Fall is around the corner so let's get camping! The second trip of 2024 would take me back to Trail of Tears State Park, a place I have been to before but not since 2019. It was supposed to be a dry weekend and it was supposed to be cooler temps... It definitely was not cooler temps and was almost not a dry weekend after a few near misses and light overnight sprinkle. I was determined not to let the forecast dictate the weekend of camping yet again! Having gotten such a late start to the year, the MO Camper Award could very well be at stake!
Taking full advantage of a half day of work, I would load up and truck out with the intention of getting to the park before dark, which starts around 7 PM with the sun setting very early these days. Despite traffic at rush hour, I was able to make camp well before dark and even had time to sit and enjoy dinner. A very welcome change to say the least! That night, I would be abruptly reminded why I tend to let the weather dictate my camping trips... It's no fun sticking to your sleeping bag! The humidity was high and the temps weren't dropping fast enough. Oh well, tomorrow is a new day!
Waking up much earlier than is reasonable, I waited in my tent for the sun to come up and made quick work of breakfast before loading some gear and heading out to explore before the heat of the day returned. First stop, before crowds of people had a chance to show up, was the Mississippi River overlook, a scenic spot given amazing vistas of the Mississippi River and Southern Illinois. Perfect spot to send the drone up for some views! It was definitely cool to catch sight of a few turkey vultures circling though I did try my best not to disturb them with the drone. It was also interesting to compare the shots of the river from 2019 with the present day level. In 2019, my visit was in April and the river was in flood stage while this year it was September and in a moderate drought.
Before packing the drone away, the next stop would be to Boutin Lake within the park and do some drone shots across and over the lake. Due to operator error, I had video recording stopped when I thought it was on so no views cruising over the water as I thought I was doing... Instead, enjoy these views from above!
As the heat of the day kicked in, it would be time to head back to camp and set up for lunch. It wouldn't be long after that the sky would start to cloud over and darken looking more and more like rain. Knowing full well this was possible, I chose a spot on high ground but I was fearful the flatness of the spot under the tent would cause water to pool underneath... Not a good thing when I also just wanted to keep cleanup to a minimum on this trip. Time to improvise; My auxiliary rainfly!
My hope was to keep the actual tent rainfly, or as much of it as I could, dry while also keeping rain as far from the base of the tent as I could hoping to prevent a forceful flow of water from pushing under my tent and on top of the ground cloth... Turned out that the rain would miss... this time... I would take my auxiliary rainfly down to allow the tent time to cool off before bedtime and prepare to get some sunset pics at the beach!
While hanging out near the beach awaiting sunset, I would spy a groundhog emerging from its den looking for a quick bite for dinner before calling it a night as well. This wouldn't be my only wildlife sightings throughout the weekend as I would also get a chance to see a family of deer, a fox looking for breakfast, a spider standoff in the only open shower house, a walking stick that would not leave my tent alone, and the famed stuffed racoon that was not looking so good this time. Oh, and ants... lots and lots of ants all over my tent....
The final morning, the rain finally caught up with me however it was only a passing sprinkle, thankfully! Checking out radar, it was pouring rain back home and expected to be pouring rain at camp before too long inspiring me to get packed up sooner rather than later. I was able to time it out just right to avoid the rain approaching camping and the rain back home which made the weekend just about as perfect as can be! It'll be a few weeks but next trip will be the annual Montauk trip in October which can't get here soon enough!
Testing and aligning the Diode Dynamics lights; can't resist a good photo opportunity!
Span of 3 days; Approximately 347.0 miles; Approximately 19.787 gallons of gas used; Approximate average MPG 17.753; Approximately $54.79 spent on gas.
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