So I’m camping this weekend with good friends at Inks Lake State Park. Doing more shakedown of my gear. Had to remember how to step up the tent – ha! Have a new ground cover specific for the Hexamid. Also trying out the solar charger. And I brought my alcohol stove too. Should be interesting.

I got here about 2 PM and got the site. It’s quiet and nice. I drove around the park and checked out other sites and this one is fine. Since I was the first one here and I’ve never been to this park I was worried that my friends, who have been here before, would not like the site, but now that I’ve seen the others I’m OK with it.

There is a nice breeze right now. I have to remember that everywhere else in the US it is probably freezing cold whereas I’m sitting here in shorts in balmy 70F degree weather.

I’ve been checking out the trails and roads because tomorrow I need to hike 12 miles. My plan is to wake early, take down my tent, pack all my stuff up and first do the park trails then the park roads and if that isn’t enough do the trails again. I expect it to take over 4 hours. We shall see.

I find it interesting as I sit here and wait for my friends that I’m antsy. I don’t like just sitting. I want to be active. So many people love to relax like this, but for me it’s so boring. I’m glad that as I hike the PCT that I’ll not hike for a little while and then stop and camp for the majority. It should be the opposite. Instead hiking should take the majority of the time and idleness should be minimized. That’s better for me and my mental and physical stability.

Enough for now.