I got up at dawn, not because I especially wanted to but rather because there was 90 lbs. of dog that wanted to get out and at 'em. a beautiful morning, not a cloud in the sky and no additional snow. But the temp was definitely below freezing: a measurement a little later revealed 21.5 F (-6 C). But not a breath of wind, so fairly easy to bear.
Nevertheless, my first task was to get that fire going again. There were a few embers left under the ashes, and with a bit of old news print, some dry sticks saved for that purpose and more of the green twigs, to repeat the technique from the previous night I had a good fire in no time and the water heating for a good pot of coffee.
I was quickly joined by Joel and then by Craig. Hot coffee tastes very well indeed on a cold morning, especially when accompanied by breakfast tacos. Craig and I are adherents of dish-less meals, wherever possible. Same as with the steak on a Kaiser bun: egg, cheese and sausage transferred to soft taco in hand and from there to mouth: fewer dishes to wash.
We made short play of breaking camp. By 9:30 it was hard to tell that someone had camped here and by 10:10 we pushed off. The four remaining miles would not take long. Enough time to make a quick foray up the Totagatic River (not very long as the current proved swift and the landscape not too exciting). We also stopped at Group Site 5.1, a nice spacious and level area with plenty of space to toss a Frisbee and other games. Only a few hundred meters on, our cars awaited us, still covered in snow. Due to the temperatures we were thankful to have invested in the shuttle. We recalled the previous year when Joel and Arnulf had to wait for more than an hour in pouring rain for the cars to arrive. Within less than half an hour we took a quick group picture. Joel and I bid Craig farewell and we were on our way back to the Twin Cities.
No comments:
Post a Comment