I woke up the next morning absolutely refreshed. I only really woke up once to pee and after that just a few stirs. We were so cozy that Sunny actually moved away from me to cool off at one point. I definitely should have done the tent the night before. It wasn't just the temperature, though; being able to shove my mattress against a wall and put my pack at the head of it meant the thing stayed wedged in one place and I didn't have to mess with it throughout the night. I slept so well.
Quinn Crushes Phelps
Latest Adventure
It had been too long since Quinn and I had done a hike together; he kept asking if he could tag along on the bigger hikes I've been doing on Mondays or with friends on weekends. We've been filling our Summer with lots of great activities, but not really hiking together. After the last tractor pull of the year, I woke up at 4am, filled the car, then grabbed the kid and drove North. All week I'd juggled our plan between Hurricane and Phelps. Quinn has upgraded to Mites in hockey and has been on the ice three days a week. I decided he had the tools he needed to tackle the 9 mile hike up and...
Recent Adventures
After a rather disturbed sleep the night before, I was eager to get up and start the day. It's often a struggle for me balancing my desire to get up and my desire not to bother my sleeping neighbors. This anxiety makes it hard to go back to sleep. I held out as long as I could and eventually grabbed my sleeping bag and sat in my chair. My back thanked me profusely. Everyone started waking up after that, of course, so I got the fire going. I got another scraggly, dead tree as well, just to have some additional easy-to-burn wood to help the fatter stuff get going again.
Jay organized another backpacking trip this Autumn and he was keen to try out the French Louie Loop. I was more than ready for another backpacking adventure and I immediately blocked out the time. Mid-October would be past peak foliage in the High Peaks, but the lowlands would still have strong Autumn vibes. It's a good time in general for backpacking because the weather is still decent and it's shortly before hunting season really starts ramping up. As luck would have it, as the day approached, the weather promised to be quite reasonable for what we had planned.
This past Saturday was looking perfect for some additional leaf-peeping. I'd originally intended to go on Monday as usual, but Quinn was away with Grandma and Grandpa at camp and I'd have to run up and get him that evening anyways. After some encouragement from Wendy, I decided to try finding a mountain to climb. The High Peaks region was extremely busy this weekend and I tried to think of a trailhead that would probably still have spots left at 11am during peak foliage. I decided to drive the hour and 45 minutes up NY 4, 32, and 22. It's 10 minutes slower than taking the Northway, but it was...