The Great Outdoors

--- I've renamed this thread to encourage others to add their experiences with The Great Outdoors ---

  The recent hobby threads inspired me to tell a short story of several of my hobbies that go together well. My first idea was a tent review but it morphed into this. My backpacking partner is an avid fisherman and wanted to try a stream in Sproul State Forest in north-central Pennsylvania. I don’t fish at all. I usually go exploring while he and whoever else is with us fish the nearby streams. I just hope they catch enough to share with me at suppertime.
  The plan was to backpack down a trail on the far side of the ridge on the left in the picture below. The next morning he would fish while I wandered around aimlessly. Then we’d pack out and head home.


  The weather forecast was rain with snow possible in the higher elevations (where we were). We didn’t get far down the trail before we decided we didn’t want to try climb back up a slippery snow-covered trail the next day with packs on. We backtracked and set up camp a short way out another ridge. Pard was going to hike down and fish a different stream the next morning. Someone had gifted Pard an emergency shelter thing he felt obligated to use. It was just an orange vinyl tube with open ends. The wind was picking up, it was going to rain again and possibly snow. I couldn’t stand to see him try sleep in that thing so I offered to hike back to the truck and get my brand new, unused tent for him. It’s the camouflaged one in the picture. I save weight by using just the fly and ground cloth of another tent I have when there are no bugs. Pard was up at dawn to go fishing. I slept in and took this picture while having morning coffee.

After breakfast I started on the trail Pard took, figuring to catch up to him somewhere. In addition to the serenity I’ve found only in the deep woods there is also the beauty of nature to enjoy. I think Spring has this area's prettiest flowers. Here’s a Fringed Polygala I saw just after starting out.


I took this picture of white flowers a mile or two down the trail. It started to sleet hard right then so I turned back. I take many pictures of plants with the intention of looking them up later. I still don’t know what these are. It’s only been about seven years. I once thought I was a good procrastinator but I learned better when I entered a contest. I was eliminated early because I was only five years late to the competition.

Spider webs collecting sleet.

I decided to take a picture of this Jack-In-The-Pulpit on the way back up instead of on the way down. Down would have made a better shot.

There was a small clearing near camp with with snow covered ferns.

Back at camp. Yuck! I hate camping in snow. Thankfully, it melted quickly.

An interesting sign in a field on the road out.

Yes, it was wet and a little dreary but I’ve never been on a bad backpacking trip. Some are just more comfortable than others. I get out and away from it all where there is peace and tranquility regardless the weather.

Very intriguing 🧐

Really? I can't imagine what it would be like to have that short of an attention span.

This is one of the best threads I’ve seen in Off Topic in a while.

Leaving Nature aside, as a retired SysAdmin I still enjoy any opportunity to get out of cell range. In a few minutes I'm heading to some land I own nearby to camp for the night. It's not the deep woods but it is out of cell range.

He's dealing with identity issues

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/off-topic/are-you-a-mammal

Last night's suite. It's not quite five star but the ambience can't be beat. This is the tent part of the fly and ground cloth posted above. The weather was beautiful so I left the fly off for better circulation. Around eleven I could hear four Barred Owls hooting to each other. (YouTube link to one calling) A phrase used to remember their calls is "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?" Several times in the night I was woken by deer snorts. My tent site actually straddles a cross trail they use to get between two main trails. (I was there first, goldurnit! They made their trail later.) Their snort is an alarm signal used both to alert other deer and to try make whatever startled them flinch so they can identify it. My tent don't flinch so one stood about thirty yards away and snorted for ten minutes. Then about sunrise I got the same treatment from the crows.

Anyway, here's the tent. There'll be a review soon, mostly because you can't stop me. now I'm off for food and more gin. Gin first, it's been a good day.

I like your PFP. Is it the Green Man?

Yep, a Green Man

Very Druid of you

It fits me better than a previous alt.

I think so too

A good place to start with the outdoors is with one of our best recoveries. When I was young Bald Eagles were only in Alaska. I never expected to see one. Now we're disappointed if we don't see at least one on every kayak run.
A fledgling near its nest and a parent in the same tree keeping watch.

This is on a different river and obviously taken at different times of the year. What the picture shows, left to right, is the male and female pair and one year's young.

Notice the water drops on the lens. It can be tough to hold position in a river in a kayak while juggling a paddle and camera

We were on our way home from a hike when we saw this one tearing at something in the ice. Probably a frozen fish.

More topics like this please. Some of us live in micro cities far from nature. It's good to see all this with a personal touch rather than some documentary.

I know you all are waiting for my tent review with bated breath. I apologize, I've been busy lately. Here's all the gear I needed for a two and a half day hike through the Hammersley Wild Area, the largest area in Pennsylvania without a road. I wanted to camp at that point but there was no water so we camped a little farther down the trail. That was the first time I got to use my new tent shown way above, new sleeping bag, and new sleeping pad. It started sprinkling around 9:00 PM and didn't stop until around 9:00 AM. At one point in early morning I snuck out to answer Nature's call and brew a quick coffee. I lay in my tent looking out at the rain and realized I was warm, I was dry, I had coffee. Things could be worse. We got poured on while hiking that afternoon but that happens. Anyway, I think this is the only picture I have of that expedition.

I haven’t camped in a while but am probably going to get a new hammock tent. It won’t be anytime soon though, probably after December or January.

Your pics make me regret not taking my own. I used to take some but found it distracting. I’m not even sure where my camera and sd cards are any more.