I wanted to practice the PCT method of bear bag hanging this weekend, and my campsite had a perfect tree. You want your food at least 10' high, 4' away from the trunk, and 4' below the branch so critters can't get it. I thought I would like the Knotless PCT Method and had made myself a little piece of PVC like in the video, but with 4 days of food, the bag was heavy enough to make it really difficult for me to undo the rope wrapped around the PVC, so I went back to using a stick like everyone else does. If the rope is too tight to undo in the morning, you can just break the stick and your food will come back down to the ground.
I won't always have big mature trees with perfect branches in the MN woods, but I can adapt the method to keep critters from getting my food and, more importantly, keep them from associating people with food.
Here's a close-up of the bag with a stick tied into the rope so it prevents the rest of the rope from going through the carabiner, leaving the bag suspended in mid-air.
I'm a bit out of practice when it comes to camping, but I do remember how nice it is to have a table nearby for eating, reading, and spreading out stuff. The campsites on the Superior Hiking Trail have benches, which will be nice, too.
My site also had a nice view of the fire tower, though I couldn't climb up it since it was locked. This is a primitive campground with no water or electricity, so I didn't even think about checking for a security light when I set up. On a bicycle tour a couple of years ago, Jeff and I had to move our tent because of those things on a few occasions, so I was unhappy to see one not far from the pit toilets long after I'd set up my tent. Our freestanding tent was much easier to move than this one, so I resigned myself to having a bright nightlight.
The tent was a bit cozy, which I'd expected, but I was trying to set up like I would in a rainstorm (getting me and everything in the tent as quickly as possible while trying to keep everything in the pack dry). Getting my big air mattress aired up while I was in the tent with it was awkward--kind of like trying to carry too many helium balloons into an elevator. The mattress takes up most of the floor space of the tiny tent, but I was sitting on the floor trying to air it up around me and then scoot it under me. Me and everything, including the pack, all fit, but it was becoming clear that it was going to be difficult to fully pack and unpack everything with me and all that stuff in the tent at the same time.
Dinner was Wild Carrot Salad with pineapple and currents from Packit Gourmet. Tasty, but I wished I had brought along some chicken to throw in to counteract the sweetness and make the meal more satisfying. I like rehydrated carrots and put them in a lot of my homemade camping meals since they add extra chewiness, but since I wasn't super hungry, chewing a giant pile of mostly-rehydrated carrots was just a lot of work, and I ended up not being able to finish the meal. This would be a good size to share with someone else as a side dish (or in tortillas) or to eat by yourself when you're really hungry and is probably best on hot days when cool vegetables will be more appreciated. As it was, I ended up making a big bottle of hot tea right after dinner to help keep my hands warm.
Soon after sunset the temps started dropping and, I settled myself into my tent, checked for any messages on my phone, and tucked myself in, happy to be in my cozy sleeping bag. At some point in the night, though, the wind really picked up and changed directions, coming in through the ventilated bottom of the door of the tent. I made a little wall with some of my stuff to limit the chill, and the tent was definitely getting whipped around a bit, but all the guylines held secure and the tent performed well. The noise and chill of the wind kept waking me up, and I thought maybe I was up for good when I woke up around 4, had to pee, and couldn't go back to sleep (though considering I'd gone to bed at 8:30, that didn't seem so bad), but the wind died down soon after that and I slept for a couple more hours while waiting for sunrise.
The plan was to pack up and hit Three Lakes Trail with a full pack. I wasn't feeling particularly perky in the morning, so it took me a while to get packed up. Carnation Instant Breakfast mixed with instant coffee got me moving a little faster, and I knew I'd feel better (and warmer) once I hit the trail.
The Hoosier Hikers Council maintains this trail and had a nice register to track how many people were using the trail.
The trail was nicely blazed and followed ridgelines and ravines, with steeper hill sections mixed in. There were a number of small creek crossings, but only one of them got my feet wet.
One local trail maintainer marks the blowdown logs he cuts with a distinctive "W." I thought I might have to negotiate a number of blowdowns (trees that fall across the trail) because of recent storms, but most of them had already been cleared. I suspect this one was cleared just the day before since the air still smelled of sawdust.
As the trail made its way out toward Bryant Creek Lake, I finally saw my first fellow trail-users: two runners/speed walkers who stopped to ask about my pack and a couple of hikers just out for the day. The trail wasn't as challenging as I'd hoped since it had plenty of flat sections, but I was making good time. At the lake, a local couple was fishing. The woman must have received some bad news on her cell phone, though, because soon there was a burst of swearing followed by a lot more swearing when she actually got ahold of whoever she was yelling at. The lake carried the sound farther than it would have gone in the woods, so the woman's conversation followed me along the lakeshore for some minutes.
Beavers had been working on many of the trees near shore, with most of the smaller trees already downed and a couple of these larger ones just about ready to fall.
A shelterhouse near the trail on the far side of the lake provided a nice place for a break, including this very nice pit toilet and a number of stone picnic tables.
I stopped in this area for about 30 minutes noshing on a couple of granola bars and some almond butter in preparation for the second half of the hike and resting my feet. I was making good time, though, and started thinking about what I'd do the rest of the day after finishing the trail.
When I looked at these pictures, I thought this was one of the nicest ones I'd taken in a while, but then I realized that part of the reason I liked it was that it had green in it. With all the winter hiking I've done this year, I'm getting tired of crunching through last-year's leaves and seeing brown in every direction.
Including my breaks, I finished the trail in less than 5 hours but I was starting to feel kind of headachy and such. My original plan was to camp again and do another 10-mile trail the next day, but it was only 1 p.m., and I was getting anxious to be home after being away most of the week for my conference. I very briefly entertained the idea of trying to do the second trail right after the first, but it would be very close to sunset when I finished. I didn't know if I was capable of that many miles in one day, didn't want to injure myself trying, and knew I wouldn't be able to drive all the way home after that without camping or getting a hotel. I more seriously considered doing about half of the second trail and camping in a backcountry area, which is probably what I should have done, leaving me a short day on Sunday and giving me another night in the tent. What I did, though, was call my husband and tell him I was coming home.
The forecast was for temps to drop down to 20 degrees, which would really be pushing the comfort of my sleeping bag and clothing setup. At best, I would have an uncomfortable night. I don't like having uncomfortably cold nights when I don't have to.
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