Very spur of the moment (well, one day in advanced) we decided to pop off a mid-HolidaysMayhem-get-out-of-the-house S24O. Not much to say, really, except that it might have been my favorite S24O for whatever reason. The route was a tried-n-true, leaving us few difficulties save some dark (early) skies on the out leg. Once set up, the food was good to great. Timothy brought chili fixings and did it all up on his Trangia. I used my mini-Trangia for some ramen and chicken. Patrick bought a couple kinds of sausages on the way out and we grilled those in the very hesitant campfire (which slowly came to life after we foraged for some drier wood). Dave made soup on his Esbit. That said, we all shared in the various dishes, including some of Timothy's bread and a bar of nice dark chocolate I had brought, and the very good beers Dave and Timothy brought too. After eating we stood closely around the fire and stayed warm from a somewhat biting wind coming from the south. Our smart toys claimed it was around 40F, but it felt a bit brisker than that.
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| military bivy set up, with tyvek groundcloth, 3/4 thermarest, full BigAgnes pad, and bivy/bag on top. |
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| ugly picture, good grillables |
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| supper chaos |
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| der 'Ville |
Timothy and I both slept in bivvys and I was pretty pleased all in all. Yes, I was an uncomfortable as ever, but aside a mid-night nature break, I stayed in my bag in the bivvy for practically 9 hours, so it must have not been too bad. In the morning, Patrick fired up his stove and we made coffee as we packed up, with the 2 bivvy guys being packed up much more quickly. I wouldn't want to tour in a bivy, but I think it's perfect for a S24O. We bombed down the hill in the cold and worked out way back to the Loop, this time taking a route with a few climbs to get warmed up. We finished up with a hearty, warm breakfast at The Twig-n-Leaf, as often the case. There isn't any one factor to make it any different from other S24Os. It just worked. Glad to have made the effort.
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| coffee |
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| Buenos dias! |
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| Ice along Holsclaw Rd. Seafoam developed a weird shimmy on the return that didn't exist on the way out. Bikes. |
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| Timothy stopped to beat his hands into warming up. One layer in the mid-30s proved a bit cold. |
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