Sunday, June 10, 2012

Suburban camping

My schedule and family life have been crazy lately, but I needed to get out and spend a night under the stars. The mission was to find some wooded area right here in the suburbs, not marked with "no trespassing" or other such verbiage.  Since I was staying close and I knew I'd be off-roading, I opted to load up Frank for this trip. I didn't take many pictures, mostly because I really felt like shutting down all the parts of my brain that had anything to do with electronics.

I started with some fishing on the way out at a spot close to home. I caught bluegill by the dozen, and brought in the biggest red-eared slider I've ever seen (not even close to the size of a snapper, but big for a slider). I threw them all back in.

fishing

Then, I was off to find that perfect spot. I've been doing a lot of Google Maps Recon and I had a bunch of ideas for places to go. This seemed like a good place to set up camp for the night, despite being able to hear a deck party going on at a nearby $800,000 home.
site

Even before the sun was all the way down, it was getting pretty dark in the area I'd chosen. I only had one bottle of water with me, and I'd powered through most of it already. I went to a nearby stream with my water filter, got enough water for the rest of the trip, heated up dinner then called it a night.
stove

It was a really short trip. I don't know if I'll use the same spot ever again but there are many others nearby to try. I needed it, though.
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2 comments:

  1. ApertomeJune 12, 2012 4:01 PM

    Fun, I think. I can't decide whether I'd enjoy camping right in town like that. I think it might make me a little nervous. But I can think of some areas that would probably have good spots. It's cool that you had an excellent fishing spot.

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  2. NoahJune 12, 2012 4:40 PM

    Well, the spot I chose was adjacent to an unpaved path through the woods that probably wasn't even official, but had been trampled on enough to be a path. My site was far enough off the path that when obscured by my mosquito net, it was invisible. As a matter of fact, I had trouble finding my spot again after I went to fetch water! My real worry was Poison Ivy. When I was a little kid, I was completely immune to it, and I'd often get it all over myself and then cause really bad reactions in my parents or friends.

    I have still never had a reaction, but when I see it, I avoid it just to be safe. As the sun went down, it became difficult to see what kinds of plant life lay in the underbrush.

    There was a little bit of a thrill in "ninja camping" in an area like this. My previous forays had been off the beaten path in rural areas or in parks without marked campsites, and it was ages ago.

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