Night 110

Hi and welcome back!

The answer to last night's trivia question is Carstensz Pyramid. Carstensz Pyramid is 16,024 feet tall and is located in the Papua province of Indonesia.

New Leaves

Last night I fell asleep reading with my headlamp on. Once again, I woke up and was surprised that it was just as bright as it was 8 hours before. I poked my head out of the tent right after that and saw an amazing sunrise. It was dark red on the bottom with orange, yellow, and a little bit of green.

J-- Catches some Grass

Today my dad, my brother J--, and I went on a hike. We went to the pond which we noticed was at maximum capacity.

J-- had my hiking stick so he went ''fishing'' at the pond or a few minutes.  Maisy must have thought it was still frozen, because she tried to walk on the water.  It didn't work too well.

Thanks for reading!

Night 108 and 109

Hi and welcome back!

Welcome to the new viewer from Australia, and thanks to the people from Russia who keep coming back.  You've become the #2 country in just a few weeks!

Before I forget, I have to tell you about something cool.  On June 22, the National Wildlife Federation is sponsoring the Great American Backyard Campout. You can visit their website to learn about their ideas for camping out in your own backyard.  If you are interested in sleeping outside that night, tell me about your plans!

Thursday night was a normal night, but yesterday evening it POURED.  I went out to the tent last night  and saw that there was a puddle along the side of the tent, so I put the two ridge rests along the front of the tent (which is about 5.5 feet wide) and slept that way instead of the normal way.

Puncak Jaya

We didn't have much time to hike last night, because I was at C-Man's house.  So dad and I just went around the field at about 11:00 p.m.  The peepers were loud to start with, but once we got down to the pond they were REALLY loud.

My dad and I just hiked about 15 minutes ago.  We got to the top in 12:20 and down in about 11:00.  It's a really nice night with a bright moon.

It's time for trivia again.  The highest point in Oceania is C-------- P------.  Can you fill in the blanks?  I'll give you a hint--it's also known as Puncak Jaya.

Thanks for reading!

Nights 106 and 107

Hi and welcome back!

I had a pretty mild night in the tent on Tuesday, and I slept pretty well.  On Wednesday morning we got up and hiked before school.  Our time up was just under 12:00.  We kept Maisy on the leash, and it was a good thing, because we saw three deer in the field and two more in the woods on top of the hill.

Sun's Up!

Last night it was pretty warm when I went out.  I had some trouble sleeping, because there were two dogs barking across the valley, and the peepers were really loud down at the pond.

I was freezing at around 1:00 this morning, so I moved from the 40 degree Slumberjack bag to the thermostat lined 20 degree bag (which was out there in case my dad came out overnight).

I woke up around 5:00 today and went inside to wake up my dad. We then went on a surprisingly warm hike (mid 50s). We had a pretty good time of about 11:15 up and 12:00 down.

Thanks for reading!

Night 105

Hi and welcome back!

Last night my dad brought Maisy out around 12:30. Maisy was much more energetic than she usually is in the tent, which I think was because my dad was out there. She did not attempt to get out at all which surprised me, because she almost always does.

New Maple Leaves

I was able to wake my dad up to hike today because he wanted get out of the tent so Maisy would not annoy him any more.  She can sometimes be a pain when she licks your face when you are sleeping.

When we hiked today it felt like it was going to rain but thankfully it held out until after we returned. We put Maisy on the leash for a change today so she wouldn't run away. We had a decent time today of about 11:45 up and 12:00 down.

We took this picture of some of the new leaves on the maple tree out back.

Thanks for reading!

Nights 103 and 104

Hi and welcome back!

Mount Elbrus

The answer to the trivia question is Mount Elbrus.  It is a volcano located in the Caucasus Mountains, and it is 18,510' tall.

On Saturday evening it took me about 16 minutes to get my gear up to the top of the hill, which was pretty good, because my pack weighed around 25 pounds. Maisy had run away earlier in the day when she was hiking with my mom, but soon after I had the tent set up, she came running up to me.  I don't know how she knew I was there.

Hiking out Sunday Morning

Overnight it was in the high 40s. I fell asleep on my own without any problems, and my dad came up at about midnight to join me.  He woke me up and told me that my tent was on its side. I wondered how that could be until I remembered that I had not staked the tent down. My dad and I turned the tent right side up, and he got in to go to sleep.

Mom is Strange

When we woke up the tent was on its side yet again but instead of turning it we just took it down. We were able to pack up everything in a record breaking five minutes!

Yesterday I hiked with my mom instead of my dad. We had an O.K. time up of about 11:15. When we were on the top I noticed some gum in the shape of an L on the tree that marks the top. My mom then told me that it had been there for about a week. She also told me that she had put it there and was waiting to see how long it would take me to notice.

Thanks for reading!

Nights 101 and 102

Hi and welcome back!

On Thursday night my dad slept out with me. It was in the 50s, so I slept in the 40 degree bag and I was hot.  My dad came out and crawled into the 20 degree bag with the thermostat lining, and when he woke up he claimed he wasn't hot at all.

Looking for Bears

Yesterday when my dad and I hiked it felt like it could start raining at any moment so I wore a rain jacket over top of my baselayer, whereas my dad just wore a cotton t-shirt. Once we entered the woods it started to drizzle but after a while (in my dad's favor) it stopped. We had an OK time up of about 13 minutes.

Today my dad, my friend A.H., and I hiked on a ridge that is about 15 minutes away from our house. About half way up we remembered that my profile picture for this blog was taken on the same climb! It took us 16 minutes to get up on the ridge, which was a really good time because we gained 700 vertical feet, and almost all of the land that we went over was covered in rocks.  While we were on top I found a little cave under some rocks that I thought would make a great bivouac spot in an emergency.

AJH and LRC Scrambling Up

Tonight I am going to camp out alone on the top of the hill. I am a little worried that I will chicken out and come home, but I doubt that anything like that will happen. 

This week's trivia question is: what is the name of the highest mountain in Europe? I'll give you a hint--it is in Russia.

Thanks for reading!

Night 100!

Hi and welcome to the new reader from Russia!

Last night there was a really bad thunderstorm and it POURED along with it. I was woken up at about 9:00 by a loud boom. A few seconds later I heard another boom, and it was some of the loudest thunder that I've ever heard.

After about five minutes of thunder and some lightning that was within a mile (I could only count to two between the flash and the thunder), my mom yelled out and tried to convince me to come inside. I refused to, even though she didn't stop nagging, so I stopped listening to her and went to sleep.

100 Nights, No Washing!

This morning my dad and I hiked at about 6:00. We had a fairly good time up (about 12 minutes), but when we were on top Maisy started chasing what we think was probably a rabbit. She ran so far that we could barely hear her barking.  Thankfully after a while she came back.

As I mentioned in the title of this post, Wednesday was my 100th night in the tent!  I think I told you that my grandmother knitted me a hat for Christmas, and I've worn it to sleep every night so far this year. It has never been washed, but my mom said she is going to try to sneak it into the washing machine this weekend.

Thanks for reading!