Quick overnighter with Tammy

Tammy and I went out last week for a quick hike and overnight. We really wanted to try a different trail but with two dogs we decided to go to our old familiar trail and stream. There had been a large rain event the day before with a cold front behind it and the weather was overcast and quite cool, especially for this time of the year. As a result, the fishing was less than stellar, I did catch a few fish but certainly nothing remarkable. When we planned this trip we actually had planned to stay at least two nights, however, we underestimated how cool the weather would be, down to the high 40s. Tammy brought a very lightweight sleeping bag and had a cold sleepless night, combine that with the poor fishing and we packed it in, literally, earlier than planned. And not to blame everything on Tammy, I wore a new pair of Vasque hiking boots that had rubbed a huge blister on the heel of my right foot on the walk in. So I was not really super comfortable in anything but my fake croc camp shoes and did not really mind leaving early.  I actually hiked out in my Korker wading boots that were much more comfortable than the hiking boots.  

Our dogs, Skip and Jackson, didn't mind the cool weather a bit and had a fantastic time running around barking and playing in the creek. 

I have spent many nights leaning on this log around the fire don't know what I am going to do when it eventually deteriorates away. I have to say that on this trip the fire felt particularly good.

After all the recent rainfall there were tons of mini waterfalls. 

The two pics above show a lightening struck maple that had shards blown out of it for quite a wide radius. I absolutely would not want to have been anywhere close to this tree when the lightening hit it!

I found an old car on this trip that I had no idea was here. In the 40 plus years I have hiked and fished this creek I had never seen it before. It is super unbelievable how far back in the woods it was, truly hard to imagine a road good enough to drive a car on in the middle of this rhododendron thicket.

Even with the problems we had, Tammy and I both had a fantastic time and are already planning the next adventure, with warmer sleeping gear and comfortable shoes. 

Thanks for reading, Chris