wolfpack65
Queen Bee
Decided to get away for a day or so this past weekend - needed the time away, in the woods, to chill & relax.
It was very good to get away from everything in Clayton and not think about anything about home or of work.
On my way, sun coming up...
So, decided to go to the Pine Cliff Recreational Area of the Croatan NF.
Thought about hiking from there, along the Neuse and making camp along there or in the forest, off the trail but near one of the shelters (for water).
The Pine Cliff part (where you can park, put a boat in, picnic, etc) is for Day Use only.
Wasn't sure about just leaving my car there overnight - would someone come looking for me??
So, ended up parking at the trailhead on 306 and hiking in to the Copperhead Landing Shelter area.
Nice trail, boardwalks over the creeks and wet areas, quiet.
Nothing but the sound of your footsteps and nature.
This wasn't actually the trailhead, but the sign at the shelter for distances back to 306 or on to Pine Cliff.
I think someone needs to re-measure that distance because it's more like 3-3.5 miles.
A few pictures along the way...
I think this was the first boardwalk;
Most of the remainder of the trail was between pines and scrub, but the trial itself, nice walking.
Along the way
My pack had WAY too much stuff, WAY too heavy for a darn little overnight trip.
Lessons learned...
Anyways, got to the shelter in the afternoon, decided to make camp a ways off trail, & made a little lunch, then set camp up.
Copperhead Landing Shelter and the water pump for getting more water.
Forgot to actually get a photo of the shelter...
Some foods for the evening, next day, and a surprise for the evening.
Hammocks.
Yea.
More on that adventure later....
A couple pics of just the sky...
Just laying there listening to the birds, critters moving around in the woods.
Got the hammocks set up and crawled in.
I didn't like laying straight in them, too closed up with the material all over your shoulders.
So, I had done a little reading and watching some videos prior to and tried out what I saw/read.
I brought my Prolite sleeping pad with me, for insulation and managed to get that in there and then myself.
Got it on the diagonal somewhat and that was more comfortable - less claustrophobic feeling.
Sunset...
Campfire pic and I have one of the fire taken in Slow-Mo, but probably have to upload to youtube to post..
That surprise in the "hiking bottle" was a bit of Woodford Reserve by the campfire.
So...after time around the fire and sipping some Woodford Reserve, it was time to get in the hammocks...
I brought a 6'x8' tarp and decided to put that into the hammock, underneath the sleeping pad, for more insulation.
Low for Sunday evening/Monday morning was 49/50F per Weather.com.
Thermal shirt under t-shirt, flannel shirt, and then fleece jacket & tobaggan.
Put my jeans back on too.
Took my boots off, but maybe would have been more better to leave on.
Got to bed around 10:30-11p.
Slept till 1:30am.
Woke up cold.
Tried to look around on FB or anything else to put me back to sleep, but my nose was cold.
When my nose gets cold, I'm really cold.
The tarp did nothing but trap my breathe and cause condensation.
So, at 2am, the friend asks if I'm OK.
Me: NO. I'm cold.
Friend: OK............want me to get up and re-start the fire?
Me: YES!
Thinking back on it, it was funny and quite the adventure, looking forward to doing it again.
But, at 2am and cold, no, get your butt up and get a fire going.
So, fire is restarted and I'm sitting in front trying to get warm.
Finally, just lean up against the tree and close my eyes.
Never did go back to sleep...
Sun coming up, I get up to keep the fire going while my friend is napping.
Eventually get up, fix some breakfast, leisurely start packing stuff up to head back out..
Stopped along the way to get some pictures of pretty flowers & fiddleheads I missed on the way in...
Guess that's about it.
Backpack was too heavy for the length of time gone. Lessons learned.
Prepare better for the weather & sleeping conditions. Lessons learned.
A few other things need changing, but otherwise & despite everything, I had a great time and looking forward to going again, maybe 2 nights....
It was very good to get away from everything in Clayton and not think about anything about home or of work.
On my way, sun coming up...
So, decided to go to the Pine Cliff Recreational Area of the Croatan NF.
Thought about hiking from there, along the Neuse and making camp along there or in the forest, off the trail but near one of the shelters (for water).
The Pine Cliff part (where you can park, put a boat in, picnic, etc) is for Day Use only.
Wasn't sure about just leaving my car there overnight - would someone come looking for me??
So, ended up parking at the trailhead on 306 and hiking in to the Copperhead Landing Shelter area.
Nice trail, boardwalks over the creeks and wet areas, quiet.
Nothing but the sound of your footsteps and nature.
This wasn't actually the trailhead, but the sign at the shelter for distances back to 306 or on to Pine Cliff.
I think someone needs to re-measure that distance because it's more like 3-3.5 miles.
A few pictures along the way...
I think this was the first boardwalk;
Most of the remainder of the trail was between pines and scrub, but the trial itself, nice walking.
Along the way
My pack had WAY too much stuff, WAY too heavy for a darn little overnight trip.
Lessons learned...
Anyways, got to the shelter in the afternoon, decided to make camp a ways off trail, & made a little lunch, then set camp up.
Copperhead Landing Shelter and the water pump for getting more water.
Forgot to actually get a photo of the shelter...
Some foods for the evening, next day, and a surprise for the evening.
Hammocks.
Yea.
More on that adventure later....
A couple pics of just the sky...
Just laying there listening to the birds, critters moving around in the woods.
Got the hammocks set up and crawled in.
I didn't like laying straight in them, too closed up with the material all over your shoulders.
So, I had done a little reading and watching some videos prior to and tried out what I saw/read.
I brought my Prolite sleeping pad with me, for insulation and managed to get that in there and then myself.
Got it on the diagonal somewhat and that was more comfortable - less claustrophobic feeling.
Sunset...
Campfire pic and I have one of the fire taken in Slow-Mo, but probably have to upload to youtube to post..
That surprise in the "hiking bottle" was a bit of Woodford Reserve by the campfire.
So...after time around the fire and sipping some Woodford Reserve, it was time to get in the hammocks...
I brought a 6'x8' tarp and decided to put that into the hammock, underneath the sleeping pad, for more insulation.
Low for Sunday evening/Monday morning was 49/50F per Weather.com.
Thermal shirt under t-shirt, flannel shirt, and then fleece jacket & tobaggan.
Put my jeans back on too.
Took my boots off, but maybe would have been more better to leave on.
Got to bed around 10:30-11p.
Slept till 1:30am.
Woke up cold.
Tried to look around on FB or anything else to put me back to sleep, but my nose was cold.
When my nose gets cold, I'm really cold.
The tarp did nothing but trap my breathe and cause condensation.
So, at 2am, the friend asks if I'm OK.
Me: NO. I'm cold.
Friend: OK............want me to get up and re-start the fire?
Me: YES!
Thinking back on it, it was funny and quite the adventure, looking forward to doing it again.
But, at 2am and cold, no, get your butt up and get a fire going.
So, fire is restarted and I'm sitting in front trying to get warm.
Finally, just lean up against the tree and close my eyes.
Never did go back to sleep...
Sun coming up, I get up to keep the fire going while my friend is napping.
Eventually get up, fix some breakfast, leisurely start packing stuff up to head back out..
Stopped along the way to get some pictures of pretty flowers & fiddleheads I missed on the way in...
Guess that's about it.
Backpack was too heavy for the length of time gone. Lessons learned.
Prepare better for the weather & sleeping conditions. Lessons learned.
A few other things need changing, but otherwise & despite everything, I had a great time and looking forward to going again, maybe 2 nights....