Two and a half months
On Friday night I went up to Lynden and did another backyard test of my gear. Similar conditions: 40 degrees and raining.
Last time it was too chilly to comfortably sleep and I bailed around 2 am. This time, thanks to an improved shelter design, it went really well. Spring allergies have been giving me an annoying dry cough the past few days, which made it harder to sleep, but the temperature was fine– practically as cozy throughout the night as sleeping here in bed. (I’ll describe a full rundown of this setup in June or July, once I have a chance to use it in summer weather. Until then, I’ll just mention that mylar is an amazing substance.) Today I’m declaring camping season officially ON.
There are now only 75 days remaining until I’ll be leaving Bellingham, and I plan to spend most of them outdoors. Planning a two-night trip to the Chuckanuts this Thurs-Sat. (Tentatively. Still waiting to hear from Qous’s sister Meagan to find out when she’ll be bike-touring through B’ham this week.) Next weekend I plan to do it again, though getting back early enough on Saturday to go to a [local brewing festival] with Jet and Rolo.
Starting in May, I hope to be camping at least three nights a week. By June, I’d like to be outside more nights than in, maybe only returning home to B’ham a couple nights per week. I can keep clean work clothes at the mill. There’s even a shower in the mill’s upstairs bathroom. As I get the last few bits of backpacking gear dialed in, coming back to the house at all becomes mostly unnecessary except to socialize with my friends and housemates, use my PC, and knit-up the loose ends. Looking over the map last week, I realized that it’d actually take *less* time to get off the 80X bus at Alger and hike to a camping spot than it would to continue on to Bellingham and then home.
Most of this year so far has been a dull progression of work, saving money, buying gear, and waiting for the fickle Northwestern weather to improve. Now things are getting interesting. I may not be leaving Bellingham for another two and a half months, but for me the trek has already started. It’s going on right now.
