Note:  Click on any photo to see a larger version.

In 2009, I spent 33 nights sleeping in a tent under the stars (or storms).  Camping is my passion, and with my wife’s consent I skipped out of work early many a Friday to slip in a night under fabric, she would join me as was her pleasure.  The lowest temperature was 16 degrees Fahrenheit (Liz wasn’t there, but my friend Chris and my brother-in-law Steve were), the highest in the mid-90s (at which point I employ a battery powered fan).  I want to clear a 100 degree difference in one year at some point, I need to get close to zero for that.

I make it a point to seek out experiences when camping.  So when a large thunderstorm is heading where I like to go, I take off work early and get setup before it hits. My canine camping partner, Orion, a Chocolate Labrador, became pretty used to very close lightning strikes (the sort that raise the hair on your arms).  Half a dozen severe thunderstorms probably hit us during 2009.

Fort Kaskaskia in southern Illinois is my spiritual home in terms of camping.  It is my Eden.  Memories of Kaskaskia is the photo book I put together when it closed for a period in 2008/2009, I’ve printed off near thirty copies, mostly as gifts.  The graveyard is where I commune with the dead.  It was moved from Kaskasia to the fort site when the town flooded due to the Mississippi changing course in 1861.  This is a spot where Illinois is on the west side of the Mississippi.  Many of the graves date back to the 1700s.  Kaskaskia speaks to me; it has pure energy.  And it’s the best overlook of the Mississippi River that I know of in the area.

Here’s the graveyard one morning during a heavy fog, the photo is called Spirits of the Morning:

Here’s a great shot from the lookout at Fort Kaskaskia at sunset:

The most amazing trip of the year was a two-night stay at Hawn State Park with my friend Chris in early February. When we arrived on Friday there were a couple of inches of snow and ice everywhere, but on Saturday it was 70 degrees, we hiked over snow and ice wearing t-shirts and sweating.  Snow banks were beer coolers on the trail…  By Sunday morning all of the snow and ice had melted, we witnessed a season change in one day, from winter into spring.

Here are two photos of the small waterfalls at Hawn State Park (just across from the camping area on the trail).

And in one day, the ice melted and gave way to spring:

I also learned how to take photos through my telescope and took some pretty awesome photos of the moon.  I have a small Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope I picked up on Craigslist for camping.

Here’s a shot of the Crater Eratosthenes taken from St. Francois State Park in Missouri on April 4, 2009 (right of center on the edge of the darkness):

 

My wife authorized the purchase of a new tent early in the year, and I went with an American made four-season instant tent by A-Tuffy (here’s a link to their site http://www.apachetents.com/).  I can put up or take down the tent in under two minutes with the rain fly.  Going into full four-season mode is more work, involving 32 tent stakes if I use all stake points, which I do when a storm or snow is approaching.

The arrival of our twins is going to severely cramp my camping style in 2010.  So I’m shooting for 30 more nights in 2011, after the kids are old enough to join me.  Whether my wife will let me take a one-year old camping in 20 degree weather has yet to be seen, but we already have an outdoor pack-and-play (the bottom is a ground layer tarp, it’s a Graco Sport Pack and Play)…

I believe one hasn’t lived until one has camped and used the cooler as a “heater” to prevent the contents from freezing solid…  And the best tip I learned during the year was from my brother-in-law Steve on the coldest night:  When it is very cold, nest one sleeping bag inside another, this will keep you toasty while everything else is frozen solid.  Being cold sucks, I know this from experience early in the year.

I spent a lot of time reading and writing (by hand, the only time that happens unless I bring the laptop).  I’m half way through Walden by Henry David Thoreau, which I will only read while camping and in a hammock.  I cannot wait to get my kids involved with camping.  I would like to raise them in woods…

Live well to be well.

Later,
Jason

Here’s a complete list of the nights I spent in a tent and where I slept (with some embedded photos):
1.    January 1, 2009 – Hawn State Park
2.    February 10, 2009 – Hawn State Park
3.    February 11, 2009 – Hawn State Park
4.    February 27, 2009 – Hawn State Park
5.    March 7, 2009 – Hawn State Park
6.    March 13, 2009 – Klondike Park
7.    March 14, 2009 – Klondike Park
8.    March 28, 2009 – Klondike Park

Snow falling at night, illuminated with a flash:

9.    March 29, 2009 – Klondike Park
10.    April 3, 2009 – St. Francois State Park
11.    April 4, 2009 – St. Francois State Park
12.    April 10, 2009 – St. Francois State Park

Cool photo of morning fog through the trees:

13.    April 11, 2009 – St. Francois State Park
14.    April 17, 2009 – Onandonga Cave State Park

Great shot of the Meramec River from a bluff:

Sunrise before the rain:

15.    April 23, 2009 – Fort Kaskaskia

Hawks in the clouds:

16.    April 24, 2009 – Fort Kaskaskia
17.    May 15, 2009 – Fort Kaskaskia

Orion hiding in the grass:

18.    May 23, 2009 – Kaskaskia

A great sunset from the Kaskaskia overlook, Waves of Red:

19.    June 19, 2009 – River’s Edge (float trip on the Black River in the Ozarks)
20.    June 20, 2009 – River’s Edge
21.    July 24, 2009 – Fort Kaskaskia
22.    August 29, 2009 – Fort Kaskaskia
23.    September 18, 2009 – Fort Kaskaskia
24.    September 24, 2009 – Fort Kaskaskia (Traditional Music Festival)
25.    September 25, 2009 – Fort Kaskaskia (Music Festival)

Cool silhouette of a couple of musicians jamming at sunset:

Storm coming in at sunset:

26.    September 26, 2009 – Fort Kaskaskia (Music Festival, I’m pretty dirty at this point)
27.    October 2, 2009 – Fort Kaskaskia
28.    October 9, 2009 – Fort Kaskaskia
29.    October 23, 2009 – Fort Kaskaskia
30.    November 20, 2009 – Fort Kaskaskia
31.    December 5, 2009 – Fort Kaskaskia
32.    December 12, 2009 – Fort Kaskaskia
33.    December 26, 2009 – Fort Kaskaskia

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It was a great year…

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