Car Camping and Other Stuff

Car Camping, Bigfoot, and Other Stuff

 Ok, so it has been a while since I have had the time to actually post much here lately.  Between the blizzard last month, work and work, and a brief trip to North Carolina for a car camping trip with friends, I haven't had the time to update the blog.  So here goes.I headed down to North Carolina earlier this month and spent 3 nights camping with friends over my birthday weekend.  A weekend of good food, good friends and the great outdoors can do a body good.  Oh, and not least of all, spending time with my Godson and his little brother hunting Bigfoot was the highlight of the the weekend!  However, it was a bit strange to be car camping again.  Every time I car camp now I seem to have a bit of a love/hate relationship with staying at a campground.

My Godson and his brother
find Bigfoot's hiking stick!

It is nice to have some conveniences such as having a camper on site that has refrigeration for real food, power for charging Ipads, Ipods, and E-readers, beer, wine and other adult beverages and of course a bath house with hot water and real toilets!  It was great to be with the kids and friends but there is something to be said about being on a trail, finding a great stealth site or shelter, eating noodles with other hikers and having the feeling of accomplishment for the miles hiked that day.  I only wish some of my closest friends enjoyed hiking........however, one of my best friend have stated he would like to do a bit of hiking this spring over 4 or 5 days,  I wonder if that has to do with the hammock he bought from me while I was down there.:)

My lightweight backpacking tent (left) and a "normal" 2 man tent (left).
 To the left in the background is a lightweight hammock used for hiking.

I was looking forward to this trip, not only as I was able to hang out with close friends that I haven't seen for a while, but to shake down some equipment as well.   I am still working out the details of tent versus tarp for early spring hiking, as well as testing a new Neoair ultra light sleeping pad.  I also wanted an excuse to see how my new Western Mountaineering Versalite sleeping bag did in colder temperatures.  Well, is was a small test for the bag as the temperature only dropped down to 30 degrees F.

So, how did the shakedown of equipment go?  Well, I will be posting reviews of some of the equipment shortly but suffice to say, I think I really like my setup for the most part.  I do need to get another thin pad to place over my Neoair for cold weather camping to increase the R factor just a bit, but I think this pad and sleeping bag combo will be good to 15 degrees or so without the additional pad.  Hopefully, I will get out next month in the mountains to test out some colder weather camping with this equipment.

The Lightheart Gear Solo Tent
with Neoair pad inside.  Note
plenty of room is left for gear.

The hiking schedule for next year is a bit up in the air...finances, jobs, time off are all still up in the air.  Finding time to hike recently has become difficult due to the time change leaving daylight scares after work.  The weekends are even difficult as the part time job kind of interferes with time and not to mention the holidays.  I do get out to do a few miles of walking in the evenings around where I live.  It is just on pavement.  Ha ha.

I think I have collected most of the equipment I need for a long distance hike.  I would like to find a better summer sleeping bag, but it is not a major problem if I do not find the one I want on a deep discount.  I have great equipment that will go the distance and it is all lightweight helping to keep my pack weight down giving me a much better chance of not stressing my feet, knees and back during a long hike helping keep the risk of injury lower.

I am truly coming to appreciate hiking and camping with just the minimum equipment needed for food, shelter, and comfort.  I have come to realize that as I examine what I really need while hiking, the same principles apply in the real world as well.   We have become a nation of excess, buying our happiness with stuff.  When we look at all the trapping we collect, and how most of the stuff we have is so unnecessary and useless, it is beginning to change my thinking about materialistic crap.  I have changed my ideas of what it is to be successful and realize it is not about the accumulation of crap.  It will be interesting to see how I view this in a few years however.

So with that, my early New Years Resolution will be to update this blog more often.  I guess a good goal will be twice a month if not more.  More reviews of the trails I hike, more reviews of my equipment and maybe even more insight into myself.

So for now Mitch, Stacy, Brian, Alison, Cam, Reagan, and Nicole, thanks for the great birthday weekend camping. I miss you guys and wish I lived closer to you..........,I hope everybody had a Happy Thanksgiving with friends and family and remember to keep the compass pointed north.