CoR Bald Rocks 6/18

Andrew and I took our father up to Bald Rocks for a Father's Day camping trip. To the best of my knowledge it is the first Clan of Rob trip that legitimately could have counted as a valid trip if it were 'reported.' The only rule it violated was the unwritten 'open invite' rule. At any rate, the invite was closed and the intention was simply to enjoy the weekend with our father.

The hike up was pretty standard, with stops at the usual viewpoints and typical recollections of the first time this or that happened. My father was interested to know what stories he had heard had occurred on this stretch of trail. There were no cars on Rt. 106, but when we arrived at the shelter there were two guys already there. They were middle-aged brothers from NYC and they had all the gear and experience of well-traveled campers. One of them mentioned it was his first time over-nighting in Harriman in over a decade.

My brother, father, and I immediately set to work building a fire to cook our burgers in armor. Andrew almost stepped on a fawn on the way down the hill from the shelter. It was easily the smallest deer I had ever seen-- barely larger than a beagle. We set up our gear on the rocks while the food cooked. We each had a different foil-application technique and we compared the quality of our cooking. My father's 6-layer method had be best combination of adequate heat without burning.

The Whip-poor-wills showed up right on time and put on a great display. One in particular perched repeatedly very close by and flew around our heads. It didn't seem to mind having a flashlight on it, which enables me to get some grainy pictures. From a birding perspective, it was awesome to see all of white markings on the birds. Later we turned to stargazing. I was navigating using Google Sky Map on my Droid while the guys from NYC were using the the analogous app on the iPhone. The Google product proved superior-- Despite it being after 9PM, the iPhone believed it was daytime, that we were in Southern California, and that North was East. Meanwhile the Droid knew what time it was, where we were, and what direction it was facing. Venus, Mars, and Saturn were all out along with a number of prominent constellations and stars.

It was a hot buggy night for my father and I who did not have the benefit of a bivy like Andrew did, thought I will say my new sleeping pad was excellent. The following morning the guys from NYC left early. Our trio headed out to the North after enjoying the fire for a while. Lots of birds were singing and four woodpecker species were heard, including a pair of Pileated. We swung west on Dunning and took White Bar and Nurian back to Black Rock. Back on R-D, Andrew and I tried for a cache to the East of the trail with no luck.

All in all it was a fun weekend with dad. We hadn't been camping together in at least ten years, maybe fifteen. It brought back some memories of Webelos camping trips long ago. Maybe an extensive father/son outing is in order for the future...

--Dan