Maybe I should have ridden all the way to Little Otter Lake but evidently I got a late start as I was reading, giggling and enjoying a bit of cannabis. Little Otter Lake would have been a new experience but I knew Pillsbury would have more dramatic views plus it was a blast riding down the hill on Old Miliary Road all the way to the Miami River. Hardwood Hill was bitch to ride over but they’ve smoothed out the washboards with some tar.

It’s possible I do a November camping trip to the East Branch or even Piseco Powley if the snow holds off but I’m sure I’m done with Perkins Clearing for the year. The season is coming to a close and in October I’ll probably do a trip to Rennselaerville and maybe Charles Baker State Forest in Madison County to ride trail but I doubt I’ll be back here. Certainly gets dark so early this time of year, it’s 7:30 and basically pitch black.

Truth is that a year isn’t that much time and while winter will be long, I’ll survive and get through it. Maybe I’ll settle down and forget about my past traveling and spending nights in the wilderness but I have my doubts even if I do end up having to replace Big Red and move to another squalid apartment in another part of the city. But I’m so ready to have a simple, small home, heated by woods and minimal technology like so many hunting cabins up this way.

Some day I’ll have my own land – my assets are growing rapidly – and I’m learning and putting together ideas on the off-grid homestead I really want but I doubt I can implement it next year so instead I’ll find myself spending as many days as possible in the wilderness, smoking pot with my cowboy hat, singing along with the Dire Wolf. I keep learning about cabin builders and I have a vision for the future but for now I have campfires, and three night stands in the wilderness.