Backpacking the Black Forest Trail - Sog Fest!

I haven't had time to pee in my pants lately.  Work has been insanely busy.  But, I wanted to at least throw these images up on the blog.  I'll most likely come back to this post and spiff up the verbiage.  If not, this is all you're gettin'!  The weekend backpacking trip to Tiadaghton State Forest, last weekend was a total sog fest.  It rained non-stop, the entire weekend, and we bailed on Saturday afternoon, turning Saturday night into a bar crawl in beautiful downtown Lockhaven, PA!  It was a total blast!

Shenandoah morning light

while waiting for the GoPro to capture my time lapse images, in Shenandoah National Park last weekend, I snapped away with my Micro 4/3 camera.  Shooting in the early morning is, by far, my favorite time to capture the outdoors.  I had a great time playing with the depth of field, using my 85mm lens.  Good times!  

Packed and ready to go!

As I mentioned before, in a couple of days, I'll be driving up to Lockhaven, PA to meet two of Debbie's brothers for a weekend backpacking trip.  Tonight I finalized my gear.  I laid it all out, and through much scrutinizing, shuffling things about and chucking things over my shoulder, arrived at my final configuration.  My pack weight is an all-time, record-low 17 lbs.  I owe most of the weight savings to a bit of knowledge picked up over the years.  Each time I returned from a trip and unpacked, I'd realized that I packed gear that I never even used.  What I've learned reading online was to keep your main three light.  The main three are your cook system, sleeping system, and your pack. The cook system I use is a homemade beer can stove (1 lb) that runs on denatured alcohol.  My sleeping system is a lightweight down-filled bag (2 lbs), a hammock (16 oz) and a space blanket to use as a shelter from the ran.  My backpack is an ultralight pack called the Virga; made by Granite Gear (1 lb, 3 oz).  The pack is brand new to me and I've never carried it before, so I'm really excited to see how I like it!

Above:  This is the whole shebang.

Above:  Rain jacket, spare clothes, dehydrated meals, fajita wrappers, oatmeal & gatorade packets, Nalgene bottle, first aid kit, map & compass, bug net, head lamp, pocket knife, spork, titanium cooking mug, alcohol stove, denatured alcohol, spare batteries, gaters, GoPro, phone, 4/3s camera and my hat.

Above:  EMS MTN Lite 20° down-filled bag, Eno SInglenest hammock, space blanket, paracord & closed-cell foam sitting pad.

Above:  Fully packed at 17lbs & my trusty Asolo 520's.

Shenandoah sunrise time lapse

Have I mentioned that I love the hell out of my new GoPro Hero 3+ camera?  While in Shenandoah National Park this past weekend, Debbie and I got up early to catch the sunrise.  As the sun came up over Upper Hawksbill Gap, we sleepily watched with amazement.  Note to self:  Watch more sunrises.

Stoked

In a couple of weeks I'll be backpacking in PA with two of Debbie's brothers.  We'll be hiking parts of the Black Forest Trail in the Tiadaghton State Park.  I'm pretty stoked!  I haven't gone backpacking in over three years.  Wow, I hate to even think about that sad fact... typing it makes me feel even worse.  But that's life; it gets busy.  While, perhaps, I haven't been doing one particular thing that I really enjoy, I sure as hell have been doing others.  But anyway, it's going to be great to be out in the woods again, trekking along, choosing my own adventure via map & compass and wearily falling asleep, in a swaying hammock with a million stars above me.  As pumped as I am to be back out there, I'm equally pumped to be connecting with Debbie's brothers a little more.  This trip is an all-around fantastic idea.

Mom & Dad's 50th wedding anniversary

This weekend, Debbie and I drove up to my hometown, of Sherrill, NY to surprise my parents with a 50th Anniversary party. All nine of us kids coordinated to pull off an excellent surprise party for them. It was epic. My mom was crying tears of joy and my dad had a smile on his face all day. It felt great to give them a nice surprise; they're a hell of a couple!