Sanborn County Park

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Although I had completed a backpacking test run at Manresa State Beach, I wanted to test out more equipment, so I booked a one night stay at Sanborn County Park. I’m so thankful that I booked this trip, as I learned a lot about heat management, which was something I had not even worried about when thinking about this trip.

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As soon as I started parked, I saw turkeys and deer in the grass field next to the parking lot. I went close enough to take some pictures, but I didn’t get closer as I didn’t want to bother them during dinner. I walked a half mile to my campsite (I had chosen the farthest away camping spot so that I could walk longer carrying my pack) and setup camp.

I got a three person backpacking tent (Naturehike Cloud Up 3 Person Tent) for when I go backpacking with my kids, and I found this tent to be well-made and plenty roomy. The only hiccup with it was that the rain-fly only fits right when you drive in the stakes to pull the rain-fly tight. Well, the ground at Sanborn was as hard as rock, so I decided to skip the rain-fly, since there was no rain forecast.

I cooked myself dinner and with an hour or so of daylight left, I went on a short hike.

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When I came back, I called it a night—got in my tent, and watched a movie. Afterwards, I went to sleep around 10pm.

I woke up around 12am feeling a bit cold. So I pulled the sleeping quilt tighter around me and went back to sleep.

I woke up around 3am, and I was freezing. You see, it was about 45 degrees out with a gentle breeze, and I was doing a bad job of thermal management. I was wearing just a cotton t-shirt and an underwear in my quilt, and I was really cold around my chest because the top of the quilt lets in plenty of air. After 15 minutes or so of not accepting what I needed to do, I bit the bullet, got up and put my jeans and my puffy jacket on. I took a quick restroom break, and got back in the sleeping bag. I fell back asleep around 4am and got a decent night sleep until 7am, when I woke up for good.

I was warm, but I was tired from the rough night. I packed everything up and headed home.


What I Learned:

  • I should have put on the damn rain-fly even if it was not going to rain. It would have helped—at least a little bit—with warmth.

  • I need to get serious about under-layers and mid-layers. I later found this link, which was super helpful.

  • The gate at the park is locked at 10pm and is only opened the next morning at 7am.

  • My sleeping quilt did not have closures on the back (like some quilts), so I’m going to add those by modding the quilt.


 

Camp Review:

  • I stayed in site 33, and because there was no one near me, I thought the site was amazing. Had site 31 and 32 been taken, however, I would have found this site to be tiny, with no privacy from those two sites.

  • Because I was alone near the end of the campsite, I had the last bathroom all to myself. It was clean, had soap, and there was an electric hand dryer.

  • The creek was loud, but I rather enjoyed it.

  • Although the camp is very close to the city, the park itself is quite isolated. This shakedown run really felt like a bona fide camping trip.


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Indian Valley Reservoir

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Manresa State Beach