Guess who is once again drinking coffee out of a Nalgene bottle because he left his coffee cup in his pickup truck? I went down and brought all my bedding and personal supplies in my backpack to my truck and got the food I needed for breakfast and once again forgot the cup. At least I hauled a lot of gear back to the truck. And you can drink coffee quicker out of a Nalgene bottle. And it’s a hell of a lot classier then drinking coffee out of a beer can, like I have done in the past. I also forgot (again) to bring Styrofoam plates up the mountain, which meant I had to eat eggs and sausage out of the hot frying pan.

I emptied out the bucket shitter in deep in the woods, away from the campsite. The soil is very shallow on Cotton Hill — while I could dig a cat hole about 3 inches deep, after that it’s all solid bedrock. I can understand why this land was abandoned for farming. At one time it may have had more soil but agricultural tilling probably wrecked it. I had three days of shit and toilet paper to bury, but I was able to dig a wide hole, build a mound of dirt over it, and throw a log and brush over top. Hopefully that will keep wildlife from digging it up. In retrospect, I probably should have just burned the paper rather dumping it in the bucket and burying it. I prefer my bucket with the toilet seat, as it means digging only one cat hole, it’s comfortable, and I can bring it right to the campsite, especially at night to avoid wandering in the woods. Burned my camp garbage this morning, as I didn’t want to haul the shit covered garbage bag that was in the bucket down the mountain. Usually I don’t burn garbage in the woods except in the evening when a roaring fire to fully incinerate the plastics but I carefully picked out anything that didn’t burn from the fireplace. I stayed well upwind and used some twigs to get it roaring. Yeah, I’m a dirty hick.

Last night was pretty delightful but a bit cool. Lots of stars, and don’t worry with the candlelight I had the flag appropriately illuminated. and played lots of good music and podcasts. With the Big Buddy heater and ample sleeping bags stayed plenty warm. Saw four people all weekend, two camped on the other side of the mountain.

All I have left now to bring down the mountain is the empty water bottle, a mostly empty propane tank, and my chair. Should be much easier then before. The campsite is cleaner then when I found it and the fireplace built up much better. The flag is down, this camping trip is coming to an end. I probably will hike to the Cliffs of Middleburgh as I have some extra time and I’m only 27 miles or 40 minutes from home.

The next camping trip in April may be to the Delaware Wild Forest, so I can do some trout fishing down by Roscoe in the Beaver Kill. I do need to get a fishing license as mine expires next Friday. Friday is April 1st which opens trout season. I won’t be able to do this trip opening day but maybe mid month. But for trout fishing locally on opening day, looking at a cloudy day with a chance of showers around 56 degrees with high water levels on most local creeks.

But for the rest of today, mostly sunny with clouds then rain creeping in late around 54. Sunset at 7:18 pm tonight. Have a great rest of your Easter!