Jamaica, Vermont Car Camping 5/16/15 - 5/19/15 - DAY ONE

**Adapted from my journal written while in Jamaica**

Earlier this year I decided to take a few days in May and camp in Vermont with hopes of seeing some of the wildflowers in bloom. We usually arrive too late when we camp in June. I wasn't exactly certain what the best time would be and was somewhat at the mercy of when the Vermont State Parks open. Not all of them open early in the season. Originally I had booked a site at Gifford Woods in Killington, but reassessed that and switched to Jamaica. This would be their second week of the season and was surprisingly well booked, for the weekend at least. The sites Mrs and I usually try for were not available, so I opted for what we refer to as a "river site" which is just that. Campsite along the river. I chose "Birch" which is one of the prime lean-to sites.

For years now we have wondered if camping on the river would be smart. We always presumed these sites would be busier with people passing in front of the site along the river and traffic passing more frequently on the campground road. We also were not sure how we would the noise of the river. Then there is the bug factor. Turns out, in mid-May at least, it's not that bad. In fact the constant sound from the river was very slight, the bugs were not bad and I only had one woman cross in front between the river and the lean-to. I assume this is worse during the bust season, particularly with billions of kids in the park.

I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, however.

I took May 15th off from work so I could pack and get a little more sleep then I normally would. I also needed to hit EMS for a few supplies, mainly food since I had decided to go with all dehydrated meals to make things easier, to not need a big cooler, and no large stove. I also wanted to use my small backpacking stoves a few more times to get a better feel for them. I brought a small alcohol stove, a tiny Esbit stove, and my cheap Pocket Rocket knockoff canister stove. More on those later.

I left the house a little after 10:00 AM on 5/16. It was mostly cloudy and 68°F. I have a tough time leaving Mrs and the pups, but I do enjoy these solo trips. I set the iPod (which is hooked up to my car's sound system) to "Mix All" and hit the highway. My little stuffed traveling buddy, Bill on the dashboard. You'll see more of Bill later.

Buckwheat Zydeco, John Mellencamp (JM), Kenny Chesney and Dave Matthews (DM) got me to the Bourne Bridge. Smooth sailing to I-495 where at 11:11 I stopped at Exit 17 in Franklin for a coffee and pit stop. Found a nice Stop & Shop just off the highway which had super nice bathrooms and a Starbucks. That'll work!

Back on the road at 11:25 with great stuff coming through the speakers. "Longest Days" - JM, flashback to the 80s with Roxette "The Look", even further back with The Temptations "I Can't Get Next To You", and one of my favorite old JM tunes, "To M.G. (Wherever She May Be)".

I made the switch to Rt 2 west at 11:57. Future reference… It's Exit 29B. The ride on Rt 2 was fairly uneventful and far less stressful than the Mass Pike can be for me. I made it to Erving, MA around 1:00 PM and had already clocked 151.7 miles. Stop there for a pee break and small coffee at a Dunkin Donuts and convenience store combo place. Weather was nice with a partly cloudy sky, 70°F.

Eleven minutes later I was back on the road. It's a fairly short bit to get to I-91.

Here is Bill! We are approaching a beautiful bridge in Erving/Gill, MA called the French King Bridge.
Nine minutes later I was getting on to I-91 North. A quick 15 minutes later is Exit 1 in Vermont for Brattleboro 174.8 miles from home. This is such an easy ride. It's WONDERFUL!

Exit 1 is for Route 5 to route 30 in Bennington, VT. At 2:20 PM I was stopping at River Bend Farm Market in Townshend, VT for chips, hummus, a 6 pack of Long Trail and some ice for the small cooler I had brought. This is a great store with just about anything you could need.

At 2:17 I was back on the road and listening to Tom Petty's "Into The Great Wide Open". Seemed appropriate. From here it is a lovely ride to Jamaica. I arrived at the campground at 2:35 pm, 202 miles from home. I'm guessing that it would be around 200 miles without the stop in Franklin, MA.

Bridge over the West River just before the state park.

Check in was super easy as usual, and having been here so many times, I really didn't need to chit-chat much with the rangers. I made a quick loop through the campground to see how much company I would have and was at Birch by 2:42. I checked out the site, the river and set up camp by 3:20.

 Home for a few days. I used my Big Agnes Lone Spring 2 for this trip. I love this little tent, though I have found it to be a bit too heavy for backpacking. I left the rain fly off as it seemed like it would be warm and dry for my stay. Even with the lean-to, you can still get moisture inside in a heavy rain in the form of mist.

 View from inside the lean-to towards the West River.

 Closer view of the river.

Looking back at the site. It is my opinion that this is the best of the river sites. It seems to have the most distance between sites on the right and left, and has a fairly direct, though somewhat long approach to the bathhouse. Certainly not a deal killer.

Inside the Lone Spring. My bed for the weekend. Since I was car camping, I was not worried about weight, so I opted for two sleeping pads. Bottom layer is a Therm-a-Rest Z-lite with another Therm-a-Rest self inflating pad on top of that. I brought my Montbell backpacking sleeping bag. Love that thing! For a pillow I ended up using a fleece blanket that I brought along for chilly nights, which really never happened. The system worked well, though the pads are a bit narrow.

Birds were loud and plentiful in the park, many having recently arrived on their breeding ground, staking out territories. It was great to hear so many, so close.

After getting things set up at the site, I headed up to nearby Ball Mountain Dam so I could get cell service to get in touch with Mrs since there is no Verizon signal at all at the state park. At Ball Mountain there is a good 4G signal. Here I also found the only snow I would see on the trip. This is a leftover pile of plowed snow along the access road to the dam.

When I returned to the JSP, I purchased a cartload of wood for $24 which would last me most of the trip.

Wood shed at JSP. You can buy wood by the section or the cart. &6/section of the green cart, or $24 for the full garden cart. It is all good, dry wood.

Back at the site, I noticed a few more blackflies buzzing around, so I added a few drops of Ole Time Woodsman Fly Dope to a bandana and tied it around my neck. This helped greatly.

I had recently learned the basics on how to properly use neutral density filters on my camera in order to take images of moving water in bright sunlight, so I went down to the river to give it a try before heading out on any hikes. I had made notes on how to go about it and it is very easy.
In the process of going down the embankment, I stepped on a very round stick hidden by some leaf litter and almost in slow-motion slid down the hill banging up my left elbow a bit.

Surprisingly this didn't bleed much which was a plus as I really hadn't wanted to bleed all over my Montbell sleeping bag. I popped back up to the car and my big first aid kit to clean it up. Very minor, really.

Below are examples of the river first without the filters, and then with.

 West River without neutral density filters.

West River with neutral density filters and ISO set to 100.

Once I had confidence in how to use the filters, I headed back up to the campsite to relax and enjoy the relative solitude. For supper I used my alcohol stove and new GSI Minimalist cup to heat the water I needed to have my Backpackers Pantry Louisiana Red Beans & Rice. I had this meal before on Mt Greylock in the Berkshires of Massachusetts in 2014. Tasty and filling!

Alcohol stove from Intenseangler made from some sort of moisturizer bottle. Great little stove. The GSI Minimalist has turned out to be a new favorite piece of kit for me, too.

Another piece of gear that I am SO happy to have purchased is the Therm-a-Rest Z-seat. Amazingly comfortable and worth the $15.

I was pleased to have found that I inadvertently brought along our camp candles having grabbed our camp hardware kit almost on the way out the door. I didn't know they were in there.  Even with the fire going, I like to have a bit of light on the picnic table to write by, so I was so pleased to have them with me.

After writing a bit, I sat in my camp chair by the fire under the stars. What an amazing night.

More to follow.