Camping With My Brothers

Last week, I got to spend four days camping with both my brothers (plus my older brother's dog), and had a great time.  We live far apart and don't see each other often enough, so it was a real treat.  We camped out in Kumbrabow State Forest in east central West Virginia, a rugged and sparsely populated area.  My older brother lived in that area for several years and has good friends there, so we did some visiting while we camped out.  The weather could not have been any better - highs in the low seventies, lows in the low forties, sunny days, and clear nights with lots of stars at night.  I even saw a meteorite flash across the sky one night.  We took a long walk one day and a hike on another, hung out at camp, went to a festival, and visited some of my brother's friends.  It was over way too soon.

My older brother brought the tent.  He said he had a large tent, and would need help putting it up.  I was thinking 10 by 10 maybe.  See for yourself why he needed help.  This is just the top part of the frame:

Next, we draped the canvas over the top part of the frame.  We almost could have camped under that!

Then, we attached the legs to raise the tent up.  My brothers are standing in front.  We could have had a circus in there!  It was so roomy and comfortable.  Some of my brother's friends kept asking "Aren't you cold in there? Do you have a stove or heater?"  It was fine, though.

Here are a few more photos.  I'll post about the hike later.  It was a great place to camp, nice sites, outhouses, and hot showers about two mile away at the KSF Headquarters.  After several years of backpacking, it was a luxury to be able to haul so much stuff in a car!

My younger brother and I saw this snake on the way in - very cool!  I am thinking black rat snake.  We didn't see much other wildlife on this trip, other than chipmunks and a junco that hung around the camp for a few hours.

Our first afternoon at camp (Thursday) we walked the 2+ mile along the road to the HQ where the showers are, then hiked back along a trail and an old woods road for a while, just to get a feel for the area.  We walked about five miles, I would guess.

The fall foliage was well along, but not yet peaking.  We saw lots of gorgeous fall colors, but some of the best was actually on the drive to and from Kumbrabow over in Highland County, Virginia.  Here are a few photos from the drive home on Sunday:

It was such a good trip!  That last night, sitting around the campfire with my brothers (and a solo camper, Paco, that we invited over) on a cool fall night - I wished it could never end.  But each second of each minute of each hour of each day flows by in a blink, and soon enough, the trip was over and I was back to work!

More about the Friday hike in a future post.