The Adventures Of Tipitina

[Ben]

Cunningham Falls State Park March 16-17
Nights camped: 1
Total Nights Camped: 57
Miles driven: 140 miles
Total Miles: 7979

With my wife out of town and and son back in California for college (daughter moved out 4 1/2 years ago) it was just me and Bailey (the dog) this weekend. I was tired from a long week at work so decided to wait till Saturday morning to head out. The sites were not reservable and the water was disconnected so it was only $18 per night. I had to scrounge though for water (Visitors Center in the Catoctin National Park). Stayed in site 10 - nice with electric. It got down to just below freezing but with the heater it was plenty warm inside. Did a hike in the Catoctin Mountain Park with Bailey. Being by myself, I decided not to make a fire and went to bed pretty early. Sunday morning was chilly but sunny and made for a nice short hike up Bob’s Hill Trail and back around to the Little Hunting Creek. All in all it was a nice short getaway - biggest downside is proximity to Highway 15. Inside the teardrop everything is quiet but outside the car noise is pretty hard to ignore. With all the leaves gone one can even see the cars on the highway through the trees.

For some reason, I'm not able to post pics - looks like it is uploading then just disappears. Will post when I'm able.

 

[Ben]

I thought it would be fun with this thread to post camping log entries. Unfortunately my computer system isn't playing well with the forum and I can't post pics. Anyhow here is the latest entry:

Green Ridge State Forest March 23-24, 2019
Nights camped: 1
Total Nights Camped: 58
Miles driven: 264 miles
Total Miles: 8243


I had to pause our plans to go out on Friday afternoon given the winds of 50 MPH and snow showers. However Saturday the winds were laying down and the temps coming up so we (David and Ben) got back on track. David came along in his Chevy Astro conversion van. I was happy to find site G7 available. This group site is on the top of the ridge near the highest part of the forest (2040 feet). We paid the $5 fee to collect up to 1/2 cord of wood. I'm not sure exactly which trees are "ok" to cut but pretty certain that no one would mind us cutting rounds out of trees which had fallen into the forest road and pushed to the side. There was plenty to pick through. David’s chainsaw came right to life with a new spark plug however the blade was dull and was replaced. We also picked up a file to keep the blade sharp. We had a great hike along the “Green Ridge” in the morning. We had enough wood though for an abundant fire and collected more in the morning for David’s new fire pit.

Dinner Saturday evening was "Jambalaya Pasta" - Andouille sausage, chicken, shrimp sauteed and served over linguini with a cream sauce with parmesan. Sunday Breakfast - sausage and eggs.

 

[Ben]

By dragging pics into the page, I think I can post some photos.