High Point State Park, 9/1-9/4/2006

Ernesto was the first to arrive at group site B in High Point State Park. I got there in the middle of the day on Saturday, in the midst of rain and high winds. Perhaps Ernesto was angry because he had been downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical depression.

I put on my refurbished rain coat and set up the enormous Campers’ Group tarp. Under the best of conditions, erecting the tarp (tying it to four tall trees) takes several people about 15 minutes. Saturday was not the best of conditions.

Several hours later, the tarp was up but the wind would lift it 40 feet high and then bring it crashing down on my head. I decided to add a fifth rope to add some stability, and while I was fetching the rope from my car, a gust tore one of the reinforced grommets off the tarp and one corner was soon lying on the soggy ground.

I put the rope through the two grommets closest to the corner that had ripped and threw the rope--attached to a rock--over a high branch. Then I attached the fifth rope and the tarp was better for a time--until the wind ripped off the grommet attached to the fifth rope. By this time, I was tired, wet, cold and hungry. I made pasta with tomato sauce on the propane stove and went to my dry tent to change my clothes. (Refurbished raincoats don’t work as well as new ones.)

The warmth and lack of water in my tent was just too comfortable--I stayed there till morning. Suzanne arrived around 6 PM, but I greeted her from inside the tent. She was not happy about that, but where was she when I was putting the tarp up? She drove to a local restaurant for dinner and brought me back a piece of pie.

It rained a little on Sunday morning, but then the weather cleared somewhat. I put up a line and hung my wet clothing to dry. Suzanne and I took a walk on Park Ridge Road. And, one by one, other campers started arriving. By the evening, there were seven of us. We built a campfire with wood that Suzanne had bought before the trip. After most of the wood had burned, we went on a night hike (no flashlights!) along Sawmill Road. There was half a moon and plenty of stars, but I couldn’t find the Big Dipper. The more adventurous night hikers took a trail back to the campsite.

On Sunday, we packed up and drove to Sawmill Lake where we hiked the Blue Dot trail to the Appalachian Trail. Ken, Theresa and Athmane continued on the AT, and Denise and I walked down to our cars and drove home.

David Levner