Tag Archives: camp

Facing the Elements: Joshua Tree Backpacking in a Rain Storm

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Join me for 3 days of Backpacking, Hiking and Desert Camping in the Rain while  exploring California’s Joshua Tree National Park.

For this winter desert camping adventure, I decided to do a solo backpacking trip in Southern California’s Joshua Tree National Park.  I chose the Maze zone as my primary area of exploration, with the added possibility of hiking along the storied Boy Scout Trail as well.

Due to backcountry camping permit regulations, I chose to obtain a permit for camping within the Maze Zone, with the possibility of hiking into and exploring the Boy Scout Zone by day.  This was mostly due to the fact that the Boy Scout Zone is the only JNP zone that requires you to specifically get a permit for 1 of 8 specific campsites, and I wanted to have some more flexibility to choose my campsites on the fly.

Getting a permit for the Maze zone allowed me to camp anywhere I wanted as long as I was at least 1 mile from an official trailhead, one half mile from any road, and 200 feet from any trail.  Prefect – that sounded like exactly the solitude I was looking for.

Being February in the Mojave Desert, my expected temperature range would be from roughly 40 to 75 degrees or so.  What about rain, you ask?  Well, 336 days out of the year, the answer would be a solid – “No need for rain gear over here!”.  I apparently arrived on one of those 29 other days.  No worries though. I think it provided a pretty unique opportunity to see the Mojave Desert during one of it’s most vital times for survival of plants and animals in this arid environment – a desert rain storm curtesy of El Niño.

For sleep and shelter, I packed in my Outdoor Vitals Fortius trekking pole tent, a 3-season sleeping pad and my Hammock Gear 40° down quilt.  Reliable drinking water is pretty much non-existent in Joshua Tree National Park regardless of the season, so I was tasked with packing in all of my drinking water for the entire 3 day trip.  For this reason, I decided to skip the usual dehydrated backpacking meal choices in favor of some cheap and easy ready to eat food options.

I also opted to ditch the stove and just go the no-cook backpacking food route, because why not?   Honestly, my pack was jammed to the hilt with water, and I just wasn’t in the mood to carry more fuel and cooking supplies.

Route Overview – Smoky Mountains Little River Gorge Backpacking Loop – Sintax77

A permit is required for backcountry camping in Joshua Tree National Park.  You can reserve them on the Joshua Tree National Park website here.

Full GPS track data, including campsites, water sources, etc, for this trip and many others can be downloaded on my Trip Data Page.

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Camping with Wild Ponies – Solo Backpacking in the Grayson Highlands

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3 days of Solo Backpacking, Hiking & Tent Camping on a section of the Appalachian Trail in Virginia’s Grayson Highlands.

FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through some of my links.

For this 3 day, 2 night backpacking trip, I headed out for some hiking and solo camping in the Lewis Fork Wilderness and Mt Rogers National Recreation Area, within the larger George Washington and Jefferson National Forest.

With an emphasis on exploring the wild pony grazing areas surrounding Pine Mountain rather than grinding out mileage, I created a modest loop by combining a portion of the Appalachian Trail with the Virginia Highlands Trail. This gave me a super laid route with my campsites for the first and second nights located in the same general area, separated by less than a couple of miles.

I had a backup plan to do a larger 22 mile loop similar to the one I did in this area a few years back, but I knew from that trip that there was a good possibility I would want to slow things down and soak in the sights in this particular area.  Overall, I was very happy with my choice, but keep in mind that there are many more spots to explore if you’re planning your own trip to the Grayson Highlands.  The details of my previous larger loop can be found here if you’re interested.

The Grayson Highlands are known for their high winds and unpredictable, rapidly changing weather, but luckily for me, the mid September forecast called for an ideal temperature range of 55 to 80 degrees. This allowed me to get by on an ultralight backpacking setup with minimal extra clothing and gear.  My shelter for this trip was my Outdoor Vitals 1p tent in “fast and light” mode –  which just means that I left the main tent body with bugnet at home and set it up using only the tent fly, poles and ground cloth.

Thank you to Revtown Jeans for sponsoring this trip video!

Grayson Highlands Backpacking Trip – Route Overview – Sintax77

Trailhead Used: Elk Garden Trailhead Parking,  36°38’46.7″N 81°34’59.0″W
Whitetop Mountain Rd, Troutdale, VA 24378

This is an easily accessible grass and gravel parking area with room for a decent amount of cars. No fee or permit is required for parking or backcountry camping.  There are pit toilets without running water on site.  I began my hike at the gate on the other side of the road.

Full GPS track data, including campsites, etc, for this trip and many others can be downloaded on my Trip Data Page.

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Honey I Forgot the Tent – When Backpacking Goes Wrong

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Hiking, Backpacking and an attempt at Tent Camping in the Rain in Virginia’s George Washington National Forest.

FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through some of my links.

For this overnight backpacking trip, Sara and I decided to do some summer backpacking with our dog on a section of Great North Mountain, a 50 mile long mountain ridge that runs along the border of West Virginia and Virginia.

Despite the threat of a quickly approaching storm, we decided to forge ahead with a modest 3 day, 7 mile backpacking trip. Our plan was to keep the itinerary relatively simple in hopes that we could get to camp in time to beat the rain. And then we ran into a slight complication. Actually, it wasn’t slight at all. It was quite possibly the biggest backpacking mistake I’ve ever made…

White Rock Cliff Loop Virginia – Route Overview – Sintax77

There is no parking fee or backcountry camping permit required for this section of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest.  More details regarding dispersed camping can be found on the official GWJNF website here.

Full GPS track data, including campsites, water sources, etc, for this trip and many others can be downloaded on my Trip Data Page.

This trip video was sponsored by RevolutionRace. Use code 15sintax to get 15% off their entire Amazon store site until 9/11/21 here.

Trailhead Used: Sulphur Springs Parking Area Forest Road 1725
38°58’31.4″N 78°34’03.5″W
FR1725, Maurertown, VA 22644

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Our Best Campsite Yet – Tongue Mountain Backpacking Trip

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Camping and Backpacking in the Adirondacks on the Tongue Mountain Range.

 

For this overnight backpacking trip, Sara, Denali and I headed up to New York for some laid back camping on the summit of Fifth Peak Mountain, overlooking Lake George. The Tongue Mountain Range is a 3 mile long peninsula, so named because it looks like a tongue jutting out into the 32 mile long Lake George. Our plan was to hike in a few miles to the top of the range and hit the first peak at the top of the peninsula to set up for an afternoon and night of relaxed camping. The next morning we would have the option to either continue along the 13 mile long Tongue Mountain loop, or hike back out the same way we came in.

We had our dog with us, so we decided to return to tent camping for this trip. We did finally upgrade our previous budget tent to a four person (or 2 plus a dog) Marmot Limelight 4p tent though. And as I usually do for trips with my wife and dog, I packed in a massive backpack full of comfort camping gear and fun camp food. A more detailed gear list can be found at the bottom of this post.

Thank you to Anker for sponsoring this video.  My viewers can get $100 off the Anker Powerhouse II 800 by using this link on Amazon or direct from Anker.

Tongue Mountain Adirondacks - Route Overview - Sintax77
Tongue Mountain Adirondacks – Route Overview – Sintax77

There is no permit required for backcountry camping on the Tongue Mountain Range, but there are certain rules and regulations.  You get find more info on the official NY DEC website here.

Full GPS track data, including campsites, water sources, etc, for this trip and many others can be downloaded on my Trip Data Page.

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Winter Hammock Camping – Amok Draumr XL – Snow on Unknown Pond

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3 Days of Winter Hammock Camping, Backpacking, & Snow Hiking in New Hampshire’s White Mountains using the Amok Draumr XL Hammock.

For this 3 day, 2 night spring snow camping trip, I’ll be hiking a section of trail in northern New Hampshire to setup a winter base camp in the remote Mt Cabot & Unknown Pond region of the White Mountain National Forest.

For sleep and shelter I packed in my Amok Draumr XL hammock, paired with the Amok Borg tarp and Amok Fjol XL sleeping pad.  I had never used the Amok hammock on a winter trip before, so I figured this would be a good opportunity to test it, as the forecast called for a decent amount of snow and temperatures a little bit below it’s recommended temperature range of 20°F.  More details on my winter backpacking gear can be found at the end of this post.

Unknown Pond Route Overview – Sintax77

No permit is required to camp in the White Mountains NF, but there are rules and regulations regarding backcountry camping. You can find more information on the USFS White Mountains website here.

Full GPS track data, including campsites, water sources, etc, for this trip and many others can be downloaded on my Trip Data Page.

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Military Surplus Camping Pt 2 – Finding the B-47 Crash Wing

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Hiking & Backpacking with Military Surplus Camping Gear in the Adirondacks Eastern High Peaks Region

For this 2 day, 1 night adventure, I’ll be returning to Wright Peak to continue my search for the B-47 wing. I’ll be using the same milsurp backpacking load-out (with some additional cold weather gear), along with MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) food to keep me fueled up while I search for the remnants of a cold war era B-47 bomber that crashed on Wright Peak during the night of January 2nd, 1962.

If you haven’t already seen Part One, where I explored the summit impact zone, you can check that out here.

My “big 3” for this backpacking trip are a medium sized ALICE pack, USGI Modular Sleeping bag with USGI Term-A-Rest sleeping Pad, and a USGI Poncho for shelter / rain gear. I scored each of these items for around $30.  A gear list can be found at the end of this post.

No permit is required to camp in the Adirondacks, but there are rules and regulations regarding backcountry camping. You can find more information here.

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