Nights 191 and 192

Hi and welcome back!

Lately not much has been happening overnight or during my hikes and since it's summer I have been kind of busy so I might not post every day or every other day.

Thanks for reading!

Nights 189 and 190

Hi and welcome back!

Welcome to the new reader from Romania!

Earlier today I hit 15,000 pageviews!

On Wednesday night it was very nice out so I slept on the grass like I have been. About half an hour after I fell asleep it started to pour. Thankfully I was only about 10 feet from my tent so I was able to go inside where it was dry. That is the last time that I will sleep outside of the tent without checking the weather.

Thanks for reading!

Nights 187 and 188

Whitetail in Velvet

Hi and welcome back!

On Sunday night when I went out to the tent I found out that some of the rain that came earlier that day got into the tent. There were two or three small puddles in the middle of the floor.

Unfortunately the sleeping bag that I was going to sleep in was in one of the puddles, so I wound up having a damp night.

On Tuesday when my dad and I hiked we saw two buck (male deer) about 100 feet in front of us. Once we got to where they had been standing, we found the two sets of deer tracks they left in the mud. We followed them for about 20 feet, but then they disappeared and the rest of the area was grass.

I see that we've had about 15 visitors last week from France.  Are you watching the Tour?  Dad and I watch the coverage every day, and it's been pretty interesting so far.  Lots of crashes, good breakaways, and that dog that almost took out a line of riders!

Thanks for reading!

Nights 185 and 186

Small Part of the Union Camp

Hi and welcome back!

Welcome to the new reader from Serbia!

On Friday, my dad, my grandfather and I went to Gettysburg for the 150th anniversary battle reenactment.  The first battle was the cavalry, with about 1,000 soldiers on horses or on foot.  There was another battle later in the day with more soldiers, but it was really hot, and we didn't stay for that one.

Officer's Tent

After the cavalry battle we went to the Union camp.  I was amazed by how far tents have come in the last 150 years.

In the camp, all of the tents were exactly like the ones they used in the Civil War. Most were just 6 foot long canvas tarps supported by sticks. They wouldn't have been very waterproof, and I'm sure they were very heavy.

We also saw several officers' tents.  They were pretty nice.  Some had beds and everything.

Not Sunset?

On Sunday evening when my dad and I were hiking we saw a patch of orange sky. At first we thought that it was the sun setting, but than we realized that it was in the east and not the west, so it couldn't have been that.

Neither of us could think of a logical explanation, so if anyone can tell why that happened, I would appreciate it if you could comment.  We did have a thunderstorm come through about an hour before we hiked, if that helps.


Thanks for reading!

Nights 183 and 184

Hi and welcome back!

On Wednesday night I woke up around 11:45 to find that even though it didn't rain, everything was wet. All of the sleeping bags (including the one that I was in) were especially wet. Thankfully the 40 degree bag's inside was dry for the most part so that's what I moved into. I'm pretty sure it was a particularly heavy dew that night, and because I wasn't using a groundcloth, some of it got inside the tent.

Reading in the Tree

The other day I also rigged up a harness in the big pine tree in our backyard and hung out there reading for a bit.  I was only about 15 feet off the ground, but it was fun to have a different place to read.

On Thursday night I was able to see some fireworks that some people down the road from us were setting off. I just rolled my sleeping out on the grass and watched them from there.  Whenever they weren't setting them off I would look at the stars and spot constellations.

Thanks for reading!

Nights 181 and 182

Bear Path?

Hi and welcome back!

On Tuesday when my dad and I were hiking we noticed that there was a path of flattened corn stalks through the corn field on top of the hill so we followed it. We decided that it was probably from a bear, because it was about 3 feet wide.  We've seen black bears in the field before, and someone said they saw one a few weeks ago, so it's certainly possible that's what it was.

Once we were at the end of the path we saw some blackberry bushes. There were a TON of ripe berries so we picked a bunch and ate them. Once we got home and described them to my mom she said that she has seen them before and that she thinks that they are actually black raspberries.

If anyone can tell what they are from the picture, comment and tell me!

Blackberries?

Thanks for reading!

Nights 179 and 180

Hi and welcome back!

It's great to see so many readers coming back from other countries.  I see Latvia, Portugal, Morrocco and some others who have visited several times.  I hope you keep reading!

Rainy Days

On Saturday night while I was reading I heard a noise coming from near the pond. I listened for a couple minutes and finally realized that it was probably one of the owls we hear sometimes. I verified it in the morning when my dad told me that he had heard an owl overnight.  We've heard as many as four of them calling to each other at one time, but I think it was just one on Saturday.

Yesterday when my dad and I were hiking we saw a deer about 60 yards away from us. It stayed completely still and didn't even move when Maisy would run and bark at it. I decided to walk toward it and see how close I could get before it ran away. Once I was about 35 yards away it finally ran.  Dad said they don't see very well, so they rely more on hearing and smell.  Still, I was surprised it let me get so close.

We had a major thunderstorm on Sunday night.  It started with lightning about 3:00 in the morning, and then it started to really rain hard.  I've been sleeping in the Sierra Designs Polaris the last few days, and it kept me perfectly dry.  I was up for a few minutes during the storm making sure everything was closed up tight, but then I was able to get back to sleep.

Thanks for reading!