Chris' Camping Chronicles Vol. 1

I am a very inexperienced backpacker/camper so I asked Jesse, my friend of 20 years to take me on my first trip. Jesse has numerous trips throughout the U.S. under his belt so I knew he would make the outing a fun one. We decided to go to Mt. Greylock in Western Massachusetts. Mt. Greylock is the highest peak in Massachusetts at 3489 ft. though to you West Coasters it is merely a small hill. My gear list for the trip included our store's demo Minibus 23, Re-Meow, and Primero 70. Needless to say I had plenty of other TNF items on body and in my bag including a Venture parka, top and bottom baselayers, a TKA 100 and my favorite TNF piece the Zephyrus pullover, which I discovered makes a fabulous pillow when in its stow pocket!

Jesse and I headed out for two nights with the weather predicted to be cloudy and foggy the first day, but sunshine by the second and third day. As we hiked up the mountain we found that there was still 2-3 feet of snow in some of the pine forests, but fortunately it was packed down from other hikers so navigating it was a breeze. The Primero 70 was very comfortable and it was clear to me that without the support system contained in it my back would have been killing me! Jesse made it clear throughout the trip that I had brought far too much stuff, but at least I had the right bag for it! Our views from the top were obscured by excessive fog and clouds so we decided to move on to where we were going to camp for the night.

Our camp was right next to a brook which was rushing pretty hard due to the melting snow. It was an amazing place to set up camp. The water from the brook was crystal clear and the yummiest water I'd ever tasted. The ease of pitching the Minibus was great and although I knew all about the technology seeing it in action while camping was pretty exciting. The interior space was impressive and fit both of us very comfortably. Jesse cooked dinner for me and after the long hike that day I went to bed fairly early. The Re-Meow was the perfect bag to keep me toasty warm. It got down to around 32 degrees that night so I was happy to have such a warm bag.

Jesse snored all night long which allowed me very little sleep, but considering I was having a panic attack all night for fear of bears this mattered little. I awoke at the crack of dawn and found that it was snowing and there were very strong winds (see Jesse below having his morning coffee). What happened to my sunshine?! : (

After our breakfast and coffee we decided that we were going to cut our trip to just one night as the temperature was going to drop considerably the next night. As we hiked down the mountain I was a bit sad that the meteorologists in New England are clueless, but ultimately so happy that I got to go on this adventure with my best friend. As always, all of my TNF gear performed amazingly and lookout for Chris' Camping Chronicles Vol. 2 as Jesse and I are headed to the White Mtns. of New Hampshire in a couple of weeks.

Chris Barakat-TNF Natick