I finally convinced my wife to take a wilderness camping trip (she loves to car tent camp - never roughed it though), so I thought "why not make everything way more complicated than it needs to be?" Right...? Why not make it a float/hike trip? Why not take the dog? Why not have the wife try out the hammock for the first time? The list goes on, so this ended up being a trip of many firsts:
- My first float trip (hers too)
- Her first wilderness camping trip
- Her first time in a hammock (other than one trial night)
- First time the dog has been in a canoe
- First time the dog has gone camping outside of a tent
- First time trying out a DIY side-by-side bug net with floor
- Our first time in the area
- First people to this water-access campsite this year (had to clear do some major weeding)
- First time testing my tarp out in the rain
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We floated for about 4 hours into Zumbro Bottoms in SE Minnesota - part of the Richard J. Dorer Memorial Hardwood State Forest. We missed the first water-access campsite, paddled back upstream to find it, but it wasn't there (the state forest map showed it there, but the water trail map didn't - water trail map was correct). So we continued on to the next one - someone was already there, so we caught the last one. It was terribly overgrown with weeds - around the picnic table, in the firepit, everywhere. Not much of a problem, just took some clearing and burning.
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We hung side-by-side using a set of Dutch Double Whoopie Hooks, a SLD Winter Haven 11' ridgeline, and a DIY A-frame bugnet with floor where we can stash gear, maneuver on the ground, and let the dog come in and sleep. Everything worked out well enough - the tarp provided just enough coverage (more would have been better), I had to do a field-customization (read: cut some new holes) in the bug tent to fit everything just right, but we slept warm, dry, and bug free.
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The original plan was to pack up and move on down the river a ways to backpack in, but it rained all day Sunday while we hiked the park, so we went back to camp, stayed put and played cards, read, hung out from about 3:30 til dark. I really enjoyed the trip. My wife, she thought it was "ok", and may accompany me again someday, but for now she would rather stick to car camping with our kids. As for the dog, he did great in the canoe, and great with his pack, so he'll probably have to be my trail buddy this summer/fall for a couple weekend getaways.
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