Mineral Wells State Park- Camp night 12
After working 12.5 hours, I got off work Weds morning at 6AM, went home, got four hours of sleep, and then headed out for a quick overnighter. My friend and coworker came along. He's not done much true backpacking, but he's game to come along sometimes.
The two hour drive to Mineral Wells seemed to pass fairly quickly, and we got to the trailhead around 5 PM. It was hot, very humid, and the clouds promised to dump on us while we made the two mile hike back to our campsite.
The tent I found on my last adventure is the one on the left. It turned out to be a pretty decent tent, and will probably be what I use most for the rest of the year. My wishlist contains a TarpTent Rainbow, but it will have to wait for now.
Fires are not allowed in the "backcountry" of Mineral Wells, so I removed the firering someone had left in our campsite.
It rained on us before supper, but it felt refreshing after the sweaty hike. For supper I used a ramen noodle package (not using the flavor pack) as a base, added a cup of boiling water, some Knorr vegetable mix (with dehydrated veggies) and shredded some hard salami into it. Once everything was added to a quart size freezer bag, I set it aside in my knit cap to cook. I brought my homemade alcohol stove made from a potted meat tin, and it boiled the water in just over six minutes.
After another shower, the clouds cleared away and we had a clear view of the stars and the glow of Weatherford and the Metroplex to the east. We spent the night talking and stargazing, and my coworker slightly amazed me when he correctly named Arcturus with a glance at the sky. I don't know why it amazed me, but it did.
Inside my new tent for the night, I didn't bother unrolling my sleeping bag. Instead I just fell asleep on my pad, and was comfortable through most of the night in just shorts and socks. Before dawn I draped my lightweight rain jacket over my legs, and spread my tee shirt over my torso and was warm. This was probably some of the best backcountry sleep I've had in several trips.
The next morning I got up sometime after six and toasted a bagel over my little stove, and topped it with some cheese and more of the salami. It was a pretty decent breakfast. Speaking of food, eating out of the grocery store has saved me quite a bit of money, and has been tasty. My total food cost for food I ate while actually backpacking on this trip was under $5, and all came from the stash of food I keep for trips. It is really nice and easy to be able to just reach into my stash at home, do some quick menu work and leave. My friend wanted to see what dehydrated and freeze dried backpacking food (Mountain House/ Backpacker's Pantry) were like now and spent over $10 on his food.
After eating, I took a few more photos, tore down my half of camp, and spent some time reading Aldo Leopold's Sand County Almanac. The man was way ahead of his time, and I'm pretty sure this is going to be one of those books that changes my life. I highly suggest it.
My friend didn't crawl out of his tent until after nine, so we got a late start on the hiking. We did another five miles, getting rained on in parts. Everything was very lush and blooming. It was so rich smelling, that it was almost rancid. There were also more than a few ticks.
Like I said, he's not really set up to backpack, but he is game... Which is more than I can say for a lot of my friends.
It was a pretty decent, quick trip, though sadly it will probably be my last backpacking until I try to climb Wheeler Peak, New Mexico the last week of June. Money is now a little tight for this month. Sadly, it cost us $20 to camp within earshot of the highway and with the glow of Fort Worth dimming the stars. New Mexico has started to ruin me.
The two hour drive to Mineral Wells seemed to pass fairly quickly, and we got to the trailhead around 5 PM. It was hot, very humid, and the clouds promised to dump on us while we made the two mile hike back to our campsite.
The tent I found on my last adventure is the one on the left. It turned out to be a pretty decent tent, and will probably be what I use most for the rest of the year. My wishlist contains a TarpTent Rainbow, but it will have to wait for now.
Fires are not allowed in the "backcountry" of Mineral Wells, so I removed the firering someone had left in our campsite.
It rained on us before supper, but it felt refreshing after the sweaty hike. For supper I used a ramen noodle package (not using the flavor pack) as a base, added a cup of boiling water, some Knorr vegetable mix (with dehydrated veggies) and shredded some hard salami into it. Once everything was added to a quart size freezer bag, I set it aside in my knit cap to cook. I brought my homemade alcohol stove made from a potted meat tin, and it boiled the water in just over six minutes.
After another shower, the clouds cleared away and we had a clear view of the stars and the glow of Weatherford and the Metroplex to the east. We spent the night talking and stargazing, and my coworker slightly amazed me when he correctly named Arcturus with a glance at the sky. I don't know why it amazed me, but it did.
Inside my new tent for the night, I didn't bother unrolling my sleeping bag. Instead I just fell asleep on my pad, and was comfortable through most of the night in just shorts and socks. Before dawn I draped my lightweight rain jacket over my legs, and spread my tee shirt over my torso and was warm. This was probably some of the best backcountry sleep I've had in several trips.
The next morning I got up sometime after six and toasted a bagel over my little stove, and topped it with some cheese and more of the salami. It was a pretty decent breakfast. Speaking of food, eating out of the grocery store has saved me quite a bit of money, and has been tasty. My total food cost for food I ate while actually backpacking on this trip was under $5, and all came from the stash of food I keep for trips. It is really nice and easy to be able to just reach into my stash at home, do some quick menu work and leave. My friend wanted to see what dehydrated and freeze dried backpacking food (Mountain House/ Backpacker's Pantry) were like now and spent over $10 on his food.
After eating, I took a few more photos, tore down my half of camp, and spent some time reading Aldo Leopold's Sand County Almanac. The man was way ahead of his time, and I'm pretty sure this is going to be one of those books that changes my life. I highly suggest it.
My friend didn't crawl out of his tent until after nine, so we got a late start on the hiking. We did another five miles, getting rained on in parts. Everything was very lush and blooming. It was so rich smelling, that it was almost rancid. There were also more than a few ticks.
Like I said, he's not really set up to backpack, but he is game... Which is more than I can say for a lot of my friends.
It was a pretty decent, quick trip, though sadly it will probably be my last backpacking until I try to climb Wheeler Peak, New Mexico the last week of June. Money is now a little tight for this month. Sadly, it cost us $20 to camp within earshot of the highway and with the glow of Fort Worth dimming the stars. New Mexico has started to ruin me.
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