A new mode of camping was adopted for this trip. My camp was off a very remote section of the White Mountain Forest. Plus, road was blocked by construction. My base camp was 0.6 miles on bike from the car, and then another 0.4 miles on foot. That was far from people, but close to the car. That allowed for some very comfortable sleeping arrangements. For the first time, I did not freeze in the woods at night. The secret was, not one but two loads of stuff for sleeping and for rain gear. Full set of tools (saw, axe, machete). Even pillow. Plus, for breakfast I could eat cantaloupes and watermelon from the car cooler.
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| My base camp was 0.6 miles on bike from the car, and then another 0.4 miles on foot. | Camp located one mile from the car – perfect distance to have all the comforts and be in a completely secluded even remote place |
No Fire needed – And I did not have to start a fire every evening. In fact, I did not use fire at all. All cooking and boiling was achieved using new titanium alcohol stove and new titanium pot.
Pee jar to stay in the tent all night. Those flexible aluminum meal containers are sturdy, and sealable, and can even stand upright. They are perfect to be a pee container.
Dry feet – I need to keep my feet drier next time. My new hiking shoes are not water-proof. And my old shoes were water-proof long time ago. All and all, my feet were wet most of the days of this trip. Even when there was no rain – my boots were completely wet just from soaking moisture from the grass, brush and vegetation.
Using bike light as a night light in the tent. Good lasting bike light is not cheap ($90), but it can double up as an overhead light in the tent. It was getting dark early in the tent covered with tarps and hoods. Having a good light gives you better flexibility, extends your day a bit, and elevates your comfort in the tent.
Use tarp properly. Use tarp to route water away 
from tent entrance. I had to contain myself to tent a lot more this trip due to rainy conditions. I position one corner of the tarp high above ground suspended from the tree behind the tent. From that high point, tarp would go down over the tent creating a small crawl space (basically a hole) in front of the tent entrance. Next time I need to plan to position high point of the tarp in front of the tent. That would give me not crawling but almost standing space in from of the tent and I would have plenty of space for entering, cooking, changing, everything. Remember that you need to leave enough overhang to counter sudden changes of the wind.
Rag (cloth) is better than paper towels. Rag is washable, squeezable, doesn’t create garbage and has an amazing range of uses: grab hot surfaces, remove dust and seeds from tarp and tent, protect from sun, sit on it, cover tea to keep it warm longer. I did not realize the versatility of a simple piece of cloth till they mentioned it on YouTube.
Navigate through the List
- 01 NH Trip May 2017 - Preparations for the trip to Bog Dam Road (2024/03/09)
- 02 Thursday, May 25 - Drive, Search, Camp and Rain - Perfect! (2024/03/10)
- 03 Friday, May 26 - Remarkably Unremarkable Bunnell Notch Tr. to Mt. Cabot (2024/03/11)
- 04 Saturday, May 27 - Visibly Invisible Trail (Hunters Pass) to Ice Gulch (2024/03/13)
- 05 Sunday, May 28 - Relax to Unknown Pond (2024/03/14)
- 06 Monday, May 29 - Mud, jaws, bridge and rain (2024/03/15)
- 07 Tuesday, May 30 - We are so distracted by day job from our trail lives (2024/03/17)
- 08 May 2017 Bog Dam Road trip - Lessons learned (2024/03/18)
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