May 17, 2011

Rainy camping & newts

Above: My tent; set up and ready for a storm.
This past weekend my friend Jay and I did a quick n' easy overnight on The Timp in Harriman State Park. Instead of taking the typical 3-4 mile route over West Mountain, we decided to take the easy way in and hike about a mile and a half in to The Timp along the 1777 Trail. Ominous weather threatened rain storms during the hike in and while we set up the tents, but it held off until after supper. Dinner for myself was one of Mountain House's dehydrated meals: Fettuccini Alfredo with Chicken. It was actually pretty awesome. I used my MSR Isopro stove to boil the 1 1/2 cups of water for my noodle & bird rejuvenation. Hanging the bear bag proved to be quite comical. It took us entirely too long to loop some rope over a bow and hoist our smellables out of reach of bears/racoons.
Above left: the bear bag. Above right: view from my tent Sunday morning.
Above left: flowers growing on the west side of The Timp. Above right: The 1777 Trail.
I have to say, the rain was a big plus on this trip. The past several trips have all been in fair weather. Both Jay and I have the gear for wet conditions and there's nothing quite like riding out a thunderstorm on top of a mountain under a few thin sheets of vinyl. The rain also brought out some of the cooler critters you don't usually see. Namely newts. During Sunday morning's soggy hike out, we passed several bright-orange colored newts.

Above left: Blimey! A newt! Above right: A newt in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Above left: Jay hikes past a withered laurel tree. Above right: green life carpeting the rocks.
Above left: Rain bring out the best in nature. Above right: a rock cairn marks the junction of the 1776 trail and the Timp-Torne Trail.
Until next time...

6 comments:

GTS said...

I am so itching to get out hiking and every weekend something comes up! Good for you!

rocketsciencesense said...

Awesome, we have to plan a trip soon. I actually we be camping by there in June. You may want to join.

GTS said...

I'm game if I can find the time with the new job.

Anonymous said...

Let's make it happen. First objective: nail down a weekend.

recumbent conspiracy theorist said...

Great pictures! Springtime is awesome in the woods. I love spring and fall outside. Can't say if I like one season better than the other.

I've had it with all the rain. Weather man says sunny on friday so we have a family bike ride planned for after work. We will see.

Anonymous said...

RCT:
I agree, spring & fall are pretty awesome. The woods were quite lush this past weekend.

Rain here foretasted for the next few days. I'm off to SC and GA for the week though, so I should be seeing some sunshine.