Little Sur Part 4, Los Padres National Forest
8-9 Oct 06

Columbus Day weekend - we all drove down to Hearst Castle on Saturday but couldn't decide what to do on Sunday. Finally, I threw my youngest in the car and took him to Little Sur. Since we got a late start, we didn't get to camp until dusk, but it was still a great trip. I'm so proud that he carries his pack the whole way each time - he asked me to carry it for a bit in the way back up today (it's 2.5 miles each way, all downhill on the way in and all uphill on the way out) but I reminded him how proud he is when he does it all himself, so I didn't help.

We ate dinner at dusk on a rock in the middle of the river, and the bats came back. They followed a different pattern this time - like a figure-8 over the swimming hole, then down the river towards us. One of them kept flying about a foot from us, right over the water, as we ate dinner...pretty cool. We only saw three or four this time, though.

So then we laid down when it got dark, and he decided he wanted some scary stories. Except mine was too scary. I tried telling a funny scary story after that but the damage was done...he wanted to lay in my hammock. But he went back to his hammock after he fell asleep.

And Monday morning, as we filled the water bottles, I told him not to get his feet wet. No problem. About 90 seconds later his shoe was in the water. He got embarassed and hid behind a tree! But I'm not above bribery, and some Oreo dippin' sticks solved the problem pretty quickly. He sat there eating them and smirked sheepishly at me b/c he knew I was bribing him, and he knew that it was working, and his mood instantly improved...he didn't even mention wet shoes on the whole hike out...even though his toes were wrinkled when we got home.

Flies were pretty bad on the way up so he put on my head net. Except that it fit over his whole pack...more like a torso net! But it worked long enough for him to finish his sunflower seeds w/o bugs in his face. Then we were back at the parking lot and on our way home! (Except I got stuck behind all the holiday drivers going 40mph in the 55 zone...and refusing to use the pull-outs that they put there FOR THAT EXACT REASON! Grrr....)

Gear Notes

I used the DownHammock v2 with the JRB Nest as a top quilt. I had two 10' sections of BPL's Air Core Pro and my homemade tree huggers for the supports, and Air Core 2 for a structural ridgeline. He used the Two Layer Hammock with a CCF pad, and the 1.3" thick homemade quilt. This was also my first field test of the Packa...it went on very easily over my Speed pack, but it didn't rain so I still can't say how well it works. It ventilated very well, though.

I also used the hand loops on my pack made from the HH tree huggers. Pretty surprised at how much I used them, actually...I might keep them on there.

High was in the low 80s, and overnight low was 47F with ~10mph winds.

Sunday, 8 Oct 06
Bottcher's Gap parking lot	At the top of the Jeep trail (HH hand loops)
My DownHammock v2 and Nest (top quilt) fit into a small stuffsack	It was cold and almost dark when we got to camp, but he wanted to swim anyway...
Swinging in my hammock	And he slept in the Two Layer Hammock
Monday, 9 Oct 06
Two Layer Hammock with CCF pad	Top of a small cliff
He made a bug from acorns...the bough is wings and the sticks are legs	Hiding in embarassment after he slipped and got his shoes wet in the river
And the Oreo dippin' sticks bribery	On the eve of a massive battle (5 vs 5)
First trip w/ the Packa...no rain	Sitting on the dinner table
Face full of snot and chocolate - a true hiker	Happy even on the uphills
Getting artistic...	The headnet/burkha

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