It’s the final night of vacation ⛺

There are so many stories to be told but I think it’s been quite an adventure – visited five states, camped in three states. To be fair, I only hiked a quarter mile into Virginia hiking over Shenandoah Mountain.

The wheel bearing failed and that was a set back but mostly it was $361 plus two hours lost time as it got repaired and the stress of recognizing I might have a problem a few days earlier in West Virginia. But I did get to hike Shenandoah Mountain, camp at Camp Run, drive to the top of Spruce Knob and hike Seneca Rocks.

Today was very wet in the morning but my truck cap was dry. The tornado warning passed me by but it rained hard for a while. I am camping not under a big tree so I was less worried. Despite the campsite being fairly well drained everything is a muddy mess after an inch of rain today. 

Ran out of propane last night so I’ve been doing all my cooking and warming over the fire. Had enough pressure on the tank to run the lantern tonight but I’m sure that won’t last too long. Battery bank is low as I haven’t turned on the truck since yesterday but I’ll have enough for tonight. 

My original plans had called for going to Madison County and then to the Finger Lakes but ultimately I settled on West Virginia. Why did I go to West Virginia? Well, I needed a lantern globe and neither Walmart or Dicks Sporting Goods had one. I knew they stocked them at the Oneonta Walmart. They didn’t have the globe – I ended up buying another lantern as I needed the reliable light with the long late autumn nights. 

I also got in my mind that I really wanted to go to West Virginia the previous night, and the weather looked good. I wanted to camp and explore Dolly Sods and the Otter Creek Wilderness more too. Plus Cumberland Maryland which I did. Ultimately I decided not to get off at Sidney exit and proceeded to Binghamton and ultimately to Pennsylvania and West Virginia. 

I admit the Finger Lakes would have been a hell of a lot closer. Saved a shit ton on gasoline. Probably the wheel bearing would have survived that trip with fewer miles and hairpin turns. It would have failed eventually though, hopefully much closer to home. I would have gotten propane had I gone to the Finger Lakes – I knew the tank was low, it was filled 13 camping nights ago – which is fine in the summer but not when the nights are long and cold and I’m using the lantern and especially the propane heater so much – although the second half of the week was quite mild.

Tonight I will take down the tarp and will probably leave fairly early tomorrow morning, hoping to beat the snow and rain midday tomorrow. I’ll have to stop for coffee on the way home as no way to easily make it without propane – no fire tomorrow. I could stay another night, but I’m tired, I am muddy and dirty a week without a shower and I want to get home, unpacked and ready to reflect and move on with my life post the great autumn trip of 2021.