Sometimes, the best adventures are the most spontaneous ones. Last Thursday, my friend Brad reached out to me to see if we could find a day to catch up. Shockingly, we quickly found out that we were both free on Saturday, two days later. We got to work figuring out what to do when Brad mentioned he hadn’t been camping/backpacking in a minute. It was a lightbulb moment for both of us and everything quickly fell into place after that.
We found a spot about halfway between the two of us on the Appalachian Trail. It had a nice little lean-to not terribly far from a parking lot. Brad is the backpacking professional, so while he mostly figured out the technical aspects/pulled together his gear, I was trying to solve the mystery of what articles of clothing I had that weren’t cotton.
Tip for new hikers/backpackers (aka myself, hey besties): As the saying goes, “cotton kills”. Wear wool clothes, which will keep you warm, even if you’re wet. Polyester is also good, but not as good as wool. I learned that the hard way in the Catskills a few years ago going camping when it was below freezing outside. Would not recommend it. For a full article on what to wear, check out REI’s post.
Friday was a day of finalizing plans and making sure we had all the food/supplies we needed. Our game plan was to backpack to the lean-to, sleep there, and then leave the next morning. Brad had some prior obligations so unfortunately, we couldn’t make it a full weekend thing. Smh.
Off we go!
Saturday was the day. I got up, finished packing everything, and then proceeded to ~hang around my house~ fully dressed for 5 hours. We were shooting to be at the place by 4 and it was only a 2-hour drive from my house. In a way, I’m grateful we weren’t able to do the full day anyway because the weather was wonky- rainy, then hailing, and then sunny, as if nothing had happened. Fortunately, by the time we had made it to the parking lot, it had mostly cleared up.
After some double-checking to make sure Brad and I had everything, we set out. Just a few miles to the lean-to, nothing too hard. The backpack was lighter than I was expecting, even with all the food and supplies in it. I think carrying around a 2013 MacBook Pro in my bookbag all throughout college definitely helped prepare me for losing my backpacking virginity. It easily weighs 5 pounds on a good day.
The Lean-To
We made it to the lean-to with plenty of daylight to spare. After chatting a bit with the other backpackers at the campsite, we set off to explore the area a bit more. A few minutes’ walk from the campsite we found a nice rocky outcropping. It was the perfect opportunity to have a good 20-minute meditation. Upon returning, we started making some dinner.
My all-time favorite hiking/camping food is the Appalachian Brick (google says it doesn’t exist?? Someone please verify you know what I’m talking about or maybe there’s another name for it). Basically, you take a ramen noodles cup, heat up the ramen as normal, and then add instant mashed potatoes and tuna. Adding some good ol’ olive oil really adds to it too. It sounds weird as heck, but I assure you it’s incredible. I’ve occasionally added chicken instead of tuna and that works equally well. There’s something about it that I can’t explain but it really is tasty.
Snow my!
While cleaning up post-dinner, it started snowing. Thick snowflakes, as large as peas, all clumped together falling softly to the ground. We could only see by the light of our headlamps at that point and it was a beautiful sight to behold. It felt like walking among the stars in the most inspiring of ways.
As the fire warmed us, Brad and I sat for a while, chatting about philosophy, religion, and life after death, for quite a while. It felt really good to have that deep chat. I view those kinds of chats as a kind of reset in the ways you think or view the world. While it felt like 2 AM, in reality, it was no later than 10 when we decided to call it a night.
Unfortunately for me, my sleep schedule does NOT enable me to fall asleep that early, and the lean-to wasn’t the most comfortable, so I was laying in my sleeping bag, wide awake, trying to find a comfortable position for about 90% of the night. That combined with the temperatures being below freezing made it hard to sleep. I was warm once putting some hand warmers in my socks. 10/10 would recommend.
At some point, I finally managed to fall asleep, and I awoke the next morning to my lean-to mates up and at ’em with the sunrise. And boy was it a gorgeous sunrise. That alone made my rough night of sleep worth it. There was a light dusting of snow over the campsite and the air felt crisp and the sunlight was just streaming through the trees. To say it was a sight to behold would be an understatement.
Backpacking Back :/
Brad and I threw together a wonderful breakfast- peaches and cream and maple brown sugar oatmeal packets, pecans, dried bananas, blueberries, and peanut butter all mixed into one hearty bowl of oatmeal. Immaculate. I think I might start making my own camping recipes book for all the random “throw-whatever-you-have-into-one-mix” types of meals.
Excited to get back on the road but sad that it meant our adventure was coming to an end, Brad and I gathered our things and headed out. At one point on the hike back, it started hailing and we just stood off the trail for a bit, enjoying the noise as the stone bounced off the land. We got back to the cars with time to spare so decided to do a few more miles, just for the sake of continuing the adventure while we still could. It was a perfectly splendid little weekend trip, full of fond memories and moments I know we’ll take with us wherever we go.
Until next time,
-MAC
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