First Solo Backpacking Trip
Friday night I took my first solo backpacking trip at St. Croix State Forest. Because it was my first, I kept it short and easy with one overnight and a total of about 4 miles of hiking.
Things went good and things went bad. First, I forgot my camera and my wildflower book. I've been carrying my book of Minnesota wildflowers with me and identifying new ones. I saw tons and tons of flowers that were so cool, but had no way to look up what they were or take a picture of them.
Second, I forgot to print off a map. This was not good. Because I didn't have a map, I ended up camping at an absolutely amazing site, but it was on private land. From the map, I can now see that 1/4 of a mile more and I would have been at the site I was trying to find. I didn't get in trouble, but I feel bad.
But it went really well. I didn't get lonely, mostly because I had Jeff. It was hard to keep him nearby as there was so much to explore, but generally he was a good boy. He had a really hard time sleeping at night and every noise had him on notice. He finally settled down after I let him out to go potty at 4:45 am.
Next weekend I'm up for a much more adventurous trip. I leave the cities on Thursday night and head to Mille Lacs Kathio State Park. Thursday night I'm car camping, but Friday and Saturday will be at two different backpack sites. I'm a little nervous, so if anyone wants to join me, let me know.
Other updates:
a) I'm back up to my starting weight, so I haven't lost anything. I'm pretty bummed about that, but I'm going to start exercising more and get back on WeightWatchers AGAIN.
b) I'm going strong on 4 books a month still, I finished American Born Chinese this week and it is super fantastic. If you are into graphic novels, read it. It is really funny.
c) I broke the "no buying cookbooks unless previewed at the library first" goal, but I had to . I JUST HAD TO! See, this fantastic cookbook called Cooking From the Heart: The Hmong Kitchen in America just came out. The library hadn't procured any copies yet, but there was already a waiting list. I NEEDED it. And it is wonderful. I highly suggest it to everyone.
d) We planted a bunch of Day Lillies and other perennials last weekend, checking one more goal off my list. They look great.
Things went good and things went bad. First, I forgot my camera and my wildflower book. I've been carrying my book of Minnesota wildflowers with me and identifying new ones. I saw tons and tons of flowers that were so cool, but had no way to look up what they were or take a picture of them.
Second, I forgot to print off a map. This was not good. Because I didn't have a map, I ended up camping at an absolutely amazing site, but it was on private land. From the map, I can now see that 1/4 of a mile more and I would have been at the site I was trying to find. I didn't get in trouble, but I feel bad.
But it went really well. I didn't get lonely, mostly because I had Jeff. It was hard to keep him nearby as there was so much to explore, but generally he was a good boy. He had a really hard time sleeping at night and every noise had him on notice. He finally settled down after I let him out to go potty at 4:45 am.
Next weekend I'm up for a much more adventurous trip. I leave the cities on Thursday night and head to Mille Lacs Kathio State Park. Thursday night I'm car camping, but Friday and Saturday will be at two different backpack sites. I'm a little nervous, so if anyone wants to join me, let me know.
Other updates:
a) I'm back up to my starting weight, so I haven't lost anything. I'm pretty bummed about that, but I'm going to start exercising more and get back on WeightWatchers AGAIN.
b) I'm going strong on 4 books a month still, I finished American Born Chinese this week and it is super fantastic. If you are into graphic novels, read it. It is really funny.
c) I broke the "no buying cookbooks unless previewed at the library first" goal, but I had to . I JUST HAD TO! See, this fantastic cookbook called Cooking From the Heart: The Hmong Kitchen in America just came out. The library hadn't procured any copies yet, but there was already a waiting list. I NEEDED it. And it is wonderful. I highly suggest it to everyone.
d) We planted a bunch of Day Lillies and other perennials last weekend, checking one more goal off my list. They look great.
posted by Kassie @ Sunday, June 14, 2009
4 Comments:
At June 14, 2009 7:22 PM ,
cp said...
Just as an interesting aside, American Born Chinese is mandatory reading in our 10th grade English courses. Part of the unit involves the use of ComicLife software, which is really a very cool thing. They have a free trial period...just sayin'. Hope all is well on Nicollet.
At June 14, 2009 10:03 PM ,
Kate said...
mmm.. I'm with ya on the diet stuff. I lost about 25 pounds 4 years ago and whoops I got married and it seems to have finally snuck its way back around my belly. I have had great great great success with south beach (and hear it works well in conjunction with weight watchers). Just my 2 cents on that. I'm "training" for the twin cities 10 mile so hopefully that will get me back in shape. I got back on phase 1 tomorrow. Damn bellys.
I also highly recommend the porkies as a place to backpack, though I think you're kinda sticking to MN it seems. If you meet your Minnesota goals I think you should venture over. Absolutely amazing. I also (somewhere) have some really amazing backpacking cookbooks Id love to lend you... if I EVER find them. Thanks for linking to me. :)
At June 14, 2009 10:55 PM ,
Kassie said...
Porkies are on my radar. I want to convince CJ to go camping there this fall for our fall trip. They sound amazing.
At June 15, 2009 7:41 AM ,
Cafe Cyan said...
Good job on going backpacking on your own. I'm not sure I could do that!
Don't worry about the weight thing (easy to say, hard to do). Just keep up the healthy habits!
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