Freelance Camping

The Scenario

In my childhood, I went on several camping trips with my dad and his side of the family. I consider myself a person who is more on the outdoorsy side. So when my friend and coworker, Anna, casually mentioned trying to work out a backpacking trip, I was all for it.

It turned out that the weekend that would work best was the one of MLK Day, which would give us an extra day for travelling to a campsite out of town. It also turned out that the week before this she was finishing up a major project for grad school, so she left the planning up to me. I undertook this role knowing that there would be little to no planning for this trip, because that’s how I operate.

I talked to my friend Alissa (who is becoming featured on this blog as my adventure buddy more than she probably expected) to see if she might like to meet us halfway for this trip. She’s in Virginia, and we’re in South Carolina, so the logical place seemed like someplace in North Carolina. There was a place in the Uwharrie National Forest (which I still don’t know how to pronounce the name of) that had several good campgrounds, so we narrowed it down to there.

Cut to the Wednesday before the trip. I still hadn’t called the campgrounds, and still hadn’t figured out any more details for the trip. At that point, we decided it would be best not to go backpacking for several reasons. A) I had not been backpacking ever, and had no gear. B) I hadn’t even been on a camping trip where I was fully responsible for myself, AKA where my dad didn’t do all the planning and preparation for everything.

We held out to do a camping trip, however. The campgrounds didn’t take reservations ahead of time, so we “planned” to arrive and just see what they had. That’s the type of planning that happens when I’m designated the trip planner. We also planned to meet Saturday morning and drive to the campgrounds, and then stay two nights. We also at least had our meals planned out, and knew we wanted to do some hiking on the trails in the National Forest. To me, we had it figured out and there was nothing to worry about.

I got a call from Lis Friday night saying that her car had not passed its state inspection and she was wary of driving it, and what’s more her tire blew earlier that day and she was still dealing with repairing that. I told her she shouldn’t drive 5 hours to the campgrounds, and she sounded relieved on more than one level. She could deal with her car, and she was released from this ill-prepared trip that she had not had time to get ready for.

So she was out. I called my friend from work and she said she was still finishing her project, and would call me back an hour or so later with an update as to whether she could still make the trip. I had a bit of a cold, but felt that I could still go if we were committed. I waited in the meantime, still unsure of whether the trip was even happening or not. When I informed my roommate this, she went into problem-solving mode for me. Even with all these uncertainties, my sense of urgency was still not there. But my friend texted me back soon after that the trip was still on and that she had another friend who was interested in coming! The trip was on, it was 7pm the night before, and I was going to Walmart to get everything I needed for it.

My Walmart trip wasn’t actually all that extensive–I just needed a new sleeping bag that would keep me warm in sub 40 degree temperatures at night as well as food and snacks that I could contribute to our meals. I also ended up with a camping chair and plenty of other unnecessary camping accessories for the fireside. By 9pm the night before, I was ready for the trip!

The Gear: My Packing List

• Coleman alpine sleeping bag
• Target compact beach blanket
• Cooler, water bottle, mug
• Baseball hat & winter hat
• Camping chair
• Under Armour heat gear
• Patagonia lightweight winter coat
• The North Face Vault backpack

The Gear: Essentials That I Borrowed

• Tent
• Camp stove
• Hot Hands warmers
• Reusable silver ware

The Adventure

The next morning we all met in our work parking lot. My friend’s old roommate, Robin, was there, with her beautiful Golden Retriever, and he was, well, retrieving. The game of fetch that started that morning seemed to go on for the entire rest of the trip because this dog was so dedicated to the game.

We made our four hour drive (which, I’ll remind you, was toward a destination that we had no reservations for) and upon arrival saw no place to stop and pay. So we pulled into the first campsite that had access and a wonderful view of Lake Badin.

A few minutes later, an older gentleman in a vest pulled up on his golf cart to take down our information.

“You ladies lookin’ to stay a night?”

“Two nights, sir.”

“It’s gonna be twenty degrees tomorrow night.”

“We’re going to try to stay.”

“Okay, forty dollars.”

“Do you take credit card?” asked Anna.

“Cash only.”

“I have a twenty…” I said. We searched our cars.

“I also have a twenty!” said Robin.

And just like that, we paid the fee to stay for our trip, with three dollars cash between the three of us, to spare.

This gentleman became sort of a figure of our trip, as he continued coming back to help us out.

“Would ya’ll be interested in a tarp?”

“Uhm…I think we’ll be okay…”

“It’s gonna be a lotta rain, lady.”

“Well, if you’re offering and willing to let us borrow it for the night…”

“I am offering and I am willing. Come get it and bring it over.”

So I went at a distance behind him while he retrieved rope from his shed (no worries, I peeked inside his shed, again, from a distance, and it seemed normal) and pointed me in the direction of a giant tarp sitting behind his camper. It was so big I could hardly drag it, and had to go back for help from Anna to get it over there. Robin skillfully tied it up to the trees around our picnic table, and just like that we had a bit of shelter from the oncoming rain.

We ate our dinner of camp stove-cooked chicken and rice under the tarp as the temperature dropped and the rain increased. Once the sun set, we huddled around the table and played Dutch Blitz, which was not much of a blitz because our fingers were too cold to move quickly. When we finished several giddy and competitive rounds of the game, we layered up for bed and stuffed hand warmers in our pockets.

When I got into my sleeping bag, it took a long while for me to warm up enough to feel like I could even take my coat off. What’s more, my nose was running nonstop through the night due to the chilly air. At the same time, I could hear the rainy cold air that was trapped outside the tent and the lapping of lake water until I finally I snoozed away.

The next day, we all woke up slow, since we still had no official plan or schedule for the day. We knew it would entail hiking. On my way to the bathroom, I noticed that the campground gentleman’s mailbox had trail maps in it. I came back with my prize and we chose our route over breakfast, a 5.6 mile loop around the lake.

The sun was out that day as we made our way to the trail. The more we got moving, the more we were able to shed our layers as our bodies heated up naturally. It felt nice to have the sun shining on my face and be out moving.

Our hike lasted the better part of the day, and we stopped along the way to eat our picnic lunch on a log. Our dog companion happily trotted along beside us and kept us all together for the journey. The trail dipped into the woods and around other campgrounds, all the while bringing us back to the edge of the lake.

When we got back, we all took a breather, and I fell asleep in the tent. I woke up to hearing a big PLUNK sound right outside the tent.

“Thought you ladies might need some firewood, it’s gonna be a cold one tonight.”

The campground gentleman was back again, offering us free firewood. Like I said before, we had a grand sum of $3, so he really saved the day there once again.

We got to starting the fire, and at first it was tricky to start because a breeze had started tearing over the lake. After several matches blowing out before igniting any of our kindling, I reached into my pocket and found a fresh piece of tissue paper I had been saving for my runny nose, which had not stopped since the beginning of our trip. I immediately scrunched it up and put it near the rest of the kindling. The match took to it right away and got our fire going. My runny nose was good for something, at least. And I may not have contributed to the trip with my rope-tying skills or essential camping gear, but I could feel somewhat useful for having helped to start the fire (insert beaten to death Billy Joel joke here).

We cooked our burgers over the fire and huddled around it for a few hours. We made hot cocoa that really didn’t get hot before our camp stove ran out of gas. We ended up dumping most of our mugs into the fire and going to bed early because of the cold.

That night, I was bundled in every layer possible and still not completely comfortable. I decided that if the temperature is going to drop below 40 degrees, I wouldn’t be sleeping outside anymore. My runny nose, which I was certain had to run out of mucous sometime but proved me wrong with its endless supply the entire weekend, concurred.

The next morning we ate our breakfast while packing up our gear. We could hardly get our hands to work in the brisk morning air. I sloppily rolled up my sleeping bag and shoved it in my car trunk to deal with at another time. We took down the tent as quickly as possible. Anna took down her hammock and later remarked that her hands were sore, perhaps from trying to use them to untie the rope in such cold air.

We got in the car and the first thing I did was crank on the heated seat and twist the heat dial into the highest position it would go so that it could warm up. My car thermostat read 25 degrees.

Since we hadn’t wanted to drink our coffee outside, we stopped for gas and coffee at a station down the road called “Eldorado Outpost.” It was like a gas station, camp store, and breakfast place all wrapped into one. Everyone there was a man wearing camo who was greeted by name by the cashier. There were even three old men having breakfast and chatting together at a table.

That stop was really the end of what I’m calling our freelance camping trip. We got back to our meeting spot at our work parking lot and went our separate ways. When I got to my apartment, I thanked the Lord for heat and mattresses.

I would like to think for my next trip I will be somewhat more prepared, but I do know myself. At least I know what to expect now. I can invest in my own tent, and maybe event hammock, for example. I do know that there will be a next time, but it will not include sub-temperate weather if I can help it.