forest bathing in North Cascades
Aug. 15th, 2020 11:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ironymaidenour annual group camping trip ended up just being me and C this year (we even boarded Leela). the rest of the gamers were nervy about the public bathrooms (and protecting immune-compromised folks in their bubbles) and regardless we wouldn't have been able to share food or sit together around board games, so it was for the best.
it was the first time i left the neighborhood (or even entered a vehicle) since mid-March. we were nervy about going to counties where there had been some ongoing culture war resistance to wearing masks, so we drove nonstop to the park. turns out everyone we encountered there was sane and staying distant and/or masked. we kept our (masked) use of the bathrooms to just the toilets and did all other teeth brushing/face washing/hygiene in camp.
it was a lovely time. i read at least one book a day and as many comics collections as the library would let me check out. i worked on a mindless knitting project. we cooked over the fire, and hiked, and sat by the lake, and did a sightseeing drive up route 20. i broke down and bought an air mattress* so there was extra-comfy lounging and cuddling and napping. i had not one, but two hobbies fail me: we couldn't get a big enough car to hold my kayak,** and i had battery failures for the Nikon *and* the GoPro...so i explored being that person who takes pictures with an iPad. not having the dog in camp meant that there were chipmunks literally underfoot and fewer squirrel lasers.
the creek near the north campground has a tendency to wander due to trees falling down the mountain during storm season. the old bed has been dry for over 10 years now, and it's no longer a barren strip of rocks:
i think the new bed is well on its way to undercutting the campground loop road in a year or two.
for some reason we never drove eastward before this year. there are a ton of scenic viewpoints up the mountain and trailheads we hadn't tried before. so there were pictures of the lake from above and a hike by a creek where there used to be prospecting for garnets and gold.
we made a lot of great food; i especially loved the night we made steak over the fire and roasted beets. there's something really satisfying about just slipping the skin off of a fork-tender beet. the grocery randomly had heritage eggs so we had blue-shelled eggs with vivid yolks for our breakfasts. C also figured out on this trip that he could use potato chips instead of graham crackers for gluten-free s'mores. (salty chips are delicious with the marshmallow and chocolate. i'm looking forward to perfecting this with Pringles and never buying graham crackers again.)
*we've always slept on thermarests like Serious Campers, not an air mattress like Wusses or Old People. i'm accepting my cronehood now, i guess.
**there were lots of day users getting in and out of the lake, and i think my corona paranoia would have made assembling and disassembling my folding boat near people nerve-wracking, so even though there were a couple of perfect paddling days i probably had a more relaxing trip without it.
it was the first time i left the neighborhood (or even entered a vehicle) since mid-March. we were nervy about going to counties where there had been some ongoing culture war resistance to wearing masks, so we drove nonstop to the park. turns out everyone we encountered there was sane and staying distant and/or masked. we kept our (masked) use of the bathrooms to just the toilets and did all other teeth brushing/face washing/hygiene in camp.
it was a lovely time. i read at least one book a day and as many comics collections as the library would let me check out. i worked on a mindless knitting project. we cooked over the fire, and hiked, and sat by the lake, and did a sightseeing drive up route 20. i broke down and bought an air mattress* so there was extra-comfy lounging and cuddling and napping. i had not one, but two hobbies fail me: we couldn't get a big enough car to hold my kayak,** and i had battery failures for the Nikon *and* the GoPro...so i explored being that person who takes pictures with an iPad. not having the dog in camp meant that there were chipmunks literally underfoot and fewer squirrel lasers.
the creek near the north campground has a tendency to wander due to trees falling down the mountain during storm season. the old bed has been dry for over 10 years now, and it's no longer a barren strip of rocks:
i think the new bed is well on its way to undercutting the campground loop road in a year or two.
for some reason we never drove eastward before this year. there are a ton of scenic viewpoints up the mountain and trailheads we hadn't tried before. so there were pictures of the lake from above and a hike by a creek where there used to be prospecting for garnets and gold.
we made a lot of great food; i especially loved the night we made steak over the fire and roasted beets. there's something really satisfying about just slipping the skin off of a fork-tender beet. the grocery randomly had heritage eggs so we had blue-shelled eggs with vivid yolks for our breakfasts. C also figured out on this trip that he could use potato chips instead of graham crackers for gluten-free s'mores. (salty chips are delicious with the marshmallow and chocolate. i'm looking forward to perfecting this with Pringles and never buying graham crackers again.)
*we've always slept on thermarests like Serious Campers, not an air mattress like Wusses or Old People. i'm accepting my cronehood now, i guess.
**there were lots of day users getting in and out of the lake, and i think my corona paranoia would have made assembling and disassembling my folding boat near people nerve-wracking, so even though there were a couple of perfect paddling days i probably had a more relaxing trip without it.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-16 08:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-16 11:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-16 03:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-16 02:00 pm (UTC)Thanks for introducing great scenery in my day.
Date: 2020-08-16 03:49 pm (UTC)That iPad takes some great photos when you're handling it! Is that a rainbow in pic 1? If I'd read about that aqua color on the lakes I'd ding the writer for hyperbole -- I love that it's real.
Mmmm, campfire hash. Potato-chip hack is brilliant!
(I'm missing my up north vacation, where the locals are adamantly anti-mask.)
Re: Thanks for introducing great scenery in my day.
Date: 2020-08-16 04:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-16 06:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-18 05:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-18 09:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-19 02:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-23 04:56 pm (UTC)