Civilization at its finest

I'm back and let me tell you, running water never looked so good.

Gwen and I just returned from a camping trip to Gunpowder Falls State Park. (Hereford Area, Camp Wood, if you want specifics.)

While it was really beautiful, it was a bit ill-fated. We went with our scout troupe and we happened to pick the hottest weekend this summer. I was soaked with sweat the moment I left the car. But the trouble didn't begin there. It started a mile up the road, or rather, what was once a road. About a mile from the parking lot the road turned into a series of large potholes separated by narrow strips of something that was asphalt in its distant youth. To say this road was badly maintained would be an insult to other badly maintained roads.

So, after stressing our shock-absorbers, Gwen and I pop out in search of our campsite.

"Follow the trail to the bath house then take the mowed path to Site 3." Sounds pleasant enough. However, mileages weren't mentioned. We put the total distance, car to campsite, at about 1/3 of a mile. Downhill.

So, in 90 degrees and 100% humidity, Gwen and I haul our tent, sleeping bags, mats, clothes, hiking boots, backpacks, toolbox, camp stove, large box of kitchen gear, jugs of water, and our Coleman lantern to the site. We set up camp and wait for our fellow scouts to join us. And we wait. And wait. And wait.

The "arrive between 3pm and 7pm to set up camp" comes and goes. So, we call to find our leader is actually on the pathway down. So, we have company and friends. All is well. We start a campfire, roast our soy-wienies, and sing songs while we wait for the one other family we were expecting. And we wait. And wait. And wait. And darkness falls. And surely, if our friends are sane, they got stuck in traffic, realized they'd be pitching tents in the dark, and wait till morning to join us. Nope. We head to the bathhouse to wash up for the night and pass them hauling down their gear in the pitch blackness. These are hardy folks because, not only do they have a ton more stuff than we do, they navigated the path with no light (the moon was pretty full though) and pitched camp after 10pm with two kids in tow. Gotta respect that.

Gwen and I finally tucked in, still sweating profusely, and fell asleep.

I greeted the morning very enthusiastically because I was going to try out my new camp coffee pot. It is the tiniest little pot, stainless steel, and so sweet. And, it made an absolutely brilliant cup of coffee. No more of awful instant coffee or wimpy coffee in teabag for me. I had espresso. Bring it on, wilderness, I was ready.

The scouts worked on camping projects like leaf prints and rubbings and nature observation. They got to make beautiful art in their journals. Then, after lunch, we took them to the Gunpowder Falls River. This river runs at a cool 55 degrees thanks to the way it is sourced by the dam and the state park's plan to support trout in the river. That 55 degrees went a good way to cooling us off in the second day of 90+ temperatures and 100% humidity. We all went wading by an old bridge near a few rocks that made a sweet little riffle in the river. It was 2 feet deep most of the way, and shallower at the sides. Perfect for cooling off. When the conditions were right, a mist would form over the river and it looked so magical. Also, there was this cool dead tree lying in the river just begging to be climbed. The girls happily obliged.

Then the girls prepared a camp dinner. This was for part of their camping badge. One of Gwen's jobs was to pour the pasta into the pot. She heads to the pot and I call her back saying "Let me help you open the bag." I was sure the bag of pasta was going to explode. Well she stood there and carefully opened it a little bit. "I got it, Mom". "OK". Well somewhere in the next two feet she decided that the bag needed to open a wee bit more. You saw this coming, right?Ffffwhoosh! Pasta everywhere! Luckily, our fearless leaders had brought more and tragedy was averted. Then we made foil packets of veggies to bake in the coals. Gwen and I brought carrots and green beans. The other families brought interesting ingredients like sweet potato, squash, and pistastios. Guess what 3 of the 4 scouts put in their packets? Carrots and green beans. Ahh, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

After we ate, we held a badge ceremony for the girls. Standing around our campfire, our leaders reviewed the badges and the activities over the past year and awarded each scout their earned badges. We sang a campfire song and then celebrated with a peach cobbler cooked in a dutch oven in the campfire coals. I've got to give our leaders credit. They can cook at a campsite. Me, I'd be eating granola three meals a day. However, for future reference, the delicious pasta in a pesto sauce, while tasty, was a horror to clean up. The olive oil didn't want to rinse away in our less-than-sophisticated camp sinks. (Remember, running water is a good thing, running hot water is even better.)

Afterward, Gwen and I tempted fate by sleeping in the tent with the rain flap off. We really slept under the stars and the moon crept in through the trees to light the tent so brightly I could almost read by it. Lovely.

And, tomorrow I will tell you about our second day camping.