Camping Trip

Macedonia Hike Video
  Over the weekend my friend drew and I decided to do a camping trip.  Originally, we planned on an overnight hike on the Connecticut portion of the AT; however, both of us had family plans on Sunday.  I came up with a solution, which turned out to be a great one.  Instead of hiking the AT we opted for getting a camp site at Macedonia Brook State Park and hiking the blue blazed ridge trail.  Back in June I hiked the trail and was amazed at how beautiful the park was, and vowed to return another day.
   Upon arrival we drove up to the ranger station and secured a camp site, number 33.  The weather could not have been better for early fall.  We had a nice breeze and temps in the 70's with a few clouds, perfect.  To top it all off some of the trees had already turned a beautiful yellow.  Our camp site was an open site on the edge of a field with lots of room.  It felt like home for the night.
    Over the past year Drew and I have gotten into hiking to extend our time in the great outdoors.  We did some day hikes and slowly acquired gear to do an over night back packing trip.  The main objective of the trip was to give our gear a dry run, or wet one, which i will explain later.  We would hike the 6 mile loop trail and come back to the camp site and camp just like we would on the trail.  We would eat Mountain House, use the water filter, and sleep in ultra light shelters.  After one heck of a hike we set up shop and cooked dinner.  Drew was using the LL bean FS-1 tent and I got to test out my Outdoor Research Highland Bivy.  Later that night it rain like hell and we stayed dry!  The Bivy is awesome and I am going to write more about it.  We are ready for our next adventure.  I can see so much potential when I cross my hunting and fishing background with backpacking.

Snapper Fishing!

 
 As a child I used to catch snappers by the dozen at the local dock.  Fast forward 20  years later and I still like catching these fish at the local dock.  Far removed from the romantic image of catching stripers in the surf with a big flat wing or a wooden plug on a foggy morning, snapper fishing offers the angler an easy target.  Snappers are young of the year bluefish.  They range from 4-9 inches long depending on how early they hatched(or spawned?).  The good news is they are every bit as aggressive as their parents.  They can be found terrorizing the bait in just about every marina along the coast from late July through late September.

Bivy?

     Today is my 31st birthday.  I should be fishing, however, strong storms and high winds   are keeping me off the water for today.  Yes, i am bummed out, but i plan to be out tomorrow morning porgy fishing  So, what kind of cool gear did I get for my birthday?  Well I have yet to see my whole family but my wonderful wife got me a gift card to ll bean and an Outdoor Research Highland Bivy for my up coming weekend back packing trip.

     For those of you who don't know a bivy is a minimalist type shelter that has no set up time yet gives you a little added protection from wind and rain.  The pack weight of the bivy is 1 pound 7 ounces as it comes in the bag.  For that weight you are getting a water proof, breathable shelter which also includes a mesh cover for your face to keep biting insects like ticks out.  Set up time seems very fast and simple.  First you unpack it and stake it to the ground( Stakes not included).  Then just insert your sleeping pad and bag and you are good to sleep free of bugs.   The OR High Land bivy has a pertex liner, which is similar to Gore-tex, but not quite as breathable.  It will keep water out while letting most of the condensation out from the inside.

     I plan to take the bivy out on an over night hike on the AT this weekend.  The less than two pounds for a shelter is really nice when compared to my 3 pound ll bean tent.  I read some reviews on this bivy and it seems like condensation is an issue, but it looks like all bivys have the same problem.  I will also probably take a light weight nylon tarp with me in the event of rain.  I will give the shelter a shot and try and keep some air moving in the bag to lessen the condensation.  I have high hopes for this type of shelter since my whole sleep system is around 5.5 pounds and can fit into any day pack.  I can easily see using this shelter on fishing trips so i can stay into the next day.  I would also like to say you can set the bivy up just about anywhere you need to, so when fishing along the housatonic river i will have a shelter to ninja camp in.  I will test the shelter out this weekend and take a bunch of pics.

   

September

   First order of business is to thank Blake Hamilton from illinoiswisconsinfishing  for resizing my header photo and adding some cool graphics.  

       I love fall.  Fishing is at its best, hunting season is on, great camping weather, and awesome hiking.  It truly is the season of harvest.  I plan to bee using my vacuum sealer and pressure caner a lot to ensure fresh eats all winter long.   Already I have noticed summer slipping away and fall edging its way in.   Some of the trees in my area already have started to turn, and we have already had quite a few windy days.  I have not needed a sweat shirt in the morning, but i am sure that is not far off.  Fishing has remained in the summer pattern.  Top water plugs in the morning seem to be producing some nice fish.  Storm's Chug Bug and the Still water Smack it jr.  are making us look good all morning long as they produce strikes all the time.
    The bad news is work has gotten busy and it is cutting into my fishing time.  There is so much i want to do in the next 2 months.  Clamming is shut down due to Vibrio bacteria levels and rain.  Vibrio gives you the shits so i will stay clear of that.   I really want to go crabbing in the week or so.  It has been a really good year for blue crabs.  Even though I am allergic to I still have fun catching them.  I also want to do a bunch of porgy fishing.  Porgies are the sunfish of the ocean, only they taste a lot better and they are 11-16 inches long.  I hope i am able to fit these activities in.

The Reactor!

12 Pound Bluefish