"The difference between and Brush Ape and a Wood Hippie is..."

This weekend I went with Matt and Josh down to the Current River section of the Ozark Trail for some hiking and camping.

Myself, Josh and Matt (from L to R) ready to head out.

Matt and I just got sweet new camping tarps and were eager to try them out. I this was going to be our second trip with the tarp, a day earlier, Diane, Matt and I camped at Dewitt Pond near Newberg as a trial run.Matt and Diane joined me on the inaugural run of the Origami 2 Camping Tarp

That night was a little chili with mild winds. The tarps fared quite well and I was more than pleased. I stayed nice and warm. We struggled with a fire, it had rained all day, so instead we sat around in one of the tarps and played dominoes via lantern light. The tarps were more than large enough for 3 people to sit up and play games in.

Sierra Design's Origami 2 Camping Tarp and Dewitt Pond in the background

We packed up and departed from Rolla around 11:00 am for Ellington Missouri, about a 2 hour drive. We wanted to leave earlier, but you know how it goes. Our objective for the day was to hike to, or near, Rocky Falls on the Ozark Trail. We started hiking around 1:00. We hiked at a good pace for 4 solid hours until we reached a nice little campsite, complete with a robust fire ring, near Rocky Creek. We didn't quite make it to Rocky Falls (we were about 2 miles away), but decided we'd leave that for another trip.

Matt and Josh resting at a bluff overlooking the Current River.

Matt and I pitched the tarps as Josh got started on the fire. We experimented some with the many pitching options of the tarp trying to tie the two together but we eventually ended up just pitching the like a tepee, like normal. That night we drank and joked around then hit the sack. The low was around 23 degrees, which my sleep system handled very comfortably.

The next morning we broke camp around 9:00 am then headed back to the car (about 8 miles away). It was a good little trip and I look forward to making a few more like it.

Josh and Matt heading out.

For more images of the weekend, check out my photo archive.