F​or the first time, I made it to a hipcamp spot in time to enjoy myself, and I'm glad this was the location for that to finally happen. My previous trips to Pristine Pines and Petit Jean Farm Orchard had been very quick trips in which I barely had time to put up my tent before the sun was down. 

Indian Hills Lake is a privately owned campground and lake just outside of Cabot. To be honest, I had never heard of it despite it being a short 15 minute drive from my sister's house, and it was nice to have my brother-in-law and sister visit my campsite for a couple hours in the evening.

Since I had the time (and because my spot was so full of rocks, I decided to hammock camp for the evening. It was my first time setting up the full combination of tarp, hammock, and bug net. while the tarp was unnecessary (the temperature was perfect and there wasn't a cloud in the sky), it was good practice. 

For me, I found there were three negatives when hammock camping. The first was having to get out of the hammock in the middle of the night when nature called. It was such a pain getting my closed cell foam pad and sleeping bag back in the right position that I didn't sleep well the rest of the night.

The second issue I had with the hammock set up was how long it took to tear down. Now, I'm sure other hammock setups are probably easier, but i bought my tarp, hammock, and bug net separately from each other and each has a suspension system. So, while my backpacking tent sets up and tears down in minutes, the hammock system took about thirty minutes to set up and forty-five to tear down.

The third issue I had with the hammock set up was that I didn't have space for my pack/gear inside the hammock. Leaving things sitting around isn't my favorite way, and if I weren't car camping I wouldn't have been as comfortable. I was able to lock up my stuff in the car for the night, but were I out with a 50 liter backpack somewhere I'd have my gear just laying on the ground. I'm not keen on that.

​Back to Indian Hills. The non-electric campsites are rocky but nice. Each has a grill, fire ring, and picnic table. I didn't use the grill, but built a quick fire with some found wood, and enjoyed it while I drank a mug of wine. The owners of the site ask for no drinking in public, and I think smoking was completely prohibited, but there were some cigarette butts on the ground of my campsite.

My site was just off the third lake, a very small lake surrounded by trees, and it had a rickety but functional dock sticking out across the water. I didn't enjoy the dock before sundown, but I loved the fog across the water in the morning as I drank my coffee.

This is my favorite hipcamp find so far, and I look forward to visiting here again.

​I'm not sure why, but both times I've booked through hipcamp I have been so late to my destination that all I've gotten to do is put up my tent, have a glass of wine, and go to bed. It is a shame because I really liked the solitary nature of Prestine Pines (my first hipcamp stay) and I would have loved to spend more time at Petit Jean Farm Orchard. it is a really cool spot in central Arkansas just by (you guessed it) Petit Jean State Park in Morrilton.

First off, I'm not sure what kind of Orchard we're looking at here. In reality, the spot to set up camp was just off the highway (which made me a little nervous at first), and it didn't really "feel" like an orchard. It felt like a yard just opposite an old barn. That barn, of course, was pretty cool. It is the home to The Petit Jean Farmer's Market which is run almost entirely by the Amish.

Although I was nervous about open nature of the campsite, once the sun was down and I realized how dark and secluded the spot felt, I was much happier. This really is a good spot for a camper to pull in, but not really a good tent spot. I did enjoy sipping my cup of wine while staring up at the stars. I also enjoyed having a good cell phone connection to talk with my wife before settling down in my tent for the evening. Most campsites I go to are dead zones for cell service. Having all the bars was nice.

​The fence behind the "orchard" was a cool little track for sheep to roam back and forth. The sheep came by to check out the oddball guy sitting on the other side of the fence, but would take off whenever I got too close. 

This was my first time trying out my 27.00 backpacking tent. and I took it as an opportunity to spray it with a waterproofing spray. I enjoyed my cup 'o' wine, stared up at the stars, and talked to my wife on the phone as the waterproofer dried. Finally, I felt asleep to the sound of cicadas and owls until the sun came up in the morning.

In the morning I was able to try out my new sterno stove. It was a vast improvement over my old hobo-style aluminum can stove. I made my oatmeal and my coffee. After my breakfast, I broke down the tent, put it in a stuff sack, and headed to Memphis for the day.

​Read my First Draft from PJFO here.

​"What's for lunch?" I wondered as I wandered the grocery aisles. I wasn't thinking about that day, but about my very first backpack trip. The trip was actually still weeks away, but I was excited and I wanted to have everything planned as best it could. So, I wandered through looking for some kind of inspiration. I wanted something substantial but not hot. Getting out my sterno hobo stove (more on that in a coming post), heating up food, and waiting for the sterno can to cool down to pack back up seemed like a huge time suck that could be spent hiking or just relaxing on the trail.

I found a product called Cochinita Pibil by a company called Chata in the Mexican foods section that looked promising. It is a stewed pork product served in pouches much like single serve tuna pouches. I decided to try it with flour tortillas to see if it would taste alright at room temperature. And it did! It is actually really good. Apparently, Cohinita Pibil is pork that is marinated in citrus before being wrapped in banana leaves and slow cooked with annatto seeds. The only issue I had is the amount of product. While my dehydrated soups could be re-packed in plastic baggies for smaller portioning, I couldn't do that with meat. And there is no way I could eat all of a pouch in one sitting. I'd hate to have to waste the food on the trail, and I couldn't save it for later so this product was out.

​Luckily, on my next grocery store visit I found barbecue pulled pork in a similar pouch only in a smaller, single serve portion. A couple tortillas topped with pulled pork sounds just right for a quick lunch on the trail.

I think I'm going to eat quite a few tortillas on the hike. I found single serve peanut butter pouches which will work great, spread over a tortilla, for a snack, and I found some similar packs filled with vanilla almond butter and honey cinnamon peanut butter which will work great for a pre-bed snack (I can't sleep on an empty stomach). I should have known that peanut butter would be largely involved on this hike. I absolutely love peanut butter. I've loved it since I was a child. Plus, it is shelf stable, calorie dense,  and comes in pretty convenient pouches.

Meals are pretty much decided! I'm going to eat a nice, hearty breakfast before hitting the trail, have barbecue tacos for lunch (side item tbd), and I'm having Idahoan creamy potato soup with Spam for dinner. Snacks will be beef jerky, peanut and almond butter on tortillas,  and, honestly, probably some candy. I'm thinking some M&Ms and a Payday will be my choice. With those two it would mean no melting if it turns out to be warm on the trail. The next morning will be some instant oats with cinnamon, raisins, and dry milk for breakfast along with a cup of instant coffee. Now, to decide tent or hammock. For that, I think I'm going to need to go car camping at least once before my hike.

I love following Instagram accounts that produce absolutely beautiful meals over open fires and bushcraft stoves in front of equally beautiful mountainous landscapes. And I've always thought that I would do something very similar on my first over overnight backpack trip. However, now that I am planning a trip, my ideas for food have been shrinking down to a much shorter goal:

Keep myself from going to bed hungry.

I turned to an issue of TrailGroove Magazine for inspiration. They had an article in issue 46 about ultralight food options. Now, I'm not going to be "ultralight" backpacking. I have Wal-Mart and Acadamy Sports not so light equipment that will get me through the journey with relative comfort. I'm even considering taking my not so light external frame backpack for the sole reason that I love it. It is huge, old, and bulky but it was my first camping purchase from a thrift store. The zippers barely work. The main pouch has two tears in the bottom. I've had to install velcro to help keep the top flap down. It is a mess, and I have a new internal frame pack, but I'm still tempted.

So, anyway, it won't be an ultralight overnighter.  I do, however, want as much food as possible while keeping the weight low. Between running, lifting weights, and skateboarding activities I need calories to maintain my 200 pound frame, and I eat a lot. I mean a lot. I'm sure hiking over five miles will make me pretty hungry too. Some of the ideas I'm using from the TrailGroove article involve instant oats for breakfast which is kind of a no-brainer as I always do instant oats for breakfast when camping. Much like I already do when camping, I add dried fruit and instant milk for added calories and protein.

For lunch they have rehydrated salsa with chips listed, but that doesn't really sound like a lunch to me. for dinner they suggested a ramen with parmesan. It was another meal that got me thinking that wouldn't really satisfy me. I know when I eat ramen at home I am a little picky. I like a boiled egg, some scallion, carrots...sometimes even a little drizzle of truffle oil (try it sometime, it is amazing). In a pinch I'll put some frozen veggies in it. I just don't care for ramen noodles in broth by themselves. So, I went to the grocery store, started looking around for some new ideas, and found a few interesting things in the soup aisle.

Here are the first three combos I have come up with:

​1.  Bear Creek Vegetable Beef Soup (with reduced sodium Beef Jerky)

I chose this soup because it has dehydrated vegetables and a larger variety of ingredients from other dehydrated soups. It has pasta, lentils, rice, carrots, and peas in a beef broth. Because of the sodium amounts in the soup I chose reduced sodium beef jerky. One packed of soup says it makes 8 servings but really it makes 4 (16 oz) servings. Add a few ounces of beef jerky crumbled into bite sized pieces and it packs a good protein punch as well. The real downside of this soup is that it takes fifteen minutes of simmering to be ready. Not a deal-breaker, but other soups cook in a third of the time.

​2.  Idahoan Creamy Potato Hearty Soup (with Spam)

This one has a better flavor than the beef soup and, because it is thick and hearty, it gives a more full feeling. One package makes two (16 oz) servings, and the spam is easily diced up and added to the soup as it cooks. One serving with one pack of Spam. I will say I was pleasantly surprised with the Spam. I have only tasted Spam one other time in my life and I remember not liking it at all. I really enjoyed the flavor in this soup.  The one thing needed to make this soup just right is some hot sauce. I'm looking around for some portion controlled packs of sriracha for the hike.

​3. Idahoan Cheddar Broccoli Hearty Soup (with Chicken)

The third soup I chose to try works pretty well with Spam or chicken, but I put chicken on the list for varieties sake. It is another potato based soup, but does have a different flavor from with the addition of cheese and broccoli.  Don't expect it to be overflowing with broccoli, but the bits of broccoli are dispersed evenly throughout. Like the creamy potato soup, this is screaming for some hot sauce (or buffalo sauce).

All of three of these make for a good entree option for my overnight backpack trip at Devil's Den. Since this trip is just an overnight, and I don't want to unpack my stove to cook lunch, I will probably opt to only take one of these with me. My money is on the creamy potato soup with Spam. I think it was probably my favorite. I'll keep the beef jerky as a high protein snack option during the hike, and I might find a way to incorporate chicken at room temp for lunch. In fact, next up on my agenda is figuring out lunch.

​It has been a little over a year since I started camping, hiking, and trail running and it is time to up the ante. I've  been considering a backpack trip to explore more of Arkansas, but I haven't had the courage to just go. All of that is changing in October. I'm planning my first overnight hike/backpack trip to Butterfield Trail at Devil's Den.

I chose Butterfield because it isn't that long, just 12 miles, and could be done in a day if someone so chose . I've read online where folks do the full hike in 7 hours (which seems a little too quick to enjoy) so it seems a good place to start. In fact, as long as things go well and I don't get eaten by a bear or mountain lion, I want to make a backpack trip an annual event in October of every year. I was born in October and I can't think of many better ways to celebrate, but to get out in nature.

I can admit, always being a "car camper" and "day hiker" so far, this trip (despite being relatively short), is a little daunting. Walking out into the woods with nothing but the pack on my back is something I've wanted to do for years, but never seemed like something I would actually do. The time, however, has come. So, you'll see a lot of posts in August and September about planning the trip. In fact, the first thing I thought about was, what will I eat, and those planning posts will start popping up on the website next week.

​Not nearly as big as other parks like Devil's Den or Village Creek, Crowley's Ridge makes up for size by being a very pleasant place to pitch a tent and relax. One of the other cool things about Crowley's Ridge is that, honestly, it is unexpectedly forested. While I expect heavily wooded areas in NWA and around the  St. Francis National Forest by Marianna, I generally think of the area leading into Jonesboro to be the flat delta, an area to farm not forage. I was completely mistaken about that, and it shows just how much I have to learn about this state. In fact, Crowley's Ridge State Park is built on what was an Indian campground

I got to the visitor's center, checked in to my campsite, got a map (and a couple stickers), and immediately went on a hike of the Dancing Rabbit Trail. Dancing rabbit is a 1.25 mile trail that swings down into a gully much like the mountain bike trails recently built in Bella Vista. It is a simple hike without any tough climbing involved, but was a fun little trip into the natural environment of Northeastern Arkansas. The high spot of the trail is a swinging bridge.

​After hiking the trail I decided to set up camp. I pitched my tent on a tent pad, set up my fire in a fire ring, and cooked dinner.  I was happy to have the campsite completely to myself until just before sundown when a couple other vehicles turned up and I had company. They were, thankfully, almost as quiet as me and I was able to settle in to sleep just after nightfall.

I awoke just as the sun was coming up, and used a sterno stove to brew a little coffee before tearing down camp and heading to my next destination. I'd like to stop in again to Crowley's Ridge and rent a kayak. I know the park hosts a 31 acre lake and I'd love to explore it next time.

​Just off highway 64 about an hour away from the Tennessee border is Village Creek State Park. Village Creek is somewhere around 7,000 acres with a lot to do including golfing, camping, and hiking. Not being a golfer (I just don't get the desire), I chose to camp and mountain bike during my brief visit. However, I must admit, it is very hard for me to write about my experience in a positive way because I never should have gone in the first place.

I lift weights every morning before I start my day during the week, and the Friday morning before visiting Village Creek I decided to increase my weights by a few pounds too much. I pulled a muscle in my lower back which I tried my best to ignore during my trip down from northwest Arkansas through Russellville, Bald Knob, and Wynne. I continued to ignore the pain as I checked in to my site, put up my tent, and took my mountain bike down from the back of the car. I even ignored the pain as I rode my mountain bike on the m.b. trail.

I could not, however, ignore the pain as I got off of the mountain bike. I could barely walk. Getting onto my sleeping bag and pad was a challenge, and I wasn't sure I'd be able to get up off the ground in the morning. In fact, I wondered how I might get an ambulance to help me, the pain was that bad. So, I was laying in my tent by 6 p.m. Friday night and didn't attempt to get up until 5 a.m. the next morning. And that was excruciating. It was equally as excruciating as I loaded my gear, took down my tent, and put my bike back on the car rack. Immediately after leaving, I went to Wynne and purchased pain meds, some instant ice packs, and a back brace. It would be two weeks before I could pick up another weight or go running.

So, with all of that said, how was Village Creek!

Village Creek isn't the place that you're going to get freedom from everyone like Lone Pine outside of Marrianna, and it isn't mountainous like Devil's Den. It is, however, a huge park with very friendly staff, an equestrian campsite, tons of places to hike, a 27 hole golf course, and two lakes. It is also very convenient to Wynne, a small and pleasant town on highway 64.

​I pulled off of a gravel road and into my campsite just as the sun started to sink behind the tall pine trees to the west of me. As it was so late in the day, I hurried to get my tent set up before the sun was completely down. It isn't that I couldn't set up my tent with a headlamp and lantern, but the threat of rain was in the forecast and I didn't want to set up a tent in the dark during a downpour.

I did, however, take the time to light my sterno stove to get dinner heating as I worked on the tent. In fact, dinner was just heated as I finished the tent  and got ready for an evening spent among the trees of Prestine Pines Campground, a hipcamp I had recently found.

What is Hipcamp?

Hipcamp is a website (and app) that provides a variety of campsites for rent around the country. Think of it as air b-n-b for campgrounds. I had recently signed up on the app and was eager to find my first hipcamp. Prestine Pines, which is located about fifteen minutes from Searcy, Arkansas, seemed like the perfect choice.

​I chose Prestine Pines because I travel, back and forth, the length of Interstate 40 across Arkansas twice each month, and the proximity of Searcy to 40 isn't too bad. In fact, anytime I have an excuse to cut over to highway 64 or any other back road highway is a great thing to me. It is nice to slow down, enjoy the drive, and see the farms, wooded areas, and small towns I pass.

Prestine Pines is a primitive campsite in the opening of grove of pine trees not far from a field of cattle. While it is a little close to a main road (I could hear some traffic as I settled into my tent), you do feel alone in a peaceful environment. The site can host up to four people (although I go solo). It is set up for campfires and has wood for burning (that I didn't use since it is August and I brought my d.i.y. sterno stove to cook with). You will get a cell signal at Prestine Pines. You are provided a 5 gallon bucket toilet, however, you will have to pack out your waste and garbage.

After dinner, I settled into my tent with a book, relaxed, and finally fell asleep waiting for the rain to wake me up. Instead, I woke up to my alarm. The rain didn't happen, so I set the sterno stove back up, made some coffee, and watched the sun rise above the trees.

Have you ever driven down a dirt road and thought to yourself, "I think I've gone too far. I must have past my destination?"

Just after asking myself that exact question, I saw the entrance to Lone Pine, a campground at the Mississippi River State Park just outside of Marianna, Arkansas (about an hour south of Memphis).

Lone Pine is one of several campgrounds at the state park, but it is the only primitive campground with no potable water and no electricity. Surrounded by a lake on three sides, the campground is quiet, nestled away from the RVs (and noisy RVers) at the campsites with water and electricity. In fact, it was the perfect place for me to brew a cup of tea on my sterno burner and read a book. 

 While you are in a primitive site, each campsite does have a fire pit and grill sitting next to a picnic table. An outhouse sits in the middle of the campground and the campsite does have a place to put garbage into strong metal receptacles with lids to keep any wildlife from scavenging garbage.

While I only spent one day and night at the campsite, but it was a great, relaxing experience surrounded by trees and peace. In retrospect, I would have spent some extra time at the state park. I would have gone swimming in the lake. I would have gone on a hike along one of the trails. Unfortunately, I was concerned about possible thunderstorms coming in that afternoon (they never showed up, btw). I was concerned about traveling to the site and putting up my tent during a downpour, so I opted to hit the campsite as soon as I got to the park. Then, once I had my tent set up, I didn't want to leave it unattended. So, for the next trip, I'm going to explore before I burrow in for the night.