Sipsey TR209 - My virgin experience.

 This was my first time backpacking.  I have been car-camping in the past, but never having to carry all my gear.  It was my 30th birthday weekend and I was wanting to go camping.  Tommy, a friend of mine, suggested the Sipsey Wilderness.  I told him that sounded good.  I went out and bought everything I would need.  I picked up a really good pack, a Kelty Big Bend 6000.  I worked great.  

We got out there later than we wanted but were still excited.  We chose the TR209 for this trip.  So we donned our packs and headed out.  It only took a few minutes to get used to the large, heavy pack on my back.  I have to admit, it was more difficult than I expected.  It was 4:00 pm when we set out.  At about 5:20 pm, it was beginning to get dark.  I commented that we better find a place to camp soon before we lost the light.  And just around the next bend in the trail, it opened up to a perfect camping area.  There was still plenty of wood around from the previous campers to get a fire started quickly.  Good thing too as the darker it got, the colder it got.  As Tommy handled the fire, I set up the tent.  We were hungry so Tommy made up his dries chili and I threw a can of chicken corn chowder over the fire.  We had to keep buiding up the fire as it began to rain.  It didn't last long though and it wasn't that bad.

Satisfied, we just sat on a log staring at nature's TV (the fire).  Tommy said, "Sorry I am not much for conversation right now.  I just can't think of anything to say."  I told him that it didn't matter.  Sometimes just sitting around a fire is a whole sharing experience in itself.  After staring at the fire and talking about life, we saw that it was 10:30 pm so we went to sleep.  I got up to get a drink of water in the night and Tommy asked what time it was.  It was 2:30 am.  He was freezing as his sleeping bag was only rated at 40 degrees.  The temperature was between 25 and 29 degrees that night.  I was pretty comfortable in my mummy bag rated at 32 degrees with an extra liner.  

We awoke at 7:30 am to a beautiful day.  It was cold to begin with so our first priority was to get a fire going and make breakfast.  After breaking camp, we set out to go a little deeper on the trail.  We decided not to go to far as we would have to come back.  We spend most of the time exploring the caves and waterfalls.  More wonderful than I could ever hope to describe.  Once we made it back to the car, I realized how difficult it was for me.  I was pretty sore.  It only lasted the next day and I recovered.  I now know I need to build up for any extended treks.  

I can truly say that God has given me a new love to put my time and effort into.  I want to keep on hiking the trails and keep them clean and in the best conditions possible.  I am really addicted to backpacking.