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Backpacking 2011
At the end of my first year at Cornell, I went backpacking to recover my sanity and formulate some kind of plan for the summer.
A good friend of mine, Peter, was nice enough to let me borrow his tent, the North Face Tadpole. I'd definitely recommend it (the tent mostly, but Peter too.)
At the lake I thought I heard very large fish jumping, but then I realized it was beavers slapping their tails.
Stove and pans I got at Eastern Mountain Sports, which I was happy to find has a 15% discount for students!
Breakfast #1 — egg with black beans, jalapeños, green olives, spinach, and blue cheese. Other meals not shown (it was mostly downhill from here).
I saw what I think was a red-tailed hawk flying around carrying a fish or chipmunk or something. I tried to stealthily get my camera out without scaring him, but I barely got this shot off before he flew away carrying his prey.
Ahh yes, the main reason for the camping trip: to read A PhD is Not Enough. Finished it, good advice, 4.3/5 stars (only 4/5 stars if not read on a hammock).
I only happened upon and chatted with two people on my trip. One was collecting Morels (a kind of mushroom), and the other was collecting wild leeks. This isn't a Morel, but I found myself wondering whether it would have been good with my eggs.
On the way back I saw a little brown animal running around, but it didn't look quite like a squirrel or chipmunk. When it finally stopped running, I realized it was some kind of ferret or weasel.
As it turned to make its way farther from this particular photographer, it grabbed what I thought might have been its young. Looking at a zoomed-in image revealed that it was actually breakfast.
