Camping
What I Like To Do Around Camp
People sometimes ask what I like to do while camping⛺ Besides sitting by the fire and listening to the spring peepers and the birds,🐸 I also will often put on some music or a podcast, especially in the evening.
In the day time I like to cook – I actually like camp cooking better than at home as I’m not distracted by all the other things going on at home. 🍳I also spend a lot of time reading as camping often is a long distraction free time for me. Lately I’ve been spending more time writing, 📚as I’m trying to capture more of my thoughts and experiences in words.
Camping in the wilderness is a chance to get away from all the noise and problems that are inherent in living in the city.
These past few weekends have been major bummers 🏕
These past few weekends have been major bummers 🏕
I’ve been hoping for a nice weekend to get up into the wilderness before black fly season got underway, but every weekend this April since the Easter holiday has been worse — and each weekend seems to get cloudier, cooler and rainer. Two weekends ago, I could have gotten out of town, and it would have been fine, but the forecast was wet. Last weekend was okay, until Saturday night when it absolutely poured. And then this weekend’s forecast.
At some point my luck will change. Indeed, Mothers Day Weekend might be a good one, as my parents aren’t going to be in town, and maybe depending when they get the state budget done, I can take off that Friday with just credited time. Black flies, if I decide to go up north might be bad. But maybe I’ll do Schoharie, especially if I get my bike working, it could be a lot of fun to ride some of the roads out there.
Changes I’m Making to My Coolers This SUmmer
When I camp, I always like to have a fresh supply of fish, meat, vegetables, milk and cheese. I’ve long used two coolers in the warmest part of summer, one for drinks like bee, and condiments that are less critical to stay cold, and one for milk and meat which must remain cold for the weekend but only will be opened occasionally over the trip.
This year, I am changing a few things….
Old Plastic Coffee Containers rather then Milk Jugs
The coffee containers when snapped shut, generally do not leak water at all. They do “sweat” from the moisture being attracted to the cold, but they don’t leak or leave the bottom of the cooler swamped with water.
Salt-Water rather then Regular Water
Salt water freezes at a lower temperature then regular water. That means more energy is stored in the water, which means it will thaw out slower, drawing more energy out of the surrounding foods, keeping them cooler longer then they would otherwise be, ensuring that even on the hottest long-summer weekends, the coolers will remain cold.
Solo Camping in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
The UP looks like a nice place to explore, with all the sand and woods. Probably a lot like the area around Chase Lake in the Western Adirondacks or Moose River Plains, only larger and flatter.
AirBNB, Travel and Staying in Random People’s Homes
AirBNB, Travel and Staying in Random People’s Homes. 🏡
Lately they’re has been a lot of promotion of an article about how to find secret cameras in AirBNB homes. I get it, you own a house and your renting it out, you might want to make sure nobody is destroying your property while your gone. But I think it’s generally just creepy to be staying in some random person’s home or even a hotel. While I sometimes stay in hotels or other people’s houses for work, it certainly would not be my choice if I could avoid it during travel.
I just much prefer to be camping in the wilderness then in any urban area. I like to be able to have fires, make as much noise as I want, stay up late. Chances are except for walking back in the woods and getting caught on some random hunters’ game camera, no one is going to be watching me, and I won’t be sitting on some person’s sofa with bed bugs or who know what ever else you might find in someone’s house. If I spill something in the wilderness, and I can’t fully clean it up, it doesn’t matter, as it will either rot or get eaten by the wildlife.
33 Nights I Camped in 2022
This was a tough year for getting out of town. My truck was getting creaking and old, rusted and always in risk of breaking down, though the only failure I had on vacation and that was a stupid loose lug-nut. But with high gas prices, inflation, and my desire to invest more in the markets, kept me home more then most other recent years. I also focused on destinations where I could camp for multiple nights, after parking my truck and leaving the engine off to save fuel. Many of the prime weekends of the year were raining.
Ultimately I camped 33 nights, which is about normal for me, though the trips were longer and closer to home.
My first camping trip of the year started out in February during President’s Day Weekend, February 20-22 at Rensselaerville State Forest. Winter camping and skiing, took a walk down to the explore the new OSI Parcel that will eventually be added to the state forest.
Second trip of the year was up to the East Branch Sacandaga River, April 22-24, which is always my big April trip complete with a big bonfire, hiking along the East Branch and back to the Gorge Falls.
Third trip of the year was to Piseco-Powley Road’s House Pond Campsite, three nights, June 17-19, including exploring this previously unknown to me swimming hole. Had another big fire, spent a lot of time at the swimming hole across the way. Also visited the potholers a couple of times in the evening.
Then from June 19-21, I moved up the road to Powley Place Campsite 9 for two nights. Hiked back to Goldmine Stream Falls and then on Tuesday hiked back to Big Alderbed.
The forth trip of the year was July 16-19th which I camped up Campsite 5 on Piseco-Powley Road, about a mile north of the Potholers. I don’t love this campsite, as much as House Pond but it was still within walking distance from the Potholers, and is remote enough that I can listen to music as loud as I want, have big fires and shoot guns.
Fifth trip of the year was the Finger Lakes National Forest, camping off old Chicken Co-Op Road from July 30 to August 8, as my GPS likes to call it. Stayed at the same campsite all week, alternating between trips away from camp and staying in camp, mostly to save fuel and reduce costs. Brought my kayak, paddled Cayuta Lake. Spent a lot of time at Watkins Glen State Park. Had that loose lug nut on my truck.
Sixth trip of the year was to the Adirondacks, Labor Day Weekend and the Friday before, September 2-5th, namely that campsite in Perkins Clearing on Hardwood Hill up above Spectulator where I have excellent cell reception and can work remote. It was kind of a lazy trip with lots of clams, sweet corn and beer, though that Friday I worked remote and was busy with work, and then did day hikes from camp, specifically exploring Mud Lake Road, where I ran into a family of bears. It poured on Labor Day when I took down camp.
Seventh trip was a mid September remote-working trip up to Rensselearville State Forest, one of a series of three autumn trips up to the state forest only about 40 minutes from home. I chose to go there as I knew I could get home quickly if necessary with work being so busy, plus knowing I could get home if there was something I couldn’t do with my data plan on my cellphone. I think the dates were that Friday when I remote worked — September 16-19th.
My eight trip was Columbus Day Weekend, Friday October 7 to Monday the 10th. I had originally planned to head up to the Adirondacks, but on my way up north, around Glenville I noticed my truck was swaying more then I would like around the corners, despite just recently being checked out at the shop. Plus heading up to the Adirondacks meant I would have dead spots, which was bad when I was supposed to be remote working, supervising three major political campaigns across the state. So I turned around and headed up to the Heldebergs. Ended up going to Rensselaerville State Forest again, for a colorful trip, especially when I hiked along Cheese Hill Road to the new OSI Parcel overlooking the Catskill Mountains and rural lands of Schoharie County and Potter Hollow. I probably should have brought my gun and got my hunting license, but I was constantly on the phone dealing with one crisis or another for work. Also spent Columbus Day hiking around Huyck Preserve for the bulk of the day before heading home, showering and going out to visit the folks.
My ninth trip of the year was back to Rensselaerville State Forest. This trip was planned to be there, the last week of Friday to Sunday, October 28-30th, while working heavily remote as the political campaigns I was managing was in their last stretch. It was kind of a chilly weekend and busy with work. But I had my heater, and I did find time to get out and walk, as the colors faded away. It was a nice weekend but it reminded me that autumn was certainly on the way.
The tenth trip of the year was back to the East Branch Sacandaga River. Hike back along the Stewart Creek Trail and camped for two fairly cold nights from Thursday December 8 – Saturday December 10th. Came back a day early as I wanted to check to see if I had jury duty. It wasn’t a bad weekend but everything was first cold from the previous day rain, and then everything was icy once things froze up. But I stayed warm by the campsite.
The eleventh and final trip of the year was to Rensselaerville State Forest, right where I started the year close to home. The snow was deep this time, some 2 feet deep with an even deeper snow bank to dig through. But I hot tented there for two nights, from Tuesday December 20-Thursday December 22. This was the only trip of the year when I didn’t camp in my truck.
Conclusions
I wouldn’t rank this as my greatest year ever, with the most adventures. But I made the best of the situation with inflation increasing the price of camping supplies and fuel for my big jacked up truck, which became more unreliable. Work was super busy with all those campaigns. The weather was often bad for the prime weekends of the year. But I made the best of the year.