
It’s not like I knew it was going to be freezing cold. When Ryan tells me the temperatures outside I usually respond with, “So… does that mean it’s JEANS weather, or SKIRT weather?” Little did I know it was going to be 5-Layers of Long Sleeves weather.
Jess spent most of the month of November soaking up the sun and warmth in California, so what better way to reintroduce yourself to the Northeast winter weather than to spend 3 days 2 nights camping out in subfreezing temperatures!? It was actually Jess’ idea, believe it or not. As a small celebration to some new found freedom (“Smeagol is Freeee!”) and a WHOLE weekend to work with, we made a trip to French Creek State Park for a car camping trip.
Day 1 – Trip up and first night in camp
After picking up all the camping gear from storage (having assumed we were done for the year) and packing it in the car, we hit the road on Friday afternoon to make the hour long drive out to French Creek. Well, it was supposed to take an hour.
And, if I may propel this blog entry off on a tangent, herein lies my disdain for Philadelphia: I like the city, most of the time. But, I just cannot get myself to agree with spending 2 hours in traffic in order to do something that brings me such an immense amount of excitement and joy. If I wanted to spend most of my time fighting traffic, I’d move to Los Angeles where at least they get traffic with sunshine. I know there exists a place where we can do things we love, like camping, hiking, and mountain biking, with ease.
About 2 and a half hours of traffic later, we ended up in a nearby town where we hit up a grocery store for some provisions. This mostly consisted of whatever junk food and easily campfire cookable foods we could get our hands on. With all of our emphasis on eating healthily throughout the year, we always splurge the most when we go camping. But we also end up having some of the tastiest creations you can imagine, all without any kind of utinsiles or dishes and all cooked over an open flame.
You wouldn’t think that eating only meals that can be campfire baked in tinfoil or sizzled on a stick would be “luxurious.” Oh, but it is. It most definitely is. Spend the season backcountry camping and you’ll quickly learn, as I did, to appreciate the luxury that is tin foil! I’m so thankful that I’m not a Paleo Purist in times when we go camping. I mean I had a cinnamon roll and even a S’more – I FREAKIN LOVE CAMP FOOD. Plus, doesn’t the body use up more calories while you’re shivering in freezing temperatures? I think I learned that on a documentary about climbing Everest!
We made it up there after dark, got a fire going and set up camp. We cooked up some hot dogs and downed some snacks before heading into the tent for our first round with nightime sleeping arrangements. Jess and I slept in our individual bags and rogue just floated around trying to get warm with her blankets but overall I think the cold won the first one.
Whoa, whoa, whoa – let’s backtrack because the description “Jess and I slept in our individual bags…” is a bit of an understatement. *I* did not sleep. Some of us had to fight toe-tingling pain from feet that get too cold while others got to snuggle up in a warm and cozy zero degree DOWN sleeping bag. (But, I’m not pointing fingers.) And the poor dog barely made it through the night – I had to cuddle her closely to make sure her floppy ears didn’t fall off from frostbite. The cold gave us a beating.
Warming up in the magic bag by the fire before night 2
Day 2 – Boy Scouts & Geocaching
Of course, our alarm clock Rogue woke up as soon as there was a hint of light outside and whined and licked faces until I got up and let her out. I got the fire going again and started breakfast which consisted of campfire pinchbread and grilled kielbasa sausages (yum!).
Like bite size cinnamon rolls cooked on a campfire... yum!
It was a nice peaceful relaxing morning by the fire until about 1100 when this group of boyscouts came convoying in to move into about every site surrounding us.  They were nice and all but boy were they loud. It was amusing watching them all try to set up tents but the giggling and funny noises they were making contrasted a bit with the crackling fire and rustling leaves.
I didn’t complain (out loud) about the incessent yelling across 4 campsites to talk to fellow scouts because, at the end of the day, I think it’s GREAT that tween boys are outside, learning to pitch a tent and trying to start a fire.
To get away from the noise, we decided to fire up the GPS (not to be confused with putting fire on the GPS – that would really hurt Ryan’s feelings) and go hit a couple of geocaches in the area. I found the first one (it was easy) and then Jess found this little gem that was much harder.
Oh, Ryan! You’re too generous… it was FREAKIN’ 100x harder!! We almost gave up and started heading back to camp.
Overall, we ended 2 for 2 and made it back to camp in time to make a delicious dinner of campfire sliders! They were amazing!
What was most amazing about these Sliders was that we cooked them all on a campfire using nothing but tin foil and a titanium spork! I am most proud of that! If Mom could see us now!
Night 2 – Finally! We Sleep!
After the first cold night, we knew we needed to make a couple of changes to the sleeping situation for night 2 in order to get some good rest and stay warm.
The first night was so miserably cold, in fact, that we contemplated getting in the Kia, driving 30 minutes away (with the top back, windows down) to a Target store to stock up on Hot Hands hand warmers. BUT, OH, THE FAUX PAS! We are a backcountry breed! Car camping is such a luxury for us as it is, so to DRIVE to a TARGET to buy “warmth”?? Oh, no, no, no. We had to come up with a better, more genius, more “Rarrr, tough it out ’cause we’re so hardcore” solution before nightfall!
So Jess took our bags and unzipped them and then turned one inside out and the other upside down so we could zip them together to make one gigantic sleeping bag that we could both fit in. (I’d like to point out that I did this with glove-less icicle fingers since gloves really blunt my dexterity. It took me 5 times longer (conclusion: frustration) but we got it!) While she was doing this, I got some water heated up and poured it in a couple of Nalgene bottles to put at our feet in the sleeping bag. Result – TOASTY! Almost too toasty, had to remove the water bottle half way through the night since our feet were practically sweating. We slept great and will definitely do the zip together thing again next time.
Since Mom and Dad are probably reading along, I would like to say, “No worries, Mom, we totally kept our clothes on.” 🙂 But, the rules of outdoor survival, as we all know, states that you and your friends should get completely nekkid and huddle together in the event of hypothermia. Just so you know. But that thought never crossed my mind as it was far too cold to be taking any of my 5 layers off. Oh, and I slept like a BABY.
Day 3 – Rogue Likes Snow and Mountain Bikes
The last morning started with opening the tent flap and seeing snowflakes floating down around us… yeah it was cold.  Started up the fire again (see a theme here, fire is good!) and got our morning started with some more cinnamon pinch bread, some creasant rolls and pigs in a blanket cooked over the fire.
We relaxed in camp laying by the fire reading magazines and books while Rogue explored the woods and the neighbors in her never-ending quest for sticks and someone to throw them.
Chillin with my BC mag
Rogue and her sticks!
As the firewood ran out and Jess sucked out the last of the warmth that it could provide, we got on our bike gear to do a short ride on the surrounding trails. I rode with Rogue once before and she eventually got the hang of staying back, but after about a quarter mile and one Rogue-caused crash, we realized that it’s just not going to work today. I’ve got some work to do with that pup still before she’s ready to ride.
I’m never going mountain biking with that dog again! Long story short: I’m nursing a bruised crotch here, people. An injured CROTCH. And, yes, that “crotch” part deserves all caps.
Rogue already getting in the way
After that, it was pack up and drive back. I must admit that I was very impressed with Jess’ ability to hang in there with the cold. I’m pretty sure she actually stuck her feet IN the fire on multiple occasions but she didn’t complain and I think she actually enjoyed herself.
Yes, actually, I DID enjoy myself despite being cold for 2 days straight and burning the wool in my Uggs boots trying to warm my feet up. See, Ryan! I can totally handle the cold (as long as it comes with a dose of sunshine!)
Now Rogue, on the other hand, froze her nub off and was all smiles when we finally got her home in her luxuriously warm dog bed.
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Gluten-Free Pretzels??!
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Tasty Little Things
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Rogue already getting in the way
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Warming up in the magic bag by the fire before night 2
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Rogue & the near frozen pond.
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What happened to the fire?
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Chillin with my BC mag
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Noisy Lil Boyscouts
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Need more fire!
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“U throw Stick.”
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But the fire is slowly dying…
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Ryan looking cute.
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Collecting firewood
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Get Toasty!
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Mini Double Double w/Cheese Please
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I love this dog.
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Circus Dog
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Geocache #2
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I Cook With Sporks
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Two 29’ers!
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Ryan warms up
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Like bite size cinnamon rolls cooked on a campfire… yum!
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Rogue and her sticks!
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Rogue
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Soft Shells and Puffy Jackets for everyone!
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Ryan and Jess
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Ryan
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Sliders!
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Rogue finds a Microcache
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Ryan, Rogue, & Micro
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OOH, fire!
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It was hidden in a tree.
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Ryan w/Geocache #2
Scenes of Soil and Swell 
