I'v found McDonalds and Tim Hortons to be like Gods - they're everywhere! At least they are if you're anywhere near a paved road and any town with a population over 1,500 people.

So although I've OCASIONALLY camped in remote areas where I was 'on my own' for a week at a time, dealing with civilization is pretty much a normal part of using roads. So in my case taking advantage of man made ' natural resources' has been a fairly practical alternative to insisting on doing everything myself.

Hot water is usually on the burner for tea at most fast food restaurants and most places will fill a Thermos as a courtesy. Its also a great place to pick up coffee, muffins in a six-pack are cheap and tax free, salads are inexpensive, and the washrooms are clean and a great place to wash up, shave if necessary, and change clothes. A secondary Camelbak bladder for extra water is all thats normally needed - you pick the temperature. It can be filled from a hot water tap for washing or with crushed ice to act as a cooler. Again, thats often provided as a courtesy but I'm not adverse to paying for it anyway.

All of which can reduce or completely eliminate the need to heat water for anything for a day or days depending on where you are. In warm weather I tend to use a stove as little as possible or not at all myself. On short trips it can be completely optional. The ice on the other hand, besides eventually providing drinking water (filter it) can act as a cooler for perishable items. Call me a seagull - I'm a bit of an opportunist and like a free handout. Even taking advantage of that just before heading into a wilderness area will cut a couple days fuel and food requirements off a trip.

There are parks here in Quebec that are open for camping year round and winter camping is part of courses offered at some of the colleges here. My kid sister's went on her first outing that way when she was seventeen and did just fine. There are also courses and outings offered by MEC and La Cordee as well as ice-climbing, mountaineering, back-country and cross-country skiing. The annual Winter Carnival here also features an ice hotel where guests can pay to sleep in furs on mattress made of blocks of ice, drink out of sculpted ice glasses and other masochistic novelties. There are no stoves.

Winter camping as a year round activity spanning multiple years is a complete fantasy. The further north you go the longer and hotter the days are during the summer months. Summer in Montreal is actually hotter and the days longer than summer in Cali, Colombia. Thats not just some statistic - I have addresses in both countries.

In Eastern Canada, there are probably only a few months at most where snow stays on the ground and the temperature is continuously below freezing. My dad spent years stationed just below the Arctic Circle. They get summer there too - a six month period when the sun never sets and the days are hot enough to melt the top few feet of frozen tundra in spite of the permafrost below. Before 'civilization' showed up, the Inuit there existed for thousands of years using just animal fat and peat as fuels.

Normally insulation is more of a concern in colder weather than hydration, so water usage is reduced. Regardless - my normal strategy is to fill a 2 liter thermos with boiling water ONCE a day. Thats usually enough for TWO people unless someone decides to wash their hair. Sometimes I might use a stove - sometimes I might have access to a friendly clerk at a fast food restaurant. Any extended trip into a wilderness area is, IMO, a cue to bring a wood burning stove. During winter months there are no restrictions against using them. But even in a group of 6 people in the middle of nowhere - I've never seen 12 liters of water boiled a day. I guess we're just wierd.

A camelbak is still a good supplementary backup, and wearing one under your clothes (there are models just for that) will prevent it from freezing and keep it at a temperature reasonable for drinking, washing or whatever. Sleep with it - it also makes a pretty fair pillow.

Being active can generate enough heat to slowly melt snow in a camelbak under clothing and offset the need to remove a jacket. So I've never been forced to melt snow just for water. That's a last minute resort resulting from not thinking ahead far enough. I have a Red Cross approved water filter but have only used that in the tropics. In Canada at least, for snow-water a Brita water bottle filter is just fine once the stuff is liquid.

The biggest issue winter camping is the same as summer camping - keeping warm and dry. And dry is less of a problem in the winter than the summer. Something hot first thing in the morning might be a good idea to kick start things, but being active usually results in shedding clothes later in the day. Relying on hot food to stay warm is a last resort and a sign of a poor choice of clothing.

However - thats just my preference and opinion. If someone else feels the need to run a portable hot-tub or Chinese laundry in the middle of a camp site - please feel free to bring as much fuel as you want.