Fallen Tree Shelter

hi,

Here as I am traveling the bush on snow shoes, I have come across a natural sheltering spot.

People often speak of natural shelters, but, are they practical to use or stay a night in?
I think so. This particular shelter will house my partner and I quite easily.

It is rather large inside, surprisingly roomy and will easily accept a nice fire.

This picture is very deceiving. The cavity is actually 6 feet deep and there's enough room for three people comfortably.

I did some small branch clearing to ensure no sticks in our eyes, and I used my hands and snowshoes to clean the floor somewhat, and banked some snow against the outside.

This shelter would easily house me in any storm I'm aware of and it would be very cozy with a small fire inside.

In this picture I am at the back side of this shelter. The depth of the shelter is hard to envision, but like I mentioned it is 6 feet deep at the entrance. It is a lot roomier than this photo shows.

You can tell from this photo just how large the shelter really is -- compare my size with the overall size of the photo as a whole.

Once inside there are many openings.

Actually, there is another natural shelter about 20 feet away of almost the same size, and one could quite easily dig to it and have to openings and a tunnel under the snow to each one!

Here I am at the far side of this shelter, and my partner has gone to the other side to get this picture and display the actual depth of this natural shelter.

There is lots of room in here for two people.

This was used for one person, and what was needed was a small rock depression. You use some saplings to cover it, then a layer of boughs if you wish (if you want to be stealthy you could use sheets of moss and ground cover to camo it).
For a top layer one could use sheets of bark for water proofing then some ground debris.

It is surprising how much room some of these rock crevasses will actually have.
Some that I have set up you can actually turn around in them semi-sitting. I like these shelters for hiding in when I'm hunting in an area, to sit out your day near a great location to see game.
Some of them can be very small as well, so its a matter of preference.
But should you wish to get close to game and see them, some of these offer some good vantage points. Game never seem to look into these and don't know someone's watching them.