endure the harsh winds and frigid temperatures on their own free will? Brosius says it’s just something he and his friends like to do.
“Our group of friends does one crazy event after another. All year long we come up with fun activities to do. Life is too short to sit around, we say you have to go out and make the memories. We don’t see it as work at all. Honestly it’s so much fun. We’re constantly laughing and we work really well together. Once the shelter is built and we have a good stock pile of fire wood, we’re able to sit back and tell stories.”
“Oh, and I can’t forget to mention that the coyotes hollowing all night long is very eerie.”
Take a look of Brosius and friends putting together their awesome tree shelter here:
