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"For example, people talk about going to Idaho. What part of cold, snow do they not understand? It is easier to go to Mississippi, East Texas, Alabama, etc, where land is relatively cheap, water is relatively plentiful, growing seasons for long-term relocation are much longer, etc."

Well said! I live in such an area surrounded by federal lands and parks without running water or other facilities. Although the area is very attractive to the Walter Mittys of TEOTWAWKI sewing circles (even the ultimate neighborhood guys), there's no way that campers from the suburbs could camp and survive here during winter. Huge numbers of campers have streamed up here during summers to put their end-of-the-world expertise to the test.

A few blowhards at relatively low elevations, high temperatures and little winter wind have pretended to be experts while giving instructions from Web sites and videos on living through winter "in the mountains" in travel trailers or other RVs. They don't know what they're talking about. They're putting other people's lives at risk to suit their own vanities. They're in areas with much easier winter conditions but also with limited space for campers.

Trying to survive temps in the minus-30s, F, and wind gusts up to 110 mph in an RV (e.g., in some places over 9,000 feet) is a fool's errand for anyone who doesn't have a blue collar man's background in several practical technologies, a real soldier's training for extreme cold weather and much preparation for those conditions in advance.

The dunes of ice pile high, and there's no getting out. It's a much more dangerous undertaking than imagining fighting off "zombies" or actually trying to survive randomly interlocking fire in a suburb after a hysterical rumor. When vacationing at high elevations, watch out for highways with red and white striped gates next to them--the kind that tilt down to close a highway. Those highways frequently close during the winter, when the ice sprays. Beware areas with highways that have the high snow fences to the west side of them.

Just had a heavy snow within the past few days, although it melted off unseasonably fast. I don't want to see or smell bodies after a spring runoff. We don't need a predator population explosion either.

But do come and enjoy camping during the summer. It's a nice, cool break from the city. Or spend more time on more practice ways to survive in a temperate, southern climate, save money and save other supplies for a real disaster.