Good Morning

Good Morning

      10/6/25 Good Monday morning to you. 7:30 38F (3.3C) but it feels colder. Heating water for tea while my brother and Robert sleep.                                 ...

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Good Morning

Good Morning

10/5/25 Good morning. 6:00 and cold enough to see my breath but comfortable by the fire. I am not sure if I hear Walter or Jason, but someone is snoring in the tipi, loud enough to scare the bears. Sipping my tea and listening to the brook babble stories to me,...

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Good Evening

Good Evening

10/3/25 8:30 Clear sky cool, temperate weather, The moon waxing gibbous and approaching full. Just got home from the deep, dark forest. Mike and I drove north, looking for someplace we hadn't camped before.                ...

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Outhouse Camp August 2025

Outhouse Camp August 2025

My brother Andy, my friend Jason, and I all had our birthdays within a week of each other. Obviously, a birthday camping trip was in order. It would take some effort to work out the logistics. Jason is employed at an orthopedic clinic, with weekends off. Weekends are...

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Good Afternoon

Good Afternoon

Walter accompanied Michael and I into the woods to look for mushrooms. Even though we have had recent rainstorms, it was too dry and we didn't collect many specimens for the amount of ground we covered. We did find a few rubbery chanterelles,  a small chicken of the...

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Good Morning

Good Morning

    12/19/25 7:00 35F (1.6C) Overcast. Cold with a slight breeze. Damp and gloomy. Scattered drifts of slushy snow melt into the muddy grass. The rooster crows, forlorn and still locked in the coop. A bird squawks, a dog barks. A disgruntled crow croaks from...

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Good Morning

Good Morning

    12/18/25 6:45 38F (3.3C) Dark,  raining. There is no wind. The sky is a uniform , dull gray. It is raining like a cow pissing on a flat rock. By 7:30 I begin to see snow mixed with the rain. Very wet, more like raindrops with texture, a portent of...

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Good Morning

Good Morning

    12/17/25 6:15 43F (6.1C) Clouds and ferocious wind gusts. It is dark. No hot tub  this morning.  We woke up at 2:00 and found the power out. It is still out now. There were rain squalls all night.  Terrific blasts of wind pelted  the house with debris....

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Good Morning

Good Morning

  12/16/25 5:45 50F (10C) Dark and rainy, with the wind dropping off. A hard rain is pelting down, rattling in the drain pipe, splashing through the muddy turf. In between the fog and clouds rests a thin band of not quite light, a slightly brighter shade of gray ...

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Good Morning

Good Morning

    12/15/25 6:30 45F (7.2C) Steady rain, little or no wind. We often have snow by now, it is really quite temperate, but after several warm, dry mornings it feels cold and wet.                      ...

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Optimus Crux Backpacking Stove

Optimus Crux Backpacking Stove

I have had this little stove for a number of years and it is still my go-to on those rare occasions when I choose to backpack in. The stove itself weighs 3 ounces and folds up to fit in the palm of my hand. It uses isobutane-propane for fuel. The stove stores in a...

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Tarting Up the Ramen

Tarting Up the Ramen

Ramen noodles are a no-brainer pack food. Cheap, lightweight, quick and easy to prepare, you can eat them right out of the pot and cleanup is fast and effortless. I like to tart mine up just a little. Adding some oil and vegetables and maybe an egg to the mix doesn't...

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Wild Cranberry Syrup

Wild Cranberry Syrup

Wild Cranberry Syrup Simple Cranberry Syrup Recipe 2 cups wild cranberries 2 tbsp brown sugar 2 tbsp water Rinse and pick out stems from cranberries Combine cranberries, brown sugar, and water in saucepan or small cast iron skillet Bring to a boil and cook for 1...

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Baked Couscous

Baked Couscous

Baked Couscous I've made this dish stove top at home and in the Dutch oven while camping. A savory couscous galette, it is an easy, flexible recipe. You can use any mushrooms, or none at all. The same with the meat: use whatever you have, or no meat at all. I've made...

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Chicken & Dumplings

Chicken & Dumplings

Chicken & Dumplings Chicken and dumplings may be the ultimate comfort food.  We had this for Sunday dinner on our Halloween camping trip. To ease the work at camp, I did some prep at home, mixing the dry ingredients for the dumplings in a zip lock bag, and cooking...

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