Rather than return to camp like a wise man, I went the opposite way, toward Antler. I did this for the very illogical reason that I’d never seen Antler. Also, I had just installed a new headlight and felt (for some reason) that testing it in the actual dark, in the actual forest, a zillion miles from nowhere, with no alternative in mind, was a great idea. When I test stuff I ‘aint messing around!
The road to Antler was very pleasant but a bit long. It was almost twilight when I got there. Antler is basically just a dot on a map but it has an informal campground I wanted to scout out. It was under tall pines, well maintained, free, and totally abandoned. It had a hand pump that might (or might not) supply water. I made plans to setup base camp here in the future.
Wait a minute! There was no outhouse! I’m a tent camper. How’s a hundred year old campsite without outhouses supposed to work? Daaaamn. It was a great place for a camper trailer but off my list. I should have explored more but it was getting dark and I was in a hurry.
(Update, I couldn’t stand the mystery of no outhouse so when I got home I poured over satellite photos. Turns out there is an outhouse. It was tucked behind some trees. In my haste I’d missed it. Thank God because the situation was otherwise baffling.)
Nearby was a fire tower. I didn’t have time to climb it. I kept going.
Then… the oddest thing of all… a cell phone tower. WTF was a cell phone tower doing out here?
(In case you’re wondering, there’s spotty text level cell service at Unremarkable State Park. It can do voice for a few minutes at a time at most. Beyond that, it invariably drops out. There’s no way in hell I could check my blog from there. Just sending a text is all I can do from that locale. All of which is fine with me. Of course, my SpotX works about the same no matter where I am.)
I stopped and checked my phone. All day I’d had between one and zero bars. My phone plays games and will say one bar when there is no chance in hell of making a connection. That’s why I have a SpotX. This time it was at absolutely zero bars. The phone was like “nope, no service here”. I waved it at the tower as if it could see. Apparently the two devices weren’t on speaking terms.
Whatever the tower was servicing, it wasn’t me. It was near the fire tower so I assume this place has a commanding view. Maybe it services some industrial outfit far away but within line of sight? Either I’ll don a tinfoil hat and blame the illuminati or revisit the mystery again someday.
Meanwhile, I was running out of daylight. My newly installed headlight was aimed terribly. Low beam was too high. The road was nearly invisible on low beam. On the other hand, it would probably go straight into the cerebral cortex of any oncoming driver and so I’d definitely be seen. High beam was pretty spiffy. It hit the ground right where I wanted and I could see road surface pretty dang well. I never saw another car so I never used low beam.
The temperature dropped and my formerly roasted self was now freezing. I had miles and miles to go. Damn!
About halfway home, I stopped and “adapted”. I put on my hunting gear and then put my motorcycle jacket over that. It was a tight fit but nothing is colder than a bike in the dark. The combination did the job well enough. I rode home chilly but not suffering.
My new headlight made the road manageable and has officially earned my seal of approval. I arrived well after dark and desperately ready for a warm campfire. It was pitch black. I really ought to learn to get to camp by dark.
Five minutes later the fire was going. I didn’t bother with the folding stove this time. I was cold and wanted heat ASAP. I dumped some pallet wood into the fire ring and started it up. (Pallet wood lights a lot easier than corral wood.) Soon I had my coffee pot (emptied of coffee) heating up water. It was Mountain House Chili Mac and Cheese night at Chez Curmudgeon! Since Bigfoot drank all my beer, it was whiskey time. I warmed by the fire and happily drank all the bourbon in my flask. Life was good.
