2026 late September Fish Creek Ponds camping

I drove up to Fish Creek Ponds Campground after getting my semi-annual skin check Tuesday morning at the dermatologist.   All clear, yay!   My dorky sun hat and arm sleeves ftw!   I think after one more year, I can just get a skin check annually, if I don't have any more skin cancer spots found.   I do use Sunscreen on my face, but I keep covered otherwise.   Lightweight upf coverings work better than sunscreen imho,  sunscreen sweats off too easy, and it makes cleaning up at the end of the day harder.   From my VTXL rides, if you remember my filthy leg photos, I'm pretty sure the dirt stuck to my legs because of the sunscreen I put on.  

Anyway, back to camping.

As expected, lots of us old farts camping at Fish Creek.    Reminded me of the old Simpson's episode, "Wild Barts Can't be Broken".   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3-Nm7mXg2I

It's the episode where the old folks in the retirement home get annoyed with the noise in town waking them up all the time, so they somehow win a ballot initiative to put a ridiculously early curfew on everyone < 70.   With the curfew in place,  the old farts have a great time partying in town while everyone else was stuck at home.    Not a huge Simpsons fan, but that episode just stuck in my mind.   Anyway, that's what Fish Creek feels like after kids go back to school, especially Monday-Friday.

I picked site 109, which during the Summer would be a horrible campsite because it's right by the playground area, but I took a guess that with kids in school it would be quiet and give me more space to myself.  I was correct!    I also didn't bother getting a waterfront site.  I knew I'd be off biking/hiking during the day, so why waste the money for a more expensive site that's just colder at night anyway.

I've developed a good dinner/evening routine when camping solo with the truck.    Before heating up dinner, I setup the solo stove, pour in some wood pellets, spritz some charcoal lighter fluid on the pellets, light it, and put the UFO, heat deflector dish on top.   I don't have to mess with it again, the fire builds on its own.  

Also, I've learned adding less pellets works far better.   Make a ski slope of pellets inside the solostove leaving some of the bottom vent plate uncovered, and the pellets burn great!   Nice big flames and you can add more pellets/wood later.   Just keep some of the bottom air vents uncovered.

It only takes a couple minutes to start the fire, and because it's all self-contained, I can just walk off to the truck to fish out food from the fridge, reheat it, and set up my camp chair by the stove to eat dinner.     It usually takes about 20-30 minutes for the fire to really start throwing heat, but I eat early, around 5-5:30, so it's not that cold out yet.   I usually have plenty of time to eat and do dishes before having to mess with the fire again.   I often eat by the tailgate, because the solostove is a little smoky at first.

I also bought some bags of firewood from the nearby store across the road from the campground.  Be Warned.  they charge a lot  Nearly $10/bag.  Almost twice what everyone else charges, but with gas prices I didn't feel it was worth driving around to find cheaper firewood.

I also brought my 42" long fire tongs for tending the fire and I've figured out a way to use them for lifting the UFO dish off the top when I need to move things around inside the fire.   I'll have to make a short video someday to show off my technique.   It's very safe IMHO.   I put the tongs under the lid parallel to the ground, holding the tongs' metal lengths halfway down each bar, squat down, keep the tongs in an open X shape and carefully stand up, lifting up the UFO as I stand up.    As I lift the UFO, the ends of the tong handles push up under my forearms, counterbalancing the UFO lid.   Like I said, a video is probably needed.   You do need to be able to squat though, so my technique won't work for everyone.    They make a handle you can attach to the middle of the UFO dish, but it must get super hot.   I'd rather not risk lifting it that way

 

Anyhoo, after dinner and dishes, I just tend the fire until 8-9p.m. while I sit in my camp chair reading or watching tv/movies on my tablet.    I have a little folding camp stool to put my legs up on too.   The heat from the fire keeps my feet and lower legs toasty.   

Before bed,  I remove the UFO dish one last time via my squat technique, add an ember shield over the top of the stove, and put the heat deflector back on.     With the ember shield in place, I can safely let the fire burn itself out overnight.     There's so little ash left the next day just letting it burn everything down inside.      Also, you CANNOT pour water into the solo stove to put the fire out.   it would shatter/warp the metal.   I'd have to somehow dump the fire/coals out of the stove before dousing the burning wood/coals with water.    DANGEROUS.     

Anyway.    I flossed, used my portable water pik, and brushed my teeth and off to bed.  I also had my dental cleaning the day before (monday).   The hygienist was very happy, so my nighttime routine is worth it, but I don't bring the waterpik bikepacking.    When I'm cleaning my teeth before bed, I often wonder if nearby campers wonder what the weird noises are (electric toothbrush and waterpik).  LOL    Away from the fire, standing by the tailgate it felt chilly for September.    It got down to 33F just before dawn, but most of the evening was in the 40's, 1-6C for my european friends.    40's makes for good sleeping weather.

First night I tried wearing just my thick flannel over a T shirt with my separate synthetic down hat/hoodie, but it was a tad chilly if I'm honest.      This hoodie  

 

Usually,  I sort of sleep on my stomach or side but I often push one arm above my head as I sleep.  I refer to it as sleeping "superman style", like I'm flying.    

 

 So my one arm sticking out from under the quilt with just the flannel covering my arm would get too cold and wake me up.   After waking up, I'd pull my arm back under the toasty quilt (the quilt is comfort rated down to 20F/-6.6C), but as I slept, I'd move an arm back up to the  Superman flight pose and I'd wake up in an hour or two.   I don't push the arm straight out, it sort of wraps around the top of my head, but you get the idea.  I also wear wool gloves when I sleep, so my hands stay warm; it was just the arm getting cold.

 I brought a cheap down jacket too, so the next 2 nights I wore that over the flannel and slept much better.     The downside of the down jacket's hood is that it's quite loose, and because it's a cheap jacket, it doesn't have cinch cords to tighten up the hood around my face/head.     The hood doesn't stay in place well while sleeping.   Slips right off my head making it useless.    But I also brought my new, home made ear muff cover gadget.    I used some parts from making duffel bags and some 1" wide elastic webbing I got off Amazon that has silicone grip material on it.    I sewed the d rings to some black webbing.    Riveted the strap assembly to the ear muff, and sewed on the elastic webbing to keep it on my head.

 

It was far more comfortable to wear the single ear muff while I slept.    I normally don't toss/turn much after I fall asleep.    So leaving it over my left ear wasn't an issue.   Sometimes I wake up just before dawn feeling the need to roll to my other side, so I just move the ear muff to the other ear.   I usually have to add an eye mask at that point due to the dawn waking me up too.  If I'm lucky I get 1 more hour of sleep.

I fully admit, it sort of looks like I made a weird jock strap for my head, but it's far more comfy than the original metal head band it came with.   Combined with some soft foam ear plugs, I fell asleep super easy.   There were some noisy loons on the pond, and the added ear muff completely blocked out the racket they were making; it also kept the loose hood of the down jacket on my head too, so my head was kept warm.   Win Win.    For cool weather bike touring, I think i'm bringing the down jacket now and leaving the separate hoodie at home.   The down jacket is loose now that I've lost so much weight, but it packs small and keeps me warm down to 32F/0C with another layer or two under it.

 

The white straps were so much more comfortable than the original metal head band.   When I used it with the headband, I'd always wake up having pushed the ear muff off while sleeping.   The metal band did kind of squeeze my skull, not enough to prevent falling asleep, but uncomfortable enough I'm sure that's why I'd push it off while sleeping.

 

 

In the morning, I got up and made myself a protein smoothie (with a NutriBullet I keep in the truck), and I reheated some pre-made oatmeal I had in the Dometic fridge.   The last day, I splurged and made some pancakes before my hike up blue mt.   More on that later.

At home, I made oatmeal per this recipe before heading out.    Also the day before leaving for Fish Creek, I cooked some indian red lentil dal, mexican lentil soup, and Italian lentil meatballs with carbe diem pasta.   A lentil bonanza!.      Lentils are great sources of potassium and magnesium.   Good source of fiber, carbs and proteins too.    

It's nice being able to go hike or bike all day knowing I have yummy food ready at the truck and I just have to zap it 3-4 minutes before I can pig out.   I know lentils don't sound appetizing to most people, but I spice the bejeezus out of my food, to the point I find normal recipes kind of blah.    Very bland.   Sadly, I think that's a Vegan thing.     I'm not vegan, mostly vegetarian.   But you start to crave plant based food by spicing it more, if that makes sense.   And I don't necessarily mean hot spicy, I mean flavor spice.    I often add 2x the suggested amounts on recipes.

Anyway, I'm going to do separate posts on the biking, hiking, and Tupper Wild Center Trolls.

 

 

 

 

2026 April OhioPyle and Promised Land PA State Parks

Monday I drove from Hampstead Md to Ohiopyle PA.   Ohiopyle is in spitting distance of the famous Falling Water, Frank Lloyd Wright house.    Jacqui and I saw it way back in 2003 during our weird honeymoon.   "Who goes to Pittsburgh for a honeymoon?"    Jacqui was still working on her PhD and we didn't have time to go do the warm Caribbean thing.   Jacqui got to visit the Andy Warhol museum and I got to try a Primanti's sandwich for the first time.    We even stayed at the Seven Hills Resort for a few days, which is also super close to Ohiopyle.   Mid October, it was nearly empty.  Anyway, enough reminiscing.

 This blog is more about biking.   So going back to Hampstead, here are some photos from a local 8 mile loop I rode Saturday and Sunday from Mark and Teresa's place.     Lots of super pricey horse farms.  Mark said a lot of the land nearby goes from 150k per acre.    Still beautiful, rolling hill country, but pricey, Woof.

 

 

I would've taken more photos Sunday, but the fields I biked passed  the day before had just been plowed.   Oh well.   Out of practice at thinking about taking pretty shots  Hopefully did a better job biking on the GAP (Great Allegheny Passage) bike trail.   It's on my list of future bike tours.    I biked from Kentuck campground to Confluence and then doubled back, with some side trips, I bike 25 miles Tuesday.   Beautiful weather,   70F, 21C 

 

 

From Kentuck campground to the GAP trail there's this short 0.3 mile hike.   Super steep, so you have to walk your bike down and push it up.    Totally doable though.   It's not rocky

 

 

Weather was crappy Wednesday.   Cold (below 50F/10C) and Rainy all day.     I was originally planning on just driving 3 hours to Poe Paddy State Park in Central PA, but their forecast had rain Thursday too, so I pushed on to Promised Land State Park near Greentown PA.    A 5 hour drive.   No biking Wednesday.    I got there 3:45p.m. before the park office closed at 4p.m.       Sadly, the Ranger put me right next to another couple, the electric RV sites are open year round.   Probably a 100 sites, and only like 10 were used.  I felt bad for intruding on the other campers, but it was too late to fix.    

Pennsylvania State Parks have a few weird rules.   No alcohol and quiet hours are 9p.m. to 8a.m.    I think it's because the sites are so close to each other.    Have to keep the peace.    On the other hand, the Ranger ladies in the office at both Ohio Pyle and Promised Land said you can usually get a site during the week during the Summer.    Not like NY where everything gets booked months ahead of time.   With the PA campgrounds you can pre-book via Reserve America, but you should still swing by the office because they'll printout a sheet, and there's a strip of paper showing your checkout day, you attach it to the site post of your campsite so when the Rangers go around, they can keep on eye on people trying to overstay.

I guess I recommend PA state parks if you just want a base camp, but you'll be off hiking, biking, or whatever during the day.   If you mostly are going to sit at camp to enjoy being in the woods, I can't recommend Ohiopyle or Promised Land unless you're super social. 

Anyhoo, the PA Promised Land park is huge and seems to completely surround the lake.  I did a 16.5 mile ride completely on the park roads (except a short half mile on the state road 390 that goes North/South through the park)  You can rent cabins and cottages there too.

 It was a nice Spring Day.    Sunny, probably about 50F/10C, but it felt like someone left the fridge door open when I was near the lake.   The water was definitely cold, and sucked the heat out of the air.

 

 

 

First truck camping trip of 2026, Maryland and PA

Mark and Teresa invited me down to a weekend get together of various overlanding friends they've made.   They have a nice little horsefarm with a couple small fields set aside for camping.  

About a dozen rigs were there, and about 20 people at one point i think.

It was good to hangout with people.   Good practice for my social skills.   I do get yappy, and way too nerdy for normal folks, but c'est la vie.   The brain that gave me a somewhat cool career in lab robotics and digitizing labs (getting rid of paper),  limits the old social skills.    What's funny to me, is that I remember being the ambassador for my nerd friends in college.     It's all relative I suppose.   

My theory is that whatever makes you good at math/physics/chemistry  quite often eats up the part of the brain good at socializing with people.    Pro's and cons to everything I suppose.   As I told Mark at one point.   My brain doesn't really throttle down.

Anyhoo.   most of the rigs were geared towards more off road capabilities than I'll ever need.  

Mark had the good idea to write everyone's names down.  i snapped a photo and it came it clutch a few times.

Duane had one of the most interesting rigs to me.   he built an electric system off a 100amp hour/48v golf cart battery.   that's the equivalent of four 12v 100 amp batteries.  he went with the golf cart battery because the manufacture uses all metal in everything.   it's built for golf cart abuse, so well suited for riding in a truck on rough forest roads.

upping the voltage from 12v to 48v means you can use  thinner copper wire,   To downstep to 12volt power he has the 48v battery going to the mppt/solar input on a separate 12 volt powerstation.    genius.

here's some Dan Nerdiness for you

watts = volts * amps.

so if a light bulb needs 100 watts, you just need a tick over 2amps at 48volts.   at 12 volts you're up to 8 amps.   more amps means more heat or thicker wire.

or maybe another way to look at it.   if you use a garden hose to clean your car/truck.   it's a high volume of water and a lot more scrubbing by hand to get the job done.   but if you use a pressure washer, you can use a lot less water and it takes less elbow grease.   more pressure is kind of like more volts.    you waste less water.    higher volts means you waste less electricity creating heat . 

downsides of high volts, more zappy zappy danger risks.   just like if you use a pressure washer to clean your car, if you use a nozzle that's too narrow you'll wreck your paint job.   I like that analogy.

amps vs the amount of water needed for the job.

volts like water pressure.

but mostly the big advantage to switching to 48v IMHO is 

it's way more efficient to run an Air Conditioner off 48v batteries, which is more of a camper van problem.

at home, most window AC units pull 15 amps at 120v.   using a 12volt AC you'd have to pull 150amps at 12v to get the same amount of cooling.    you waste more electricity to heat UNLESS you use HUGE copper wire runs.    Copper is going to keep getting more and more expensive, so i think we'll be forced to go to 48v as the new standard.  

Ford's F150 lightning EV truck replacement is going to be 48v based.   They're going to have a f150 with just an onboard gas generator and the drivetrain will be electric motors and batteries.   but the battery pack will be smaller, just a 100 mile range.   Great for local errands, easy to keep topped off via a regular power outlet in the garage.  If you do a highway trip; the gas generator will provide a 500+ mile range.  No recharging station worries.     

Ford explained switching to a 48v-based wiring harness for everything cuts expense and weight a lot.   and it's easier for them to invert off a 48v battery system to 120v outlets they'll have on the truck to run power tools.   which will make it SUPER easy for guys to convert FORD EREV trucks to campers.    Those same 120v outlets could run a small microwave or induction cooking plat.e    Hint Hint   (erev, extend range electric vehicles)

Anyhoo.   Cong had a cool rig.  The chinese made DirtBox camper is far more solid than the GFC, lots of cool options too.   i had to add all the lighting to my GFC myself.   with the Dirtbox, stuff like that are factory options. GFC needs to up their game imho.   let the best man win.    viva la competition!    Let the Market decide.   If US manufacturing can't compete because China's government is supporting Chinese businesses, we can do the same thing on our end.    it's not rocket science.

Cong also had a ton of cool led lights on the front of this truck when driving offroad, but he's a young guy that still works.   so i bet he's often arriving late at night to camp somewhere.   squeezing in quick overnight outings inbetween his work/father/husband duties.  

I'm a spoiled old fart that can just go camp during the week while everyone else is working.   So far since having my camper built out since Fall of 2021, I only remember one time needing the aftermarket front lights on the truck, when I was arriving after dark to meet up with Jeff in NY at Wakely Dam.    Even then it was just to make it easier for me to look for deer while driving 20mph on a dark forest road.

 

But back to the weekend gathering.   Most of Mark and Teresa's friends arrived early Saturday afternoon.  

Sat night (technically Sunday early a.m. hours) it did rain and Sunday morning was a bit soggy.  rain let up around 11a.m. but most had left by then.   so I missed out on touring a few rigs.   but i don't get FOMO  (fear of missing out).    I like leaving stuff for next time.   I often do that biking/kayaking.   Rather than stress myself out trying to see/do everything, i like to leave reasons to go back again.   

Hung out with Mark Sunday night.   We had a nice fireside chat and went to bed around 10p.m. in our respective campers.   I had a good sleep and headed out late Monday morning.    Got a few things at the nearby Walmart, grabbed a veggie sandwich from Subway and headed off for PA.

Monday afternoon i drove to Ohiopyle.   At one point i was on a back road that took me past a national park in Maryland.   Something starting with a C .   will look it up later.  (Catoctin)   nice views of a boulder'ish heavy brook/stream.    Also notable was i-68 west.   The first rest area heading west was very scenic. up on the first mountain pass the old settlers used to go over by horse and wagon.

Ohiopyle State Park in PA includes a small town i think.  lots of small restaurants and stuff.   I'm staying at Kentuck campground.    It was cold last night, down to 30F for a few hours before sunrise.   There's literally no one else camping on my little street/wing of the campground.     Too early in the season for the showers/bathroom to be open may help explain that.

   but I have all that stuff.  My campsite #82 on Fir road is right by a hike a bike trail that will take me down to the GAP trail.   I have to walk my bike down a steep quarter mile trail to the GAP rail trail.    Going to wait until 11a.m.  it'll be 50 by then.   oh and it cost a tick less than $30/night after fees and everything.

before leaving for Maryland last week, i saw there'd be one cold night per the forecast, but i figured i could just layer up instead of bringing lots of winter stuff. and I was right.   survived no problem

on my feet i'm wearing wool ankle high running socks with calf high wool hiking socks over them.   while sleeping i wore my enlightened equipment synthetic down booties over the socks and their separate hoodie on my head.   The separate hoodie works well because it stays put no matter how much you twist and turn while sleeping.

There's a nearby train, so you do need ear plugs to sleep well here.  I did bust out my single ear muff to wear over my ear not on the pillow.     At night they dont' blast the horn like they do during the day, but i think I heard it at 4a.m.   Be ready.

To stay warm I wore my thin polyester sweats,  my lightweight jogger shell pants over them, and the new camping pants i got from BJ's.    the pants are like a thick cotton with some other stuff woven in to make them weather resistant. kind of like jeans, but made for camping.  I can see why they were cheaper at BJ's they stretch and get super loose, but turns out that was good because i can wear them over other layers.

to keep my hands warm, i've been wearing my fingerless bicycling gloves.  i have full finger bike gloves too, but the fingerless ones make typing, using a phone, cooking etc, easier, and they keep my hands warm enough.

On my torso, a polyester shirt, a thin long sleeve sun shirt,  my goose down jacket with hood, my llbean gore-tex shell, and a thick cotton flannel over top in case any embers fly out of my mini solo stove.  Perks of losing a lot of weight, my old gear is loose enough to layer up like that. 

 

The mini stove is only 9inches wide on the outside, maybe 1 ft tall.  but a tall 5gallon bucket (7 gal technically) with pellets lasts me the week.   you can sit close to it, and keeps your lower legs warm, and you can hover hands over top.   I like it will burn out in 1.5 hours max.   I don't get stuck waiting for everything to burn down before leaving or going to bed.   or having to waste good water to put the fire out.    and usually after a couple burns, i've used enough pellets i can pack everything into the bucket so it takes up no room.   I tried a propane lava box, but the propane doesn't last nearly as long as a 7gallon bucket of pellets in the small stove.

$33 bucks right now, normally $44,.

https://a.co/d/0gXih1La

 

 

i also use my shower mat to keep my feet off the ground and warmer.   works well.   good for standing at the end of the tailgate when cooking/doing dishes.

enough for now, going to go get ready for biking.

i think i'll publish this , and do another blog as i do more biking stuff. 

Today (Tuesday) it's explore the GAP trail that goes up to Pittsburgh,  it connects with the C&O rail trail that goes down to Wash DC.     It's very popular with bike touring folks.   many feel it's more scenic than the eric canal bike trail between Buffalo and Erie.   Less road noise too.

tomorrow/wednesday it's going to rain a lot here, so even though i don't have to leave until 3p.m., i'm going to leave after breakfast.   

if the weather forecast doesn't change, I'm going to the promised land state park along i84 east of Scranton PA.   5 hour drive from here.   I was going to go to Poe Paddy near State College, which is only 3 hours away, but they're getting rain tomorrow AND thursday.   So will skip it and go more east.  Per my ride with GPS app there's a nice 20 mile ride around a lake there and it'll be 70F thursday near Greentown with no rain forecast there.      I'll drive home later Thursday after I finish the ride.   It'll only be a 4hr drive home from there instead of 6.5hrs from Poe Paddy.   win win.    Just have to time the drive to avoid rush hour through Hartford Ct.

2025 end of May Moose River Plains camping

Went camping at Moose River Plains again.   Drove up Monday (Memorial Day), left Friday.

 

Nothing exciting really, just journaling for when I'm too old to go anymore 😢  

Monday 

Jeff and I were able to grab our favorite site.   You have to drive over Wakely dam and then bang a right and camp up on the little hill by Cedar River Flow.     That site seems to always have wind, so it's not good for late Fall camping (too cold), but early Summer, the wind helps to keep most of the bugs away.    You don't really get a view of the water, but you can hear it as it goes through the dam.    I only had to wear my mosquito net over my head around dusk when the bugs really came out strong.    Our Thermocell insect repellers seemed to work pretty well too when it wasn't windy.   It's a short walk to the dam to take photos.

First night we were there, this odd character walked over around 9:30 p.m. in the dark.   I was expecting some odd request like do you have a patch kit, my air mattress is flat, but nope, the guy was just lonely...and very very drunk.   His camping buddy (housemate) turned in early to sleep in the car, and I guess he got bored staring at his fire by himself.   We let him stay, and he regaled us with all kinds of bawdy jokes and life stories.   Stuff I won't repeat online.   He didn't vote for Trump, but said he liked him at one point.   Which surprised me, because he said he lives off Medicaid, Home Heating Assistance, and Disability.    He's never had a real job.   He was a pot dealer and never got caught, but obviously out of work now that it's legal.  Both Jeff and I were shocked when he said he was 49.   He looked 60 something easily.   Not sure he ever said he was an alcoholic, but it was obvious.    Claimed to drink a 12 pack a day, and he was bitching that his 12 pack used to be $8 and now it's $14.    And just in the few hours he was sitting with us, he drank 3 keystone lights,  2 strong IPA's (one from Jeff, one from me), and finished off his 2 liter bottle of vodka, which probably had an inch and half left in the bottom when he first came over.   Scary to watch someone drink that much.    Nothing bad happened, it was just more sad than anything.   He has an upcoming dr appt he was nervous about.   From the sounds of it, he's dealing with liver failure.    I worry if he'll make it to my age, and I'm only 4 years older.    Comes off as a funny, happy guy at first, but it doesn't take long for you to see the facade.    On the other hand, he loves drinking and he'd rather die young than give that up.   

Our nameless drunk buddy shuffled off to his tent around 1a.m. (I never stay up that late but Jeff often does, uggh).   Thankfully there were no other campers nearby.   He and his buddy drove off around 9a.m.   Jeff was shocked that he didn't sleep in more, but my theory is that he was out of booze and needed to go get more in town on his way home.   Sadly not joking.    Just from his own statements, I think he's at the stage of alcoholism where he'd have serious medical problems if he ever went sober.   He'd need a hospital stay to do it I think.
 

Tuesday afternoon, I did a bike ride from the dam up to the Cellar Mt Trailhead along the cedar river road.    My new bike made it fairly easy; it has a huge granny gear on the rear wheel.   Still wish I weighed 100lbs less, but C'est La Vie.    Took me 40 minutes to do the climb up, and 15 minutes to double back to camp (downhill...zoom!) .    Might not sound fun, but most of the climbing is reasonable, not overly steep for a bike with good gearing, but there are a couple hills where i was only going 2mph, with my 32 tooth crank and 51 tooth rear cog.

This is also my first trip with the extra 200 watt solar panel on the GFC roof, so I now have 300 watts total including the 100 watt solar panel/wind fairing over the truck cab.    Even though we had a lot of shade, i still got about 500-600 watt hours/day.   I'd have to drive almost 2 hours to add that much power to my lithium battery bank with the 30amp (360watt) dc/dc charge controller that runs off the alternator, so i'm quite happy with what the solar adds when I stay put in one place.    My battery bank is 12 volts, 200 amp hours, or 2400 watt hours.

The extra solar mostly keeps up with my 1 liter electric kettle, 3qt instant pot, fridge, 750 watt microwave and induction cooking plate.   I usually boil 1 liter in the morning for hot tea and dishes, and 1 liter in the afternoon for my sponge shower.       I was also using the microwave to reheat things too.   Easier to food prep at home, and reheat when I go camping during the week.     For dinner, I spritz stuff with 50:50 vinegar/water and wipe out with paper towel.    I'll usually burn the towel in the campfire.

Food-wise, I'm very spoiled camping with my truck now, especially when Jeff's along and I can use his Starlink to browse the web.   I'm not sure i can bring myself to get a Starlink.    I just watch movies and TV I've downloaded to my tablet.   I think if I was on the road for more than a month, then yeah, I'd get Starlink.   Honestly, it's nice to get a break from the 24/7 news cycle when i go camp for a week

Tuesday night, we had a much earlier night, turned in around 9p.m.


Wednesday morning

Cooked pancakes with the electric induction burner.   Loved how easy I could control the pan heat, but I should have made larger pancakes.   Used 30 amp hours, 360 watt hours cooking pancakes just for myself.   Yikes!   need to bring a bigger spatula next time.   

we packed up and moved down to Otter Brook, snagged a primo site right by the brook Jeff likes.   It's a narrow site, but we made it work.   I backed my truck in first, and Jeff parks parallel to the road, blocking me in.     Here's a 20second youtube short showing the setup

https://youtube.com/shorts/DYiSkk8DUxo?feature=share

 After setting up my bug tent and eating lunch, I did a bike ride to the no-motor vehicles allowed gate at squaw lake.   Much more buggy at Otter Brook and on this ride I had to wear my mosquito net over my bike helmet during the ride.   On the way there, there was a massive blowdown tree, so I had to double back to the truck, grab my collapsible bow saw, and double back to the mess  (adding about 1.5 miles to my ride).     there was still a large tree (15" thick) on the road, but i got the smaller tree (8" max) cut out of the way and all the branches.    I didn't double back again to return the saw, it was light enough to keep on me.    so I finished the ride,  about 3.5 miles out, and then doubled back.

Later that day, around 3-4p.m. a guy driving a Subaru with an ebike on a hitch carrier and a canoe on the roof drove by and a few minutes later came back.   He was complaining/asking about the blowdown blocking the road, and I explained that I cut and moved everything i could but didn't have a proper chainsaw for the big tree lying the road.   after a little back and forth, we realized he just had bike up the hill after the treefall, and then he'd be right at the trailhead he wanted.   I cleared enough stuff he could easily get his ebike and canoe over the tree, and then he could tow his canoe with his bike from there.    He came back around 9pm.     He'd caught a 16" trout and thanked me for all the clearing work i'd done, so he could get across.    that was nice

One thing that he did say, is that he was lucky it didn't happen a day later.   I think he'll be bringing his chainsaw with him from now on.   What if he'd been parked at the trailhead, he wouldn't have been able to drive out.    When you're going deep into the woods, bring a chainsaw, or at least a satellite messenger, so you can ask for help.  

Thursday

had a lazy morning, 

 took a short hike up the brook to the swimming hole.   Here's a short video of that

https://youtu.be/nxTOF5Kt2E4 

we had sprinkles all day, but in the afternoon i got a ride in from Otter brook to Hell Diver's pond.    At our campsite, we scavenged wood people left behind from the campsite across the way.    So we had plenty of firewood, and started a fire mid afternoon and burned everything up by 9'ish.   All except one big log, see photos.

Friday

i packed up before Jeff (very unusual), probably because I just made a protein shake for breakfast.    So I just hung out watching movies/tv on my tablet until he was ready around 9:30a.m.      We doubled back via Wakely Dam, aired up our tires at the snow plow turnaround, and then split up after that.     Uneventful drive back.   Mass pike sucked from Springfield onward, but I sort of expected that on a Friday afternoon. Everyone heading up to Maine/NH after quitting work early.    Traffic never fully stopped, but probably about 10-15 miles of going 30-40mph because things were backing up.

Summary/Thoughts/Conclusions about the trip.

I think I'd definitely go early in the season again.   My Eureka Bug Shelter worked well. It gave me a spot to hide from the bugs and occasional sunshine.    A comfortable place to sit and eat, read, or watch tv/movies on my tablet.    I also need to bring a tarp, so I can rig something Jeff and I can sit under close to the campfire when it's lightly sprinkling all day.   I have extra tarp poles, so I just need to rig something up.   These adjustable tarp poles are awesome https://a.co/d/5nYO3ez    And I have extra rope rollers to use up.  https://rollercam.com/collections/roperollers   And I'm talking like a 10x10 blue tarp from homedepot.   Excess heat and embers will damage it I'm sure, so I don't want anything nice.  Something < $20.

Next time, I'll bring my big splitting maul.   there was lots of treefall to scavenge along the road.   precut to log sizes, just not split.   i had my electric corded saw and 25ft cord (runs well off my Victron 2000 watt inverter and 12v/200amp hour battery bank).    I could have harvested stuff along the road and saved some money.   Just bring some dry kindling to get things going.   Jeff and I often use a duraflame to start when the wood is wet/green.   Most of the stuff you buy is pine/spruce and burns way too fast.

Going full electric for camping will work with the extra Solar.   I was worried it'd be a fail.   But it mostly keeps up with my electric needs when I stay in place for a couple days, assuming I get some sun during the day.      Having the fridge up behind the driver seat also worked fine.   when cooking it's better to have the fridge in the rear truck bed area, but it ate up so much good storage space there.    Also when road tripping, it's nice to have the fridge easier to access for cold drinks.     Unlocking my rear bumper swing arms, then opening the tailgate and rear GFC hatch, and finally sliding the fridge out... got old quick when i just wanted a cold soda at a rest stop.

Also, with the rear truck bed area opened up, I can load it up with firewood and extra gear more easily which is worth having the fridge further away when cooking.     I have that fancy wolfbox rear mirror camera display, so i don't have to worry when I completely obstruct the rear view packing things up in the back of the truck bed.

photos in reverse order, sorry.   Newest to oldest.    If you double click on one, a slideshow starts.  Use arrow clicks or click your way through the slideshow.  On a phone, just click on the thumbnails at the bottom.

last campfire, we had one big round log.   we debated if it would be gone by morning, it wasn't.   we used a cooking grate someone left as an ember shield.    It'd been sprinkling all day, everything was wet.

My ride to HellDivers pond

the dock at Helldivers Pond, trail is wheelchair accessible

back view of Otter Brook campsite

Otter Brook

wildflowers on ride to Squaw Lake

Squaw lake

happy the climb was over.  ride form Wakely Dam to Cellar Pond trailhead.   you can't ride up the trail

selfie camera mirroring...i've gotten in the habit of wearing a runner hat with drape when biking

 

 

pretty sunsets from Wakely Dam

 

 

a different firepit i have. doesn't do great with wet wood, but it packs up smaller than my solo stove