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.
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