Nights 147 and 148

Hi and welcome back!

We had a wet night on Tuesday.  When I got in the tent I thought the top looked like it was sagging a little bit. After a couple of minutes I decided to push up on it. I then found out that there was so much rainwater on it that it made parts of the tent sag! Nothing came inside, though.

Yesterday my dad, my brother J--, and I hiked over to the graveyard behind the church near our house. J-- enjoyed listening to my dad reading what some of the headstones said. I don't think he really understood the whole thing, though.

Everest in 1963

Yesterday also marked the 60th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay's first summit of Mount Everest! In honor of the anniversary, a Russian BASE jumper named Valery Rozov parachuted from 7,220m up on the north ridge. You can see the video here.

BASE Jump from Everest

Today was my 4th grade field trip, and we spent the day at an Amish farm near Lancaster.  I took a picture of the goat area, where there was a sign that said "Mt. Goaterest."

Mt. Goaterest

Thanks for reading!

Nights 145 and 146

Hi and welcome back!

Welcome to the new viewer from Belgium!

On Sunday night I took a walkie-talkie out to the tent with me. Around 1:30 in the morning I heard it crackle to life so I picked it up. I listened to it for a couple of seconds and then realized that it was not my dad trying to talk to me but someone out there with the same brand walkie-talkie as me. That freaked me out for a little bit, but then I forgot about it and fell asleep.

Hiking with Maisy Sunday Evening

Yesterday dad and I hiked to the pond, and I showed him how I was pumping water from the pond to the puddle for the tadpoles. He thought I was really smart until I got thirsty and squirted some water from the filter into my mouth...without thinking that it was drawing water from a muddy corner of the pond.

This evening when we hiked there was some fog coming down over the hill out back. I thought it was especially cool the way the fog made the field look like a completely different place.

Thanks for reading!

Nights 143 and 144

Hi and welcome back!

Bivvy Gear

On Friday night I bivouacked once again. This time I slept in a SOL emergency bivvy instead of just on the ground. Inside of it I put a Sea To Summit Reactor Extreme Thermolite Liner.  You can see how small these are in the picture.

The bivvy is supposed to be windproof, but halfway through the night the wind picked up and it went straight through the bivvy and liner. Thankfully I had the 40 degree bag with me, so I stuffed it in between the liner and bivvy to block the wind.

Yesterday when my dad and I hiked, we found out that the grass around the pond had been cut and the tractor had driven straight through the puddles where the tadpoles lived, turning them into small strips of mud and water. We were able to get more water into the puddles and clear out the mud so they became puddles again.

Spider!

Today my dad and I took down the tent to let everything air out. When we were clearing everything out I found a big spider on one of the RidgeRests. We got it out of the tent, and my dad took a picture as it crawled across the toe of his shoe. It was at least 2 or 3x the size of the other spiders I've had in the tent.

Fly-Only Pitch

I tried to set the tent up as a fly-only, but it didn't work. I need to get the footprint for the tent (the footprint is the protective floor that goes under the tent) before I try again.

Maisy and I hiked to the pond again this afternoon, and I took my dad's water filter. The tubes that the water goes through are long enough that I could put the water "in" tube in the pond and the water "out" tube in the puddles and then pump the filter to transfer water faster and more efficiently than just scooping water out with the plastic bowl we were using before.

Thanks for reading!

Nights 141 and 142

Hi and welcome back!

First, welcome to the new readers from Qatar, Panama, and Ukraine!

On Wednesday I found out that the spider on my pocket knife was actually the shed skin of a spider. I could tell this because it was brittle, opaque, and had a slit through the back.

Yesterday when I hiked I had to look for Maisy, because she ran away about 30 minutes before I left the house. I was unable to find her, but then my dad heard her barking just as the rain was starting.  He found her a few hundred yards from the house soaking wet and pretty scared. She was so ready to go home she didn't even hike with him when he went last night!

The thunderstorm we had last night turned out to be a pretty bad one.  I was expecting it to hit around 9:45, but thankfully it went just south of us. The radar on my dad's phone had it as dark red, which signals that it's a severe storm.  We had some strong winds and rain, but the lightning missed us.  Here's some audio that really lets you hear the rain.

[This is LRC's dad wrapping up. We went for our hike around the field after he typed up the beginning of this post, but he decided mid-hike to stop and bivouac rather than come inside and finish up. I should have known something was up when he spent 10 minutes stuffing all sorts of gear (including a headlamp and book) into his pack before we left...

When I left him he was unrolling his bivy sack and sleeping pad out in the field. He asked me to post this, and he said to tell you he promises to write again tomorrow.]

Thanks for reading!

Nights 139 and 140

Hi and welcome back!

While my dad and I were hiking yesterday, a rabbit ran right up the path in front of us.  Even though Maisy is a beagle, and she should be able to smell rabbits from a mile away, it took her about 30 seconds to realize it had been there. Once she did, she went crazy. You can see in the video.

Last night when I went out to the tent I saw there was a yellow jacket flying around AND a large spider on its back on my sleeping bag. I shooed the spider outside and left the tent door open until the yellow jacket finally flew out. I didn't think I could sleep knowing it was in there with me.

Dad and I checked out the tadpoles again today. They seem to be doing OK. We put a bit more water in the puddle, because it has been pretty warm and there was no rain today.

Thanks for reading!

Nights 137 and 138

Hi and welcome back!

First I would like to welcome the new viewers from Hungary, Dominican Republic, and Turkey. Lately I have been wondering about who is reading in some of the new countries.  I would enjoy it if you would comment to tell me about who you are!

On Saturday night I fell asleep while reading again, but thankfully I had turned off my headlamp prior to falling asleep.

Yesterday when my dad and I hiked we had to go through 2 and a half foot-tall grass that was wet from the rain we got earlier in the day. It was terrible because I was wet up to above my waist and my dad was wet to his thighs.

Today when we hiked we saw a ton of swallows at the pond. My dad took a video of them when they were swooping down to the surface of the pond. You can see one fly right toward the camera toward the end of the video.

Thanks for reading!

Nights 135 and 136

Hi and welcome back!

The Moose's Tooth - West Ridge Route

First, I have to tell you that a few minutes ago I got an email from Mark Smiley!  I exchanged some emails with him in December after my dad and I saw him speak at the Philadelphia Reel Rock 7 film festival.  He and his wife are in Denali National Park right now, and tomorrow they hope to start their climb of the west ridge of the Moose's Tooth.

Mark and his wife are also in the middle of completing the 50 classic climbs of North America.  You have to go check out their website and read about their project.

I had a lot of trouble sleeping on Thursday night because it was really warm out (at least 70 degrees). I ended up unzipping the 40 degree bag and sleeping underneath it, which was only a tiny bit better than sleeping in it.

Clean at Last

Also on Thursday night my dad and I heard some kind of animal down near the pond calling to another one. It kept us up for about 10 minutes. While it was calling my dad tried to record a couple of seconds of it, but when we listened to it later we could barely hear it. I didn't think it was a big deal, but dad thought it was creepy.

Last night I fell asleep with my headlamp on. When I woke up this morning it was still on which is good because now I don't have to replace the batteries!

Self Portrait

Today my mom FINALLY washed my hat. While she was putting on the clothes line to dry she took a picture of it to text to my dad. In the text she said that it was "nasty no more."

For those of you that are wondering what I look like, I am going to post a caricature of myself that I had to make for art class a few weeks ago.

Thanks for reading!