Sunday, December 16, 2012

One Pretty Frickin Miserable Night!



Dreamer here-

A week or so ago, Team TNT packed up and camped overnight for our first winter shake down trip.  Yep, it was “One Pretty Frickin Miserable Night!”  The temperature was below freezing and it was wet!  Very cold and very wet!  However, with the bad news out of the way, here is the good news; our night out was a total success!  We were able to test our clothing and equipment under some severe conditions.  Not the most severe mind you, but non-the-less, nasty!  Without a doubt, not the kind of night your average crazy person would say, “Hey honey, want to go out camping tonight?  And your honey, say sure, let’s go!”

We packed up using our “Clothing & Equipment” spreadsheet.  (Same list we will be using when we get started on our journey in 76 days!)  I discovered right away, that I have some work to do on my spreadsheet.  But like many things that night, it is all a learning and growing experience.  The bottom line on clothing and equipment was we didn’t have much we didn’t use and nothing was left at home that we should have had.

Packs weighed: Tom = 26#’s, Terri = 20#’s and Charlie = 5#’s.  Not bad, considering this was a cold weather pack.  The only thing that we would have had more of was food; we only had one dinner and one breakfast rather than the 4 or 5 we will be carrying on the A.T.  Weight wise, we are right on track.

There were many lessons learned; but, the one worth mentioning here was condensation in our (Henry Shires Tarptent, Rainshadow II).  Partly, it was weather conditions (Less than 32 degrees, very damp and now breeze to speak of.)  I believe the biggest problem was my fault.  Our tarptent can be set up at various heights depending on weather conditions.  I set it up low because it was so cold.  But I should have set it high in order to encourage better ventilation.  With it being so cold on the outside and three warm beings inside, condensation to some degree is going to happen in any single walled tent.  We’ll pitch it different next time and see if there is a difference.

Our new cook system using the Caldera Cone was excellent!  It keeps the cook pot very stable and the cone makes the fuel as efficient as possible.  It takes about 1 1/2cc’s to boil 600 cc’s of water.  We cooked two of Terri’s new recipes: spicy black beans and rice, and chicken turkey au gratin.  They were both fantastic!!!

The bottom line, it was a long tough night!  We went to bed when it got dark (about 6pm) and stayed in the tent for 13 hours getting up a 7am.  What made it tough was Charlie.  He didn’t want to lay in his sleeping bag, so he was shivering.  And he was shivering because he wouldn’t lie in his bag!  The problem was he simply was not tired.  When he and I backpacked last summer, he slept like a rock every night because he was so tired.  Next time we go out, we’ll have to run him around for a while first!!

Check out the video from our experience.   
Click on the link here:  http://youtu.be/0GIqKQMBzaI

Enjoy,

~Dreamer


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