First solo camping trip

77GreenMachine

77GreenMachine

Phillip Talton
Joined
Mar 30, 2010
Location
Trinity, NC
So skipped opening weekend to hang out at the Jamboree and miss the crowd on the trails. I’m leaving at lunch time on Wednesday to go down and camp out alone on top of Daniel till the rest of my crew shows up on Friday. I planned this trip last year and now it looks like the weather isn’t going to be fully on my side but I’m going to go anyway! I figure camping alone is going to be a nice experience as well as sort of a self-test. So if I want to go on a walk I will, if I want to sit at camp and read, or simply do nothing, I can. That’s the beauty of it really, no one else to please and no one else’s schedule to maintain. ( I will have my dog of course)

I watch a lot of that Dual Survivor and similar shows on Discovery so it got me wanting to go test my man skills! When I saw that the weather is supposed to get pretty cool Wednesday and rain on Thursday and Friday I considered rescheduling my trip for better weather, but then I decided I’ve had this planned for some time so I’m going thru with it. I’m going to cook some pretty awesome food and sleep in my new Eno Hammock depending on when the rain starts. I just finished up new ball joints and U-joints in the front of my TJ so hopefully it’s all done and reliable.

I figure this may be an interesting story to those who care to read it, and I always love to share a good story. So while the main purpose of this trip is to get out there and forget about the office, hundreds of emails and phone calls that come with this desk job that is really starting to bother me, I will be on from time to time and will share how the trip is going. I can’t upload pictures from my iPhone for some reason but I will take plenty and update with pics when I get back.
I will be moving on from that camp Friday morning to meet up with my crew and do some wheeling for the remainder of the weekend , but if your down on Wednesday or Thursday and in my area, stop on in for a nice campfire story and a meal. I always like to meet new people!
 
Pro tip, sleeping in the eno sucks.

I'd use your sleeping pad in the hammock and unzip your sleeping bag and wrap it around the eno and zip it back up.

Better yet, if you have two bags, wrap one around and sleep in the other inside the wrapped one. That seemed to work the best.
 
Thanks for the tip! I plan on having plenty of blankets along with my bag, didn't thing of wrapping it around the hammock.
 
My son and I have hiked the Dutch John Trail in another part of the URE and camped out in hammocks. Haven't done it alone, but my son and I had a blast. While looking for a camp site we found a blackberry patch. Those were the best blackberries I have ever eaten. I guess it was the outdoors, the hiking, and the experience with my son.
 
Sounds awesome. At 24, my dad just now said he would go camping with me and see what this jeep thing is all about.
 
Well I ended up taking the off the rest of the week instead of half of Wednesday. Got really impatient and drove down Tuesday night, drove UP Daniel and camped out at the top. Was pretty windy of there but not too cold. Had breakfast there and moved on after meeting a few passer bys around 10ish. Surprised at how many people are really out here this week! I had awesome wether and a really good day just getting to wolf den at a real slow pace. I picked up 3 trash bags of trash and feel I didn't even make a dent. I can't believe it. I stopped off and blocked an ATV bypass from both ends going behind guard rail. Set up camp here just below the soup bowl. Relaxed in my hammock (which is impossible to get warm in) for a few hours and then set up a tent. Had a fire, some hot dogs and listened to Casey Donahew for a while before bed. Woke up to rain around 7:30 so I rushed out and grabbed everything I needed and put it in my 4 man tent. Not a very big tent! Managed to fire up my Coleman grill and have Bacon, eggs and potatoes. After that I did a whole bunch of NOTHING all day long! I laid around in this tent listening to the rain, reading, taking short naps, reading some more and napping some more! Had my lantern going since it puts out quite a bit of heat, which caused me to burn my elbow pretty good but that made me realize I could wrap a hot dog in ten foil and cook it right up! So there was lunch quick and easy without leaving the tent. My buddy Cody showed up today with his XJ about 5:30 and we cruised around up Dickey Bell and back in his rig. We blocked an ileagel trail that started at a water run off. Came on back and managed to get quite a fire going despite the rain! We had his canopy right next to the fire but that wasn't cutting it. Needing to be replaced we decided to center it over the fire and see what happened. Worked like a charm! So there we've been sitting till now. Me and a great friend, my dog and two jeeps sitting by a campfire talking about life. So far this has been the most relaxing and enjoyable vacation ever. It's 37* here and I'm bundling up with the dog nice and cozy to get some sleep. We are going to get up and hit Dutch John in the morning, should be a fun challenge after all this rain. I'll update later on with pics.
 
I don't own a hammock tent but a good buddy does and he had a love hate relationship with his until he discovered that a quality windshield reflector made the perfect buffer to keep his backside warm when sleeping in it. One of those reflective insulated type ones. Then his therm a rest (inside his sleeping bag) or whatever thin camp mattress you may have and then his sleeping bag. He said that reflective windshield screen was amazing for keeping heat in that hammock. Good luck.
 
Best way to stay warm is to just sleep in your underwear rather than all clothes, and dont put your head under the blanket or bag. If you keep your head,hands and feet warm you are good, I never wear long pants even when camping in winter.
 
Hammock is a good deal, but it is different than the tent, and it isn't for everybody. Agreed that you gotta sleep without clothes (too binding, restricts blood flow, and holds moisture, not good!). A pad in the hammock, a good bag (I use Wiggy's super light or ultra light) and all is fine with the world. A hammock quilt is also mighty nice in the cold.

Sounds like a great trip and I am betting you'll do some more! I have seen more of the great outdoors off of dualsport motorbikes, horses, and my own two feet than I have Jeeping, but all of these are great! Actually, I think I eat better when I am camping in the jeep (better beer too!).

Let's see some pics :)
 
Got back in home today, gonna have to get all the pics off my phone to the laptop tomorrow and share some pics as soon as I can. Unless someone knows how to do it from the iPhone cause I can't figure it out!
Anyways, by far the best camping trip I have had. I had a blanket in the hammock wrapped around me as well. It wasn't awful I'd just rather sleep in a tent if its gonna be pretty cold. I think it's going to be great when just a sleeping bag will do. I took a nap in it Wednesday after I set up camp and gathered firewood.
Me and Cody got up early Friday morning and went up Dutch John on the way to breakfast. It was very slick and needed lots of skinny pedal. Made it up both hills without too much trouble but then had to winch over a water run off humps in order to stay on the trail! Thought that was pretty funny. After the rest of my crew showed up Friday afternoon we had some food and hit the trails. They dried out some but were still pretty slick in places that are usually pretty easy adding a nice challenge. I will post all of the good pics soon rather than ramble too much.
 
I haven't forgot about this I've just been insanely busy after taking a week off!
 
This was my campsite at the top of daniel. Very beautiful to be up there that early and see the sunrise.
 

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Doing this from my phone sucks and takes forever. I'm just going to have to transfer to my laptop and then upload them.
 
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This was at the top of Dutch John on Wednesday. Took my time cruising around, picking up trash, stopping and looking at things I've otherwise never seen due to trying to keep the pace with a group.
 
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My dog enjoys the trips but this was the first time it was cold. He's an old man and doesn't do well in cold weather. He's a spoiled rotten dog and has his own room at home so I had to keep him comfortable lol.
 
Wow so I finally got Tapatalk and this is awesome!

So this was my "kitchen" Thursday since it rained all day.
 
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Bacon, onions, potatoes and just scramble some eggs right in last minute. Excellent one pan meal. It has bacon so you can't screw it up!
 
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The rest of my crew assembled Friday and Duke finally got to see his long lost friend Lilly.
 
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Saw this in the parking lot on Saturday morning. Of course the bed was filled with beer cans obviously the cause of the damage. Probably responsible for some of the 100+ I saw and picked up while out and about.
Serves them right.
 
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This guy had a homemade lift kit that failed miserably. Me and my friend Cody helped him get it fixed and able to limo off the trail after lots of hard work.
 
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