I refunded the sleeping bag I had last post, switched it out for a 35F rated bag that was way smaller and fit into my panniers. My setup is in the second picture, and yeah the weight on my back was a bit rough. I think the bike had 20-25lbs of stuff, my backpack had like 20lbs. Awful weight distribution too, I know. BUT I DID IT!
The trailhead wasn’t far, only about 20mi from my house, but christ I underestimated some of the hills on the way there especially with all of that backloaded weight, absolutely killed my legs (and sadly had to walk my bike a couple of times). I brought 4 0.5L water bottles (one frozen to keep my veggie sausage cold) and a 0.7L reusable water bottle I thrifted. A kind man running an auto shop let me refill my water before going down the road beyond gas stations.
Honestly I didn’t spend much time in the park itself. This place probably looks beautiful when it’s green, but it was really grey this time of year (of course some parts were still very pretty). It’s still quite wet there, and I didn’t have knobby tires, so I parked my bike, hiked around a bit, found a spot to camp, and then walked my bike there. Was my first time setting up a tent, so I wrestled with it for a while until I found the instructions on the inside of the bag (woops). Tried to start a fire, failed, and just used the firestart cubes I brought. The fire required constant attention to keep alive (especially since the forest was quite wet), so I had to abruptly put down my veggie sausage and rush around to find dry twigs many times. I was able to keep it going for a little while, and enjoy my veggie sausage (though I tragically forgot mustard).
The sleeping pad and bag were more comfortable than I expected. I’ve slept on hard floors quite a few times, and this walmart sleeping bag, pad, and tent were luxurious by comparison. I’m a side-sleeper though so I definitely felt the disadvantages of a bag compared to a quilt, and my neck was pretty uncomfortable–a bit mitigated by using a coat as a pillow. Nightfall looked so cool, something about the darkening blue sky with my crappy little fire increasingly dwarfed by the forest and darkness was just nice, if slightly terrifying (only got a crappy blurry photo of). The sounds of the forest, especially the trees in the wind, made me feel small. I heard and saw no one, and for once I was in a place untouched by the sound of traffic.
I was tired enough I fell asleep at 9pm — I woke up a lot and I think it dipped to 35F or lower at night, so I quickly went from comfortable to pretty cold. I just put layers on and slept through it as best I could, toes got a bit numb. By sunrise, it was cold enough that I didn’t want to do anything but stay in the sleeping bag, so I only pulled myself out of bed by like 9am or so when it warmed just a bit more. I brought stuff to spend time with like books, a notebook, a drawing pad, etc. — but I didn’t do any of that, not this time anyways. I packed up, following the ‘leave no trace’ principles.
As uncomfortable and exerting as it all was, it was so damn cool, it was serene, and I loved it. I did so much wrong, but I’m so glad I’m doing things. The ride home was mostly downhill, which was nice. I’m still quite sore, and although I’m fatigued I’m also energized and inspired. Thank you all for the advice from my last post!
narkohammer on
Nice! Would you do anything different next time?
calvin4224 on
Sound like you had a great time! Love the campfire to make the sausage part
Ambitious-Laugh-7884 on
learn and grow but make sure you don’t stop making mistakes……..
4 Comments
I refunded the sleeping bag I had last post, switched it out for a 35F rated bag that was way smaller and fit into my panniers. My setup is in the second picture, and yeah the weight on my back was a bit rough. I think the bike had 20-25lbs of stuff, my backpack had like 20lbs. Awful weight distribution too, I know. BUT I DID IT!
The trailhead wasn’t far, only about 20mi from my house, but christ I underestimated some of the hills on the way there especially with all of that backloaded weight, absolutely killed my legs (and sadly had to walk my bike a couple of times). I brought 4 0.5L water bottles (one frozen to keep my veggie sausage cold) and a 0.7L reusable water bottle I thrifted. A kind man running an auto shop let me refill my water before going down the road beyond gas stations.
Honestly I didn’t spend much time in the park itself. This place probably looks beautiful when it’s green, but it was really grey this time of year (of course some parts were still very pretty). It’s still quite wet there, and I didn’t have knobby tires, so I parked my bike, hiked around a bit, found a spot to camp, and then walked my bike there. Was my first time setting up a tent, so I wrestled with it for a while until I found the instructions on the inside of the bag (woops). Tried to start a fire, failed, and just used the firestart cubes I brought. The fire required constant attention to keep alive (especially since the forest was quite wet), so I had to abruptly put down my veggie sausage and rush around to find dry twigs many times. I was able to keep it going for a little while, and enjoy my veggie sausage (though I tragically forgot mustard).
The sleeping pad and bag were more comfortable than I expected. I’ve slept on hard floors quite a few times, and this walmart sleeping bag, pad, and tent were luxurious by comparison. I’m a side-sleeper though so I definitely felt the disadvantages of a bag compared to a quilt, and my neck was pretty uncomfortable–a bit mitigated by using a coat as a pillow. Nightfall looked so cool, something about the darkening blue sky with my crappy little fire increasingly dwarfed by the forest and darkness was just nice, if slightly terrifying (only got a crappy blurry photo of). The sounds of the forest, especially the trees in the wind, made me feel small. I heard and saw no one, and for once I was in a place untouched by the sound of traffic.
I was tired enough I fell asleep at 9pm — I woke up a lot and I think it dipped to 35F or lower at night, so I quickly went from comfortable to pretty cold. I just put layers on and slept through it as best I could, toes got a bit numb. By sunrise, it was cold enough that I didn’t want to do anything but stay in the sleeping bag, so I only pulled myself out of bed by like 9am or so when it warmed just a bit more. I brought stuff to spend time with like books, a notebook, a drawing pad, etc. — but I didn’t do any of that, not this time anyways. I packed up, following the ‘leave no trace’ principles.
As uncomfortable and exerting as it all was, it was so damn cool, it was serene, and I loved it. I did so much wrong, but I’m so glad I’m doing things. The ride home was mostly downhill, which was nice. I’m still quite sore, and although I’m fatigued I’m also energized and inspired. Thank you all for the advice from my last post!
Nice! Would you do anything different next time?
Sound like you had a great time! Love the campfire to make the sausage part
learn and grow but make sure you don’t stop making mistakes……..