The Night Before
Saturday, October 5, 2024
Lisa: I drove 500 miles from my house in Littleton, Colorado, to Marianne’s in Overland Park, Kansas. While she attended an evening wedding, I packed up the gear in my two-door coupe. For reasons unknown even to Marianne, she’d booked us an Airbnb in Alta Vista instead of Council Grove, Kansas (which would have been much closer to the trailhead, but…maps). When Marianne returned from the festivities, we drove the 129 miles west to Alta Vista and an Airbnb house that made us both think of our grandmas’ houses (if either of our grandmas had owned a frozen-margarita machine and skull salt and pepper shakers).
Marianne: Our Airbnb was like staying at my granny’s house. Comfortable but a little unsettling. There were so many knick knacks!
Alta Vista, Kansas
Airbnb
Last night off the trail
Alta Vista
Lisa: The before image below is of Marianne’s living room and the after image is of her basement. We somehow managed to fit all our gear into my car, which is basically a two-seater.
Marianne: After we’d firmed up our plans, I started going through my 10-year-old camping gear and much of it had to be thrown out, repaired, or replaced. I replaced tent pole cords, waterproofed the rainfly, sealed tent seams, and wondered if my sleeping bags would be warm enough for October camping.
When Lisa told me she had purchased a twin jogging stroller, I knew we could make it work, even if we would get some looks doing it. Then she suggested I get one too, so I did. The stuff problem was solved.
Click on the yellow crosses to the right to read the sections below
Downers
- Exhaustion from a long day of driving
- A troubling, archaic wall hanging in the Airbnb (we took a picture, but we’re not going to post it)
Highlights
- The Airbnb’s decor probably hasn’t been changed since the late 1950s, making for a weepily nostalgic experience
- Anytime Marianne and I get to spend more than a meal together is a treat, and we were excited about the prospect of nine whole days together (and both secretly afraid that we’d drive the other crazy and destroy the friendship forever)
Packing List
- 1 tent
- waterproof tent fly
- 2 sleeping bags
- 2 sleeping bag liners
- collapsible single-burner stove
- propane bottle
- collapsible saucepan
- 2 inflatable sleeping mats
- 2 tarps
- 2 down jackets
- 2 sets of rain gear
- 1 pair Hokas (Lisa)
- 1 pair fitness shoes (Marianne)
- 1 pair hiking boots (Marianne)
- 1 bicycle tire repair kit (mini-pump, levers, patches, wrench, allen wrench set, tire pressure gauge)
- 2 large, sharp hunting knives
- 2 bowls
- 2 sets eating utensils
- 2 lidded camp tumblers
- stirring spoon that melted in a boiling freeze-dried camp meal
- 2 water bladders
- 4 gallons of water
- 3 bags of food, freeze-dried and otherwise
- 1 solar charger with three ports
- portable speaker
- cold-weather gear
- water treatment system
- notebook and pens
- iPhones, iPad
- toiletries
- toilet paper
- all-purpose wet wipes
- towels
- garbage bags
Photo Gallery
Click on a photo for a captioned slide show to learn what you're looking at
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