About 2 weeks ago, I went camping overnight with DW. My 1st attempt vanished just as I was finishing up writing it.

This was a car camping trip that had been postponed two days due to very bad weather that was coming through so that a 3 day trip became an overnighter.

We cooked venison/pork sausage over the fire using cleaned branches. Those in hoagie buns and chips filled us up for supper. The winds were around 15mph throughout the day.

After sunset, the winds picked up to 20-25mph gusting 40mph. There were occasional gusts up to 50mph. The 3 room Magellan tent we were in woblled and staggered like a drunken sailor. Several times we had to realign one of the main poles. During a couple of the 50mph gusts, the top of the tent was pushed downward until it's 7ft height was only 3 ft. This Magellan is one very tough and resilient tent (no affiliation). We did find 1 fiberglass rod had cracked, when we inspected it the next morning. Thw winds laid down shortly after midnight.

Breakfast consisted of coffee, Mountain House (no affiliation) scrambled eggs w/pork sausage ground up, chopped bell pepper and onions. We also tried the biscuits and gravy with ground pork sausage. Both of the Mountain House meals were very good!

The main reason for this trip had been to scout out some camping sites in Kisatchie National Forest but very little was done since my DD2 incurred a mechanical problem at home so we had to leave early.

Good grief! You ate MH when (presumably) you could have had real food? Granted, MH is conveient, but I love pancakes when time and weight is not a problem(and sometimes, even when it is....)

Pretty posh menu compared to my solo car camping routine -- anything straight from a can, unheated, with pepper/hot sauce, chewed up with beef jerky and Triscuits, and washed down with tea/beer. Oh, I can cook, but I'm lazy when going solo, so it's iron rations.



When I was backpacking I used MH for the protein part, rounded out with cup-a-soup and instant noodles/rice. Then I forgot a few dehydrated pork patties in a box in my basement for 15 years. Never quite had the courage to test whether they were still edible, assuming they were edible in the first place.

The next trip will be a scouting trip to set up a basecamp. The emphasis will be to keep the load light so more ground can be covered. I do plan on being tool heavy but it will be MRE's for suppers and Mountain House for breakfast. We'll keep lunches simple, cheese, crackers, and jerky. Trail mix & Cliff Bars for snacks.