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Quick Review:

8/6/08

Henry Shires Tarptent Double Rainbow

Henry Shires was, I believe, a teacher who got out of that insanity and decided to make better tents than he could buy, light, strong, roomy tents.

We bought one of his Double Rainbows last year (see the story "Lucky" on this page for a picture) and have used it on the Appalachian Trail; and in several places in Florida and love it. Light (2.5 lbs) and roomy enough for two, it replaced our smaller and much, much heavier supposed backpacking tent. We sometimes get cramped because we are both a little, um, wide and we each sleep on our sides in the fetal position, so we've had to adjust a bit. But we found it warm on a cold night in Georgia, and, with two huge doors and lots and lots of mesh, cool in Florida in September.

Henry is introducing new tents, I understand, including some made of Tyvek, the light but incredibly strong fabric used in housing construction and by backpackers - including us - as a foot print or protective ground cloth under a tent.

If you're tent shopping and want something light and strong. check Hentry's site at www.tarptent.com.

Brownkatz & Brownkatz --- Because there's so much to learn, teach and enjoy.

Quick Review: Tarptent Double Rainbow Outdoors Archives

LUCKY

There's this story about luck. Probably many versions. Here's mine.

A poor farmer one day captures a fantastic young horse. Strong. Beautiful. Intelligent. His neighbors say how lucky he is to have caught such a fine horse.

Week later, the horse runs away. How unlucky, the neighbors say.

Day after that, horse comes back leading a whole herd. How lucky, the neighbors say.

Farmer's son tries to break the horse but breaks his leg instead. How unlucky.

War breaks out and young men are drafted, but not the farmer's son, due to his broken leg. How lucky.

And so on.

Now, when backpackers are asked where to hike they don't automatically exclaim "Florida!" We certainly don't. But I am beginning to believe this is more from ignorance than anything else.

Last year, Mudpie and I discovered the Myakka River State Park (see a story about our trips there here {"There Here"?} Life and Death in Myakka). It's a very popular place and deservedly so. There's a huge back country area you have to hike into and lots and lots of trails. And we've camped in the Withlacoochee State Forest where there actually are some teeny-tiny hills. And we have been trying to learn about more places to backpack near us in Florida. (Good sites for this include http://www.floridahikes.com/ and the two Florida blogs below.) But in each place the opportunities to have a lot of company are big, and that's not our first choice.

Anyway, last spring we were trying to reserve another campsite at Myakka and were having no luck. It is rare we get two full days off in a row, but we'd managed it and wanted to hike. But all the Myakka sites were taken. You really need to reserve well in advance in Myakka.

How unlucky.

So I'm moping. I'm wandering around www.WhiteBlaze.com, my favorite backpacking/hiking/camping web site (you'd think my favorite would be one of my own), and for the first time ever I go into the Florida Trail sub-forum of the Other Long Trails sub-forum thinking I'd check out the Florida Trail when I land on a post telling me there are terrific places to backpack right near me where I'll probably not see another hiker for all of my trip. (See the post at http://whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=39442).

They're owned by SWFMD, pronounced "Swiftmud", the Southwest Florida Water Management District. I zoomed to their site ( http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/recreation/)and they sent me, free, a thickish booklet on all their properties (http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/publications/search.php?id=13) and they got it, and a lot of other free stuff including DVDs) in a heartbeat. We picked the two tracts of the Green Swamp, just a short drive north of us.

How lucky.

Now, you have to get a permit to camp in a SWFMD property, and I steeled myself for some bureaucratic stumbling around and a hefty fee. You can apply for a permit online at https://www5.swfwmd.state.fl.us/applications/Campingpermits.nsf/Permit?OpenForm. You can also apply by FAX or mail. But we were running out of town and even the on-line application said to give them as much as 10 days to process it. We applied for our first choice. Got what looked like an automatic email response almost instantly that the place we wanted was taken.

How unlucky.

Applied again. Missed again. Applied again, got a phone call.

A phone call. A SWFMD employee named Margaret Blommel, with the Land Resources Department, noticed our misfortune and called to help us out. On a Saturday! Imagine. What were we looking for? How long did we want to stay? How about here, or here? This hike would take you this long, that one this long.

How lucky.

Given what was available, how much time we'd have and how far we wanted to walk, we chose the Foster Bridge site. Margaret sent us a map and directions and soon she sent us our permit.

All this cost $0.

How lucky.

We didn't see another soul once we left the trail head. The site was beautiful, with plenty of space for tenting away from the food area, a picnic table, a fire ring and even a supply of wood.

Our Double Rainbow tent and Equinox Fly at Foster Bridge

The campsite is a short hike from the Withlacoochee River where we got our water.

We took one route, the short one, to hike in and it was very pretty, and a longer route hiking out. Almost as soon as got on the trail to leave, some bird flashed across the path, left to right. Then again, further right. Then another, right after it, and they lit in the same tree.

"See them?" Mudpie said from behind me.

"No. Yes! There," I said, pointing.

"Barred owls," Mudpie said. "A mother and an adolescent."

Barred Owl

(Photo from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Strix-varia-005-crop.jpg#filehistory)

It was kind of funny. Mother kept her eyes on us as we walked on. Junior would look at us, look at mom, look back at us, look back at mom. Just making sure.

There were a lot of hills on the way back, and we passed through some burned over areas. It was rather dramatic, walking up bone dry, sandy hills, among a lot of blackened trees and scrub.

Something kind of jumped on the trail ahead of me. Gray. First I thought rabbit. Then it sort of jumped again, big bushy tail, longer than the body, and a darker face. Nothing I'd ever seen before.

"Fox squirrel," Mudpie said.

Fox Squirrel

(Photo courtesy of Crowley Museum & Nature Center http://www.crowleymuseumnaturectr.org)

It took off down the trail, and soon was joined by another.

"That's unusual," Mudpie said. "Most people never see even one."

Mudpie knows all this stuff. She's a zoo keeper and grew up rescuing Florida wildlife babies. And she loves backpacking. I read often on hiking forums about guys who hike alone because their wives and girl friends won't do it. But Mudpie loves to get out there. She also loves home-dehydrating stuff and making all our trail food and she does it well. She loves getting dirty and isn't squeamish and learned how to pack our gear and has pretty blue eyes and really nice, umm, uh, and she isn't afraid of work and can out walk most anyone and loves steak cooked over wood and and and and ...