Barbara B.'s Adventures: The Race to Camp .... and Gear Test

Friday and Saturday were a blast. Just before 5pm on thursday afternoon I decided to take a few hours on Friday and go camping for the night. As this was a complete impulse decision, Thursday night was a race to actually get what I needed.

Last year I won a four-season tent that I haven't had a chance to use yet. So, I had a tent, but the rest of my 'camping gear' is all more backcountry stuff: a little stove, a small towel, pillow that fold up quite small, and the rest mostly hiking gear. Car camping, as I very quickly learned, required other things. My parents have a bomb-proof Coleman stove with two burners, but of course that wouldn't be helpful as I was heading out in a different direction and wouldn't have a chance to borrow it. Last year as I was researching BBQs for my deck, I eventually decided that maybe I should get a smaller portable one. This would be my opportunity. So, leaving the office Thursday night, I had the following items on my list of things to get:

Stove gear: Camping stove, propane, and a stove scrubber
Kitchen gear: Plastic tablecloth, tablecloth clips, plastic bowl, plastic cup, food flipper for stove
Random stuff: Tarp, guy cord

It was a long Thursday evening, and a few Canadian Tires, Walmarts, and Superstore later, I still emerged stoveless. But I had my raw steak. Worst-case scenario, my Trangia would have to come to the rescue, though I figured that might make for a fairly raw steak. I started scouring the internet for the stove I wanted, a Canadian Tire apparently had it in stock, so I called Friday morning. Yes, they have twenty in stock the lady said, but when I got there, none were to be found in the camping aisle. Turns out that they carry this little gem of a stove, but apparently don't put it on display anymore. Ten minutes before leaving town, I was with stove. It was a little sunny, it was warm, and I was leaving town!

I absolutely love the drive south of the city on summery days. There are fond memories of long day trips down to Waterton, and I do every so often need my dose of prairie, especially once you get the yellow canola with blue sky and snow-capped peaks in the background. Those are classic Alberta images.

As my trip was so last-minute, I opted to not go very far and managed to get a tent side at the campground in Black Diamond. It was good as it meant a short drive, no snow, and being able to explore a bit along the Sheep River. Within about half an hour I had my gear set up. It was unreal to sit in a comfy chair at 5pm and not have anything to do!

One of my main motivations to get out of the city for a night of camping was to also test some gear, most notably my tent. I have become very intrigued with the west coast and if everything turns out well, may add a couple of days to my summer trip and spend a bit of time camping after hoteling it. Also, since deciding last year that I would hike the West Coast Trail one day (hopefully next year), I saw it as an opportunity to start building up my gear. Having backpacked before and now camped out in some rain, I have become absolutely convinced of the following:

I will not share a tent with anyone on the West Coast Trail unless it were someone to spoon with. I do enjoy some privacy, and for keeping some things dry, a two-person tent is really a tent for one. Having looked at ultra-light tents, one can get this for about 940g.
My sleeping bag which I love simply won't cut it for a wet trip as it's half down/half-synthetic. It also packs too large for anything more than a couple of nights of backpacking. I had been researching lightweight synthetic summer sleeping bags, so this trip confirmed that choice. The Hybrid bag will be my go-to bag for earlier or later in the season here or winter hut trips.
Tarps. I wanted to get the Siltarp 2 at MEC, but they don't carry the green, so I left that for another place. Being woken up by rain, I was determined to indeed go for that size (not the smaller Scout tarp which I also debated). For any wet trip (and thus far I have been lucky to only camp in dry weather), this would be essential. I also had a fair bit of wind (about 30km/hr) on Friday night where a windbreak would have been a welcome addition.
I will start building up gear to be fully self-sufficient for backpacking. By going ultra-light, I'm hoping to be able to keep weight under 35 pounds for a weekend and carry my own tent and stove. I remember a shared stove a couple of years ago where people were very hungry after a long day and the food seemingly took too long to keep waiting one's turn. Shared tents have seen one person leave part of their portion behind, and of course with two people in a two-person tent you're sleeping up against the sides. Not good for sleeping bags when it's wet.
Bottom line: ultra-light gear seems bloody expensive, but quality items should last and a lighter kit makes for much happier backpackers :-).

They say you shouldn't go grocery shopping when hungry, but likewise one shouldn't go camping gear shopping with sore feet. The OZTrail moon chair was set up in the camping aisle at Walmart, I sat down in it, and I was hooked. I already have a regular camping chair, so told myself I'd treat myself to this one if it's under $30. Price scanner showed $29.97, so it ended up on my campsite. I love being able to lounge it in with feet up and not having to sit up straight.

My MEC TGV four-season tent. Two -person tent, but seems more appropriate for one. As it's a four-season, it was quite warm for this. I appreciated having the two 'windows' to look outside without having to open up zippers in the rain to just look outside. Side pockets are sufficient, and inside gear hooks are cool for lamp, etc.

Overall campsite set-up. The green thing in the middle of the table is a set of three stacked anti-mosquito candles ($6 at Superstore). Don't go browsing the Superstore camping aisles if you're not looking for extra, unnecessary stuff. Also from Superstore: stainless steel mug ($6) and green cutting board ($2). The Black Diamond Apollo lantern was a treat from MEC earlier in the week ($45). Works awesome.

The lovely Coleman stove. As I love my BBQed steak and asparagus, I wanted a combo stove with option to boil and BBQ. Super easy to operate and super quick. I had 1L of boiled water in four minutes. Clean up was super easy as I decided against the grease tray and just lined it with tin foil. $99.99 at Candian Tire (just remember to ask for it). A definite keeper and I'll also be using this to BBQ at home.

More new stuff: Plastic cup from Superstore ($2) and bamboo (but feels like plastic) bowl from Superstore ($2). Matches my existing bamboo plate perfectly. I could have made do with dishes I already have, but chose to 'duplicate' some things for camping. That way all the dry supplies can stay in my camping box and I can just grab it and be ready to go. Will also keep one set of my stainless steel utensils in there ... because I should be fine with 7 sets at home instead of 8. The one not-so-great purchase is the plastic tablecloth from Canadian Tire ($4.99). It's fine for now, but I can see it tearing quite quickly. As it was windy, the six metal clips I had were absolutely essential, but more would have been better. Putting small weights around the sides wasn't even enough as the wind lifted things upwards, so I ended up with rows of rocks on the table.

On the left is my old scrubber from IKEA ($1 or $2) that I never use at home, so it also went in the camping box. The middle griddle scraper is from Canadian Tire ($2.99), but it may be too good as it can scratch the grill surface. I may have to go for one that doesn't have such strong metal scrubbies on it. And on the right is a little Rubbermaid broom set that came in handy for cleaning off the tree junk on the table and comes in handy for a clean of the tent ($3.99). Also gets to stay in the camping box.

View up from my campsite.

Campground.

Went in to town for an ice cream.

Took a drive west of Turner Valley and stopped at the little pond by the oil jack. This was pure relaxation: birds chirped, frogs did their thing, cows walked around, and deer were right inbetween.

Exploring back roads that I've never been on before.

And a lovely campfire that I sat at until 12:30am. More bliss until a severly intoxicated person became threatening and I called the police. They had already tried my patience for an hour, I had even considered packing up and heading home, but that wasn't why I went out there. Had an amazing two-minute response time until two police cars showed up and put him in his place. And then I slept like a baby until 6:30am.

Took more backroads up to Hwy 66, stopped at Elbow Falls (do you see the face in this picture), and then continued up along the Maclean Creek area and Powderface Trail before emerging at Sibbald. I was still looking for a spot to cook breakfast, but the rain kept me in the car apart from a quick stop at the falls.