Grizzly Adams no more........

[BlueStreak]

So, I suddenly decided that since I hadn't been out under the stars since the pandemic began, I need a vacation. So, I took a week off, loaded up the tent, sleeping bag and telescope and headed off to a brand spanking new state park on Virginias Middle Peninsula.

Mistake.

At 57, I am getting too old to be sleeping in a tent, in a bag and on the ground in 95 degree heat at 72% humidity. After three days and nights, I got no good sleep, got eaten alive by bugs, picked up a backache and a rash and didn't get a SINGLE astrophoto that was worth a damn.

So, I called it quits and came home to convalesce in the A/C.

Rant over, thank you for listening.

[bobabode]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

So, I suddenly decided that since I hadn't been out under the stars since the pandemic began, I need a vacation. So, I took a week off, loaded up the tent, sleeping bag and telescope and headed off to a brand spanking new state park on Virginias Middle Peninsula.

Mistake.

At 57, I am getting too old to be sleeping in a tent, in a bag and on the ground in 95 degree heat at 72% humidity. After three days and nights, I got no good sleep, got eaten alive by bugs, picked up a backache and a rash and didn't get a SINGLE astrophoto that was worth a damn.

So, I called it quits and came home to convalesce in the A/C.

Rant over, thank you for listening.

I hear that. The last time we camped, upper Kern river, we rented one of those teardrop trailers. Sure beat sleeping in a tent on the ground. Hope you're feeling better.

[Oerets]

Our days of sleeping on the ground by choice are long gone also. We will rent cabins or stay in a hotel with a pool and AC.

Just seems like it was alot cooler years ago when we backpacked.

[Mark B]

3 days sleeping on the ground at 57? That's iron man territory.

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by bobabode

I hear that. The last time we camped, upper Kern river, we rented one of those teardrop trailers. Sure beat sleeping in a tent on the ground. Hope you're feeling better.

I have a cot but, found that to be worse. Too narrow for my prodigious girth. If I roll, I hit the floor. So, I bought one of those expensive mats that's a hybrid foam/air type of deal so you can pump it up to your taste in firmness. It's 32" wide and about 5" thick, fully inflated. That was actually a lot better....but, still.

Maybe if I put the mat on top of the cot? Might try that just once at home.

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by Oerets

Our days of sleeping on the ground by choice are long gone also. We will rent cabins or stay in a hotel with a pool and AC.

Just seems like it was alot cooler years ago when we backpacked.

I was younger and much skinnier.....The heat was easier to take.

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by Mark B

3 days sleeping on the ground at 57? That's iron man territory.

I also did 17 miles in just over an hour on a bicycle a couple weeks ago. I hurt for days afterwards but I did it. Badass. HOOAH!

[finnbow]

I can see camping out in high in the Virginia Blue Ridge this time of year, but not in the swampy, bug-infested lowlands. Ugh. That said, I gave my sons all my camping gear years ago. I still love the outdoors and hike in the woods 3-4 times a week, but have given up on camping, something I once loved.

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by finnbow

I can see camping out in high in the Virginia Blue Ridge this time of year, but not in the swampy, bug-infested lowlands. Ugh. That said, I gave my sons all my camping gear years ago. I still love the outdoors and hike in the woods 3-4 times a week, but have given up on camping, something I once loved.

I normally wait until early October but three things happened;

1). I became extremely burned out and testy out at work and needed to leave for a while.
2). My new Kodiak tent finally arrived.
3). A new campground opened (Machicomoco State Park) and it's broad horizons and location looked more amenable to astrophotography than my place in the city.

I'm still headed to Staunton River State Park, about 3.5 hours to the west in October for a week. But, with lessons learned, I should do much better.

[donquixote99]

Did backpacking sort-of in Glacier National Park in 2018. Sleeping on ground was uncomfortable and cold as hell the first night (I basically had a screen tent and fly, and a very light sleeping bag, and the temp dipped into upper 30's up in the mountains. But found out those space blankets really do hold the body heat in. Did not attempt self-contained backcountry backpacking, just was going to day hike around from base camp. Found out even that was very challenging given altitude and steepness of trails. Never made it up to continental divide. My training in lowlands was not vigorous enough!