Shelter Trip With Snow and Sun in the Copenhagen Outdoors

On a shelter trip in sun and snow

Shortly after New Year’s, my sons and I dug out our winter gear and went on a shelter trip to Amager at the outskirts of Copenhagen – specifically to Pinseskoven Forest at Kalvebod Fælled.

There are several good shelters in the area, which can be booked at udinaturen.dk (in Danish). We had booked “Ålen”, which is located on the edge of Pinseskoven with a view of large parts of Kalvebod Fælled.

When we arrived, we were lucky. The snowy weather subsided, and the sun broke through and enveloped the snowy landscape and birch trees in the most beautiful warm light.

We walked from the car park into the nature area for about 2 km before we reached the shelter. Then it was just a matter of unpacking and getting the Trangia cooking set going. When you’re out in the open and the cold is biting your cheeks, hot cocoa is just one of the best things .

We got a great fire going using some collected branches and a couple of large logs that were lying on the fire pit – and, not least, newspaper and firelighters that were in the shelter. We thank the volunteers who equip the shelters with fire-starting equipment, and they were of course paid via MobilePay.

For dinner, we had brought various noodle dishes, which we cooked on the Trangia stove. We grilled sausages and bread over the fire, so it ended up being quite a feast. The sun had long since set, but the full moon lit up the landscape, so it didn’t get completely dark.

Then came the big question of the night: could we stay warm? The shelter is relatively large with room for 10 people, and the thick wooden logs are not tightly stacked. Even though we closed the opening with two tarps, it was not possible for us to heat the room with our body heat. In other words, the temperature inside was pretty much the same as outside, but at least the tarps prevented the wind from blowing into the shelter.

I wouldn’t say I had the best sleep of my life, but we were able to stay reasonably warm throughout the night. We had 3-season sleeping bags and heat-insulating sleeping mats, but slept with jackets and extra clothes on to cope with the cold.

The morning was almost as beautiful as the evening before, as the sun slowly rose above the plain. We packed up and ended the trip with a nice brunch when we got home. Next time we go on a winter trip, I think we’ll bring a tent, as it’s much easier to stay warm in a tent when the temperature drops below minus 5 degrees.