A Camping Trip – in Status Updates
A number of my friends prefer not to access FaceBook, or have not “friended” me in that environment. If you are such a person, this page is for you: I have been having wilderness adventures, and the lines below are the little things that I posted to FaceBook in the course of those adventures.
30 September, 2012
Wilderness camping for six days! Deep forest, solitude, and a chance of moose sightings. Maybe bear. Warm and sunny the first day, but temperatures will drop mid-week with 40% chance of rain. 1 Ending sunny and cold. I am totally looking forward to this.
Second post, same day:
Ummm... I just counted: I am playing online Scrabble with seventeen different people. If you are one of them, please note that, as per my previous status, I’m going into the wilderness for six days, and have no idea whether there is any cellular signal there. No signal, no Scrabble. But... to quote the Terminator, “I’ll be back.”
1 October, 2012 – at Moon Lake in Riding Mountain National Park
Wonder of wonders! As remote as this place is, there is a cellular signal! But Scrabble partners: don’t look for me to play too many turns! This place is for hiking and campfires.
A picture of the campsite accompanied this post. See below.
2 October, 2012
the lake sparkled in the wind...
extra comment: same day
If we were to put rugged outdoorsmanship on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is being a couch potato and 10 is walking to the North Pole, in my imagination I am about a 9. But reality rudely sticks its foot in and I realize that at most I am a 5. Hardier than some, but I’m really grateful for previously cleared campsites, trails that have been blazed with the deadfall removed, and the ability to have a heavy well-stocked cooler back at the campsite!
3 October 2012
Rain all night, winds gusting up to 70 km/h., and flakes of snow in the rain. Forecast for tomorrow: snow. Friday: snow and rain. I’m only so tough. I was comfortable sleeping last night, but camping in snow? And no chance of drying out my equipment before I’m due back home? Looks like today is the time to go home... but despite being cut short, this campout has been absolutely wonderful.
extra comment: same day
As I finished packing up, and while sitting in the car watching the waves of the lake being whipped into a frenzy, and the snow flying, I checked the weather forecast once more... and it had worsened. 5 cm. of snow promised, with more to come. Yup, good thing I packed up when I did!
4 October, 2012 - back in Winnipeg
Comfortably established once more at home in my big lazyboy, watching the winter storm develop outside, I’m wondering how the heck I’m going to dry out my camping stuff... in an apartment... in this! Should I set up the soaking tent in the livingroom maybe?
Campsite at Riding Mountain – two days before the snow fell |
FOOTNOTES:
1 I was quoting reliable weather reports here. The actual weather turned out to be much more of a challenge. See the post for October 3 – only two days into the camping trip! – and the accompanying ‘extra comment’!
Click here to get back to the Sept. 30 post.