Backpack #2: Into the Wild Woods of Sproul!

The weather was supposed to be nice and my husband and I decided it was time for another night out in the wilderness, so we headed for the wild woods of Sproul, on our second backpacking trip of the year.

Oh, it wasn't quite as simple as that. I had a lunch date with girlfriends, and so we planned it out so we would pack all of our gear into the car in the morning, head into town for lunch, and then get on up the road to Sproul.

But an untimely Amazon package changed that. Or rather, two. Temps were expected to be toasty on Thursday, and the Amazon order they said would be here on Friday and Saturday unexpectedly was expected to arrive on WEDNESDAY, of all things. I didn't want my ink cartridges, DVD (Wizard of Oz!), and camera memory cards sitting in our mailbox or yard somewhere melting in the heat.

So the plan got amended. We packed the car. We went into town. My husband had a cheesesteak. I met my girlfriends and had a big burger; one ordered soup and the other had a salad. And then my husband picked me up, we went home, I changed clothes, we got the packages, and just like that, we were headed for Sproul.

We don't usually get there so late in the day, but things were what they were. So we parked the car down a long dirt lane and put our packs on and headed into the woods. Within about an hour of arriving there, I had my tent up and my gear set up inside, as you may see above. My husband strung a clothes line in the back, to provide a place to air out our gear.

In the photo above, you may see my tent, chair, blue half-groundsheet, tote bag, and some other stuff. In most cases, when we backpack, we don't take the real chairs, but this one is short enough that we can. My husband's tent ends up to the right of mine, just outside of frame.

And believe you me, it is a real TREAT to sit up in a real chair, especially as it gets later at night. And yes, I do recommend a tote bag for putting stuff into that you plan on taking in and out of the tent. Astute observers may note Tiny Tiger, Lil RBG, the Moose, and Quetzal the green bird hanging from that tree to the right. Alex the Alligator and Little Bear are hanging out on a tree over in the woods.

Probably because we arrived so late, it felt like the day flew right by. We took along cheese sandwiches, snack bars, yogurt, and snacky foods like that. My drinks are in that pink Barbie cooler (yes,  it belonged to big sister Barb) you can see on my groundsheet.

We took bets on whether we would hear coyotes and elk, as this was the campsite we were at last fall when we heard a coyote herd try to take down an elk, not more than 100 feet from our campsite. We heard a lot of carrying on but did not see a darn thing.

That night, I offered to hold off the coyote herd with the knife from my Boker picnic set. Yeah, I'm a tough girl, and I rock and roll like that. But no, nary a bugle nor a yip-howl interrupted our sleep.

We did hear an owl hoot at 7:45 exactly, and it may have been that same owl who hooted at 7:45 the following morning. Who needs a cuckoo clock when you have owls to mark the time?

Sometime in the middle of the night, I heard a truffling sound outside my tent, which I presumed to be a rodent (one or more) looking for snacks. Both my husband and I started shouting at it at the exact same time, and I turned on my light and shone it all around. (I laughed as I sang silently to myself, Shout! Shout at the rodent!)

Now, some of you may remember that the last time I went backpacking, I brushed my teeth with anti-itch cream. Well, I have learned my lesson. This time, I set out my toothpaste and toothbrush in late afternoon, while it was still light enough to read the labels. Yes, learning is possible!

So this tale takes you through day 1 of our outdoor trek into the wild woods of Sproul. Tomorrow's tale brings adventure and even DANGER to our intrepid backpackers. Tune in tomorrow to find out more!

The soundtrack song for this tale is John Mellencamp and Me'Shell Ndegeocello, with Wild Night.