[at-l] Our weekend adventure...

["Amy Friends" <coelura@hotmail.com>]

Ok, folks - Paula and I went out this past weekend (May 22/23, '99) to
Prince William Forest Park in Virginia. It's not part of the AT but we
had to tell you about this trip anyway! We had both only heard "slight
chance of rain" in the weather report, nothing about thunderstorms, and so 
decided to test our tarp setting ability... let's say we'll still need a 
little more practice with it! It was hard enough for me to even consider the 
idea of sleeping without the little zipper psychologically protecting me 
from all evils-in-the-evening-mist :-), but I was game to testing the limits 
of my discomfort. Note to readers: in this report, by the way, whenever I 
say raining, I really mean pouring!

After a mix-up at the meeting location Paula, I and Kelly (Paula's
greyhound) wended our way 'round the beltway and down I95 through
beautiful, sunny hot weather to get to the park. We stopped at the visitor 
center to pick up the maps, and the ranger said he'd rather not give them to 
us because it was going to rain so soon... we didn't believe him but turned 
and looked out the window and yep, it had suddenly gotten dark! We drove 
really fast to the campground (yeah, it was car camping, but it was 
*outside* - at least it started that way), but the bucket poured before we 
made it and kept pouring as we popped the trunk, jumped out of the car, ran 
back and pulled out the tarp. Our raingear was in our packs (of course 
shoved to the bottom due to the low-probability and Murphy's law!), so we 
huddled up under the
tarp, holding one side up over the trunk door, and draping the rest over to 
protect the contents of our packs. The one bad thing about my pack is its 
lack of pockets. After we got our jackets on, we managed to keep one side of 
the tarp dry as we laid it out in several places, looking for the ideal 
location. We finally ended up on the tent pad, which was surrounded by small 
logs. We pegged one edge of the tarp over the logs, so rain would hopefully 
run outside the tent pad, then we used Paula's hiking poles to hold up the 
open side, and thought we did pretty well. However, my so-called waterproof 
jacket is apparently no longer quite so waterproof (ok, so I was drenched) 
though, and Paula realized she didn't have any groundcloths, so we decided
to cruise the tiny town of Triangle (luckily enough, it had at this
point mostly stopped raining) for anything that might have plastic sheeting. 
  We spotted a hardware store but it was closed, and then we saw a thrift 
store and I suggested we check it out. We ended up with two shower curtains 
and a roller shade for groundcloths, and I bought a bright red poncho that I 
think was actually kid-sized, but it kept me dry later when the rain came 
back! We also noted, on the way to town, a convenient Ramada and a Days 
Inn... just in case!

We got back to camp, laid down the curtains and shade and tried to
convince Kelly to get under the tarp. Paula had even brought along Kelly's 
huge plush doggie-bone shaped bed, which we put just under the edge of the 
tarp, but she wanted nothing to do with it (Paula comments: smart dog, we 
should have followed her lead!) - I think the rustling noise scared her. We 
left her out while we sat at the picnic table and cooked and ate. Paula's 
new Gaz stove and lantern worked beautifully. We finally convinced a 
stressed Kelly to eat some kibble by putting leftover Lipton's on it, then 
we headed over to the bathrooms to brush our teeth and wash the dishes 
(Kelly had done a good preliminary wash!), where we were set upon by a 
traveling band of small girls who adored Kelly at first sight. 
Unfortunately, the skies chose that inopportune moment (back at camp, 
Paula's pack was out on the table, her gear strewn about; I also had some 
gear out, and the trunk and car windows were fully open) to re-open. We took 
that as a signal and bolted back to the campsite, hurriedly tossed stuff in 
trunk (no, Paula - those are the keys! ;-), settled Kelly into the back seat 
with her nice plush bed, and ducked under the tarp.

We actually found a dry area in the middle big enough for both of us and 
settled in, relieved to be out of the wet for the evening.  However, we were 
in for a noisy night - soon the rain evolved into a tremendous thunderstorm, 
with huge booming crashes and sharp, bright flashes across the heavens.  (My 
neighbor's friend had asked me before I left to throw a wish for him if I 
saw a shooting star... sorry, Stuart!) Unfortunately, Kelly's terrified of 
thunder, so Paula had to get out and run to the car in the downpour to 
comfort the poor thing. She had been in the car probably 20 minutes or so 
when I, almost asleep in spite of the noise, felt the Leki on the right-side
give way - and the tarp came down on my face! Ack! I propped it back up and 
rolled over onto my side, but then a few seconds later the left Leki went... 
and then the right again! I propped them both up until they seemed stable, 
and then let go. Mistake! They're both down, and I gave up. I put my 
headlamp on, bundled up Paula's bag into a ball, stuffed mine (down) into 
the trash bag I had over my feet, and proceeded to put my boots on.  
Meanwhile, Paula sees a glowing blue lump from the car and comes to 
investigate. Paula's opinion: a headlamp-garbed Sandpiper holding up a blue 
tarp with her head while trying to put on her boots and keep both the bags 
dry looks like a large amoeba that has swallowed a glow-in-the-dark lamp.

Anyway, she grabs her bag, I grab mine and off we go to the car. We had to 
leave the some of the windows cracked open so we could breathe -- the 
dampness of two wet people, a wet dog, and pouring rain made the interior 
humidity almost unbearable. I really wished I was about 5 inches shorter so 
I could actually straighten out.

At least when we got up in the morning (after much creaking of joints
and groaning of muscles) it had stopped raining! Kelly was very tired from 
the stress and got up later than we did, but as soon as she was up and 
about, the roving girls across the way spotted her. It could be heard 
throughout the campground, in those piercing voices only little girls have, 
when they hollered "Kelly's up!!!". After a bit of a visit, we finished 
packing up and headed back to the visitor center to check out the maps.

The terrain was hilly but gorgeous, very lush, but a bit humid. We
enjoyed the scenery tremendously as we did a successful two-and-a-half hour 
hike hunting down the orienteering poles marked on our map. :-) There were 
five on our course, and you're supposed to find them consecutively - they're 
numbered on the map in the order of travel. We did accidentally mix one pole 
up - it wasn't ours at all but it was in a close location, since there are 
many more poles out there than were on our course, although we did think it 
was too soon to be finding our pole! We took a bearing from it anyway and 
headed for the next pole; along the way we found our correct pole and 
re-sighted... we were still on course! Luckily the orienteering maps are 
very detailed, and we managed to steer clear of some marshy areas and use 
the terrain a bit to our advantage. Kelly was an amazingly good dog and 
didn't chase any animals or anything - she wasn't even startled went a 
couple deer went bounding out of sight. However, I think she knew where the 
car was because when she was feeling tired she kept trying to make us go
that way, never mind that the pole we were seeking was the other way! I 
remembered a few things from my geology-degree days, especially the fact 
that I don't use the compass in exactly the same way as the instructions on 
the back of the maps say to, so I'm fighting trusting my memory versus the 
instructions... memory wins because I already know how to do it that way! 
:-) Paula's addition here: I learned a LOT about using a compass - which I 
had never done before, plus a lot about reading topo maps. I've only been 
able to understand the big stuff on them before. I think it's a major plus 
to go out orienteering with a geology major who knows all about topos and 
can even tell the little stuff about the land from them.

(Me again) Later that day I went to REI and got a new waterproof jacket 
(pretty cool too - an SD, with huge torso vents, and it packs in to its own 
mesh pocket. I still have to find out how much it weighs, but it's a lot 
less than my old one!). Friday we're going to REI, and I have the Jardine 
book so we can review tarp set-ups. The thing is, I actually had fun, and 
Paula and I laughed almost the whole time, in spite of the turn of events.  
Since this is after the March weekend trip with Woodelf where I had enjoyed 
myself in spite of sleet, freezing rain and snow -- I think I'm a goner... 
Paula's addition: Like you, I had a blast, and I think some of it was due to
all the crazy stuff that happened!

Sandpiper

An old poem of mine, brought to mind by this adventure:

Rain Come Down

one drop splatters on impact

a microcosm of rain

bent trees still welcome

the elixir aqua vitae


see the rain come down
see the rain come down


each drop a sponge

absorbing wear and tear

each drop a dynamo

energizing body and mind


feel the rain come down
feel the rain come down


the rain on pavement

sounds slick and wet-black

an echo in mind corridors

hollow yet strong


hear the rain come down
hear the rain come down


in the sharpness of the rain

childhood forgotten

in the sweetness of the rain

childhood relived

taste the rain come down
taste the rain come down

*

Amy K. Friends
August 9, 1996



---
Where you've been is dead and gone - all you keep's the getting there
To live is to fly, low and high, so shake the dust off of your wings
and the sleep out of your eyes....

Townes VanZandt


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