Girly Girl GF and SUL BF world’s collide, our first overnight together. Bull’s Bridge on the AT.
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Been planning on taking the GF out for her first overnight for some time now…a B-day present to me from her. I decided on taking her to Bull's Bridge on the AT neat Kent, CT. It was only a 1:15 drive away from home, a mile hike in to the site on easy terrain, outhouses, a hand pump well and the scenic river near by.
Her EMS day pack, all in including her clothes plus & toiletries. was 12 pounds. My GG Mariposa weighed in at 22lbs all in (I had 3.5l of water on me plus my food, both sleeping bags, both sleeping pads, tent, stove.)
The water on the river was MOVIN':
The kayakers were loving it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z84PSi18J6M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HStnyttWOnYWe eventually got down to the water and took a self portrait. Instead of saying "say cheese!" I said "say cathole!" and this was her reaction….I then told her the definition of said word. :p
We got the Tarptent Squall II up with the help of some rocks. It was great for us two, no complaints. This was Kathleen after her first experience peeing outside, a tramatic experience, but she was a trooper and repeated the ritual twice more:
Next it was time for dinner with the help of my Heiny stove in Alcohol mode. I took the Alcohol instead of Weber stsarter cubes because it was a little cleaner and it was nice to have on hand if I needed help w/ the camp fire:
Here is the Ten Mile River Shelter with two other hikers who spent the night there:
Little campfire w/ the help of some dryer lint:
Little morning walk:
There were about 20 boy scouts and their fathers at a nearby site. We caught them heading out. This guy wins the award for "biggest pack Bryce has every seen:"
Kathleen modeling my JRB Balaclava:
Caterpillar:
Heading home:
So…we're still together (:p), we did it together, and I'm very proud of her. We'll try to get out some more over time balancing her wants and mine. Maybe some paddling too.
Comments on my gear:
– JRB Sierra Stealth (rated to 40F). Well it prob is true to it's rating, I believe it hit 40F last night and I was chilly in the morning as I sleep cold. I had on my hiking pants, a long sleep EMS syn shirt, down JRB Balaclava and down JRB sleeves. (I put on the hat and sleeves in the middle of the night). (Kathleen was cozy in my Marmut Helium)
– GG 1/8 thinlight pad. I guess it worked for increasing bottom insulation, not much for padding.
– GG Nightlight Sleeping Pad . Not enjoying this at all. It's just long enough, but as a side sleeper it doesn't cut it, too uncomfy….and fragile! Sheesh, it's already ripping where they scored it into thirds. And I've only slept on it twice. I'll be taking my NeoAir Short and cutting it down instead.
– TarpTent Squall 2. It was very good. I prob need to get a little faster with pitching it, but once it was up and running it was well suited for Kathleen (5-6) and I (5-10) and we were able to store gear inside (not in the vestibule)
All photos can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.638760816216.2127033.17506531&l=809bb001e2&type=1Can't believe I forgot this…ya see, we were faced with a huge bear growling around our tent just after we setup. 4 cans of bear spray, loud whistles, and screaming at the top of our lungs could not deter the beast…so as a last ditch effort we luckily scared him off with our faces. He turedn and ran away as fast as he could:
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