Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Solo Camp #1 Pictures
My one person tent and Pico in the front.
A little snowman and animal that someone had built earlier.
Views out hiking.
My delicious freeze dried dinner and Jetboil stove.
My campsite. With snow!
My toasty campfire.
Pico freezing his butt off.
Inside the tent all cozy.
Moon view from campsite.
Reading Vogue and eating cadbury eggs!
Full Moon Hike Iron Mountain
At last, a successful full moon hike! What a fabulous evening just to be out in the chilly fresh air, enjoying the views and gorgeous full moon. I started the hike at 5:45pm. There was a group of 6 right behind me so I knew I wasn't alone. The sun was just setting so I stopped periodically to gaze at the horizon. The group behind me was chattering non-stop and I felt myself growing annoyed because I wanted to hear the animals underbrush and the birds singing or whatever other animal sounds might avail themselves, not to mention enjoying some sweet sweet silence. About 1.5 miles up, I stopped at the fork in the trail to let the group pass. The moon was just coming up over the hills in the east and what a sight to behold! Huge and orange, the moon hung suspended in the sky, hovering just above the horizon with a shimmery luminescence. I don't have adequate words to aptly describe that vision. I continued on up the mountain and stopped here and there to moon gaze. As I rounded over to the west side of the moutain, the city lights view was breath taking. Continuing on, up and up. Made it to the top and milled around for a bit and took some pictures then started the trek back down. I was so glad for my "sticks." They saved me from falling a few times. On the way up, a few people passed me going down from watching the sunset and I saw 2 people fall. They didn't have lights either. Weird. The last mile was really creepy for some reason. Portions of the trail have tall brush on either side and in the dark it was like being in a tunnel. I kept thinking about mountain lions stalking me, creepy men hiding in the bushes, snakes, and a plethora of other really stupid paranoid thoughts. When I finally got out of the tall brush, I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I started feeling very pleased with myself and my steps were jaunty. Total time was 3 hours. Next time Dennis will come with me but we'll have to go about 30 minutes earlier because of his work schedule.
Pictures posted tonight.
Pictures posted tonight.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Solo Camp #1
I had my first solo camping experience this past weekend. The reason is because Dennis's work schedule got changed and now he has Wednesday and Thursdays off instead of the weekends. Which leaves me a day late and dollar short for having a partner for outdoorsy stuff. I may or may not join a group that hikes or backpacks together- I'm still thinking about it. I may try a few outings with a meet-up group but can't promise that will work out since I am not a group centric personality ie. I don't play well with others. Essentially, I need to be able to backpack by myself. Why? Because I want to. That's the only reason I need. The first step in the process is to car camp overnight and try to get used to being by myself in the woods in the dark. Getting over that fear of what goes bump in the night will be the first hurdle. Baby steps. You may be asking why I'm giving such a detailed explanation and, the fact is, I've gotten alot of negative feedback for doing this, hence the lengthy narrative. So much so, that I'm reluctant to even share what I'm doing. I feel like I have to justify it to the nay sayers. Then I feel like crap for providing justification and the conversation turns into a long convoluted mish mash of self doubt.
ANYWAY. I car camped overnight at William Heise in Julian over the weekend- just me and Pico. I chose William Heise because I have camped there before with Dennis and I knew the lay-out and was comfortable with the surroundings. I had that nervous fluttery feeling in my stomach that I get when embarking on some new adventure. Anxiety increased as I got closer to Julian and saw there was still a bit of snow hanging around. I rolled in through the ranger check-in and the little lady said "You are a brave soul." I imagine she was referring to the cold weather but I prefer to think she was referring to my free spirit or the bold courageous step of camping by myself. I bought 4 bundles of firewood and went off to find my campsite.
The campground only had a few people here and there in RVs. There were a few kids playing in the snow. Other than that, I was the only person in a tent and the only person at all on my little loop. I got my one person tent all set up, then Pico and I went for an hour and a half hike. It was 50 degrees with gusting winds. Pico was not happy. We made it back to camp just as dusk was setting in. I built my fire using dryer lint and twigs with the firewood stacked around the little flame like a teepee. Then I made my delicious freeze dried dinner of chipotle chicken pasta with my Jetboil stove. Once that was out of the way, I sat in front of the fire with Pico on my lap and tried to stay warm. The moon was starting to rise and it cast a luminescent glow against the snow. The snow played a few tricks on my vision and I thought I saw movement but it was nothing. I thought about the Abominable Snow Man and wondered if he lurked in the hills of Julian. Pico jumped up and started barking at something down the hill, so I jumped up and grabbed my bear spray with thoughts of the Abominable Snow Man fresh in my mind. I saw a black animal slinking around down the hill and my first thought was racoon but the way it moved was too feline. Then I thought maybe it's a bobcat or maybe a small black panther. I started shouting at it "HEY!" "Go away!" I started waving my bear spray around and yelling like a banshee. It stopped and peered at my lunacy, then nonchalantly walked into the woods. Turned out to be a large persian cat. I chuckled to myself. Overreact much?
The fire burned down so Pico and I got in the tent to hunker down for the night. He had on two sweaters and I had on thermal underwear, two long sleeve shirts, two fleeces, down jacket, hiking pants, wool socks, and down booties. I had my two sleeping pads- one inflatable, one not. My zero degree down sleeping bag and an extra blanket. It was only 8pm so I read my Vogue magazine and ate my Cadbury Caramel Eggs. My thermometer said it was 40 degrees in the tent. I figure it probably got down to about 30 degrees outside. The ranger drove by every few hours so that was a comfort.
As I started drifting off to sleep, an Owl conversation started up in the trees over my campsite. There were 2 or 3 owls talking back and forth. Who who who who....who who who....who who who.... I wondered what they were talking about. I made up an Owl conversation in my head as I lay there "Who is this stupid girl camping by herself?" "What a loser, out here in the freezing cold." "She has a tasty little doggie treat though." "Wonder if we could carry him off?" Then I got annoyed and wished the Owls would stop talking so I could go to sleep.
I snapped awake sometime in the night thinking I heard someone messing with my tent zipper but it turned out to be the wind picking up again.
Next morning I got up and made the fire and had oatmeal with raisins and walnuts. I had trouble getting the Jetboil to start because it was so windy so I crouched down in the bed of the truck to protect the flame. Thought about doing it in my tent but that's a big no-no for obvious reasons.
Got everything packed up and headed on out. It was 38 degrees when we left with winds gusting, I would say, probably about 20 miles/hour. I said "Bye, William Heise. It was fun."
Then I went to Ramona and got an Angry Whopper to end another grand adventure.
I'll post some pictures tomorrow.
Next month- Solo Camp #2.
ANYWAY. I car camped overnight at William Heise in Julian over the weekend- just me and Pico. I chose William Heise because I have camped there before with Dennis and I knew the lay-out and was comfortable with the surroundings. I had that nervous fluttery feeling in my stomach that I get when embarking on some new adventure. Anxiety increased as I got closer to Julian and saw there was still a bit of snow hanging around. I rolled in through the ranger check-in and the little lady said "You are a brave soul." I imagine she was referring to the cold weather but I prefer to think she was referring to my free spirit or the bold courageous step of camping by myself. I bought 4 bundles of firewood and went off to find my campsite.
The campground only had a few people here and there in RVs. There were a few kids playing in the snow. Other than that, I was the only person in a tent and the only person at all on my little loop. I got my one person tent all set up, then Pico and I went for an hour and a half hike. It was 50 degrees with gusting winds. Pico was not happy. We made it back to camp just as dusk was setting in. I built my fire using dryer lint and twigs with the firewood stacked around the little flame like a teepee. Then I made my delicious freeze dried dinner of chipotle chicken pasta with my Jetboil stove. Once that was out of the way, I sat in front of the fire with Pico on my lap and tried to stay warm. The moon was starting to rise and it cast a luminescent glow against the snow. The snow played a few tricks on my vision and I thought I saw movement but it was nothing. I thought about the Abominable Snow Man and wondered if he lurked in the hills of Julian. Pico jumped up and started barking at something down the hill, so I jumped up and grabbed my bear spray with thoughts of the Abominable Snow Man fresh in my mind. I saw a black animal slinking around down the hill and my first thought was racoon but the way it moved was too feline. Then I thought maybe it's a bobcat or maybe a small black panther. I started shouting at it "HEY!" "Go away!" I started waving my bear spray around and yelling like a banshee. It stopped and peered at my lunacy, then nonchalantly walked into the woods. Turned out to be a large persian cat. I chuckled to myself. Overreact much?
The fire burned down so Pico and I got in the tent to hunker down for the night. He had on two sweaters and I had on thermal underwear, two long sleeve shirts, two fleeces, down jacket, hiking pants, wool socks, and down booties. I had my two sleeping pads- one inflatable, one not. My zero degree down sleeping bag and an extra blanket. It was only 8pm so I read my Vogue magazine and ate my Cadbury Caramel Eggs. My thermometer said it was 40 degrees in the tent. I figure it probably got down to about 30 degrees outside. The ranger drove by every few hours so that was a comfort.
As I started drifting off to sleep, an Owl conversation started up in the trees over my campsite. There were 2 or 3 owls talking back and forth. Who who who who....who who who....who who who.... I wondered what they were talking about. I made up an Owl conversation in my head as I lay there "Who is this stupid girl camping by herself?" "What a loser, out here in the freezing cold." "She has a tasty little doggie treat though." "Wonder if we could carry him off?" Then I got annoyed and wished the Owls would stop talking so I could go to sleep.
I snapped awake sometime in the night thinking I heard someone messing with my tent zipper but it turned out to be the wind picking up again.
Next morning I got up and made the fire and had oatmeal with raisins and walnuts. I had trouble getting the Jetboil to start because it was so windy so I crouched down in the bed of the truck to protect the flame. Thought about doing it in my tent but that's a big no-no for obvious reasons.
Got everything packed up and headed on out. It was 38 degrees when we left with winds gusting, I would say, probably about 20 miles/hour. I said "Bye, William Heise. It was fun."
Then I went to Ramona and got an Angry Whopper to end another grand adventure.
I'll post some pictures tomorrow.
Next month- Solo Camp #2.
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