Camping Bear

Above, a Marmot 3P Tungsten tent: the new Bear Lodge.

I need to get out more and the drive back in summer from my favorite fishery is a ... bear.

It's a three-and-a-half hour dash which is fine on weekends until you fish 'till dark, have a snack, and start back at 11:30 PM.  I don't find that so fun anymore.

So, plenty of camp sites near my preferred fishing. Primitive camping allowed within 50' of  vehicle lanes in my absolute favorite place. I'm fine cold camping; but, I need sleep. It is so much nicer to fish, snack, and crash until the jays wake me the next morning then driving home like a civilized trout bum.

I bought a new tent. I have a great tent - but it is 15 years old and technology has passed it by. The old tent cannot stand a good 8 hour rain. Can't. Ventilation isn't good enough to keep the walls dry and the rain out. Either condensation or rain gets me.

Thus, I have to pitch a tarp over the tent. That's a huge pain anymore. Means the tent is just keeping out the bugs and I need more.

I did the research, kicked the ties, bugged the kids as REI, read online review, researched materials, tossed the chicken bones, and licked some toads (ok, the last part was just for fun). The Marmot is a good tent and I got it from REI at a great deal during a flash sale.

I'll test it shortly in the north meadow and post some pics and review here. I'm, also leaning toward the Solo Stove Titan for a cooking option to move from cold  camping in areas where there is no designated fire pit. The Solo Titan is a wood gas stove meaning woody debris. Contained, safe, allowable, not an open fire, and allowed in primitive sites.

Ah, that grilled cheese becomes a thing of of possibilities. So does a bacon-and-egg breakfast.

First things first. Let's try dry and bug-free for a crash pad. We'll move to comforts beyond my Allagash cot then.