Emerald's first camping trip, the haunting reality of black flies, and another adventure in the journal of life.

Nat
2 days ago
10 min read

"We forgot the flashlights!"

Dave said as things began falling out of the packed jeep. It was already 8:30pm and day light was whispering good night rather quickly.

Spring has sprung and it was time to pitch a tent.

A much anticipated thing after a long winter.

"Shoot, let's make a list for next time.

I'm sure we forgot other things too.

We will figure it out though." I reassured him.

The first camping trip of the season

and the first camping trip ever for our sweet little almost 9 month old Emerald.

Our first night in a tent as a family.

Dave started a fire while I sat and held Emerald.

We bundled up together in blankets while she looked around unsure of what we were doing.

She watched Dave set up the tent and watched the flames of the fire flickering as night settled in,

she drifted to sleep.

"It would be amazing if the stars would come out!"

I quietly said to Dave as he threw another log on the fire.

He had just finished setting up the tent.

I was amazed how quickly he did it.

I know he grew up Amish and is pretty sufficient when it comes to assembling things, but it took him less than 10 minutes to put down the tarp, get the brand new tent out of the box, and set the whole tent up! I was amazed, glad, and impressed. So was he.

"Geez, how much was that tent?"

He asked me as he propped a foot up on one of the rocks around

the fire pit so he could poke and rearrange the logs.

That is what outdoorsy men do.

They poke the fire over and over and make a comment about how,

"that's a good fire right there" or maybe,

"that should stay burning for hours!"

"It was only $129 on Amazon, do you like it?"

I responded.

Dave, rarely ever ask me about the price of something.

"I thought that thing would be at least $300. It's really nice and was easy to put up. I can even stand up in it, in the middle!"

He loved the tent.

That alone made the camping trip already worth it.

I had spent hours and hours reading reviews of all kinds of tents.

I wanted something reliable, roomy, easy to put up, and dependable while also being super budget friendly because we weren't sure what kind of camping we would be doing and will possibly need other options later on.

If we decided to hike and camp or paddle and camp we would need ultra light weight or if we decided to camp like a 5 star resort we would want to possibly upgrade to a canvas tent.

I wanted this one to be middle of the ground and affordable.

I was pleased.

We relaxed for a bit by the fire, Emerald slept in my lap, and after a bit the quietness was broke by the sound of the most amazing animal noises off in the distance. We still aren't quite sure what made the sounds.

Maybe a duck. It was beautiful.

Next time we will bring microphones so we can record the sounds.

(Another thing to add to our list)

We eventually called it a night and bundled up in the tent.

There was a lot of room in there.

We left off the rain cover that way we could see the stars.

The sky had cleared up and the stars were shinning above along with little planes way up above us.

It was very cold.

Dave packed my sleeping bag with hand warmers and laughed because at home I'm constantly saying I'm burning up when I'm in bed. Here I was going on and on about being so cold!

Dave fell asleep rather quickly,

Emerald was snoozing immediately,

and I watched the stars.

I was still a little cold despite all of the blankets, hand warmers, and being wedged between Dave and Emerald.

I couldn't help but think about those prisoners from Dannemora back in the 1800's.

I was cuddled in fluffy winter blankets and still cold on a spring night.

I finally drifted off to sleep as I thought about how grateful I was to be shivering in a tent in 2026 in the beautiful Adirondacks and not back in the 1800s trapped in that stone cold place.

Later in the night,

Emerald woke up for a brief moment, looked around, then closed her eyes again.

It makes my heart so happy seeing how safe and comfortable she feels.

She goes with the flow no matter what we are doing.

We didn't blow up our little sleep pads because the ground felt soft enough with the one wool blanket under plus the tent itself and the ground tarp. So we can't speak on the quality of the air pads this time.

We all woke up here and there throughout the night as one does when sleeping in a new place.

For the most part we got plenty of rest and woke when the sun did.

For a super affordable set up we were pretty impressed.

Emerald nursed for a while before she ever opened her eyes.

She usually does that.

Wakes up and drinks her milk, then slowly she will open her eyes, and smile as she begins her day.

That is what makes me feel so content.

Being able to have her sleep with us so she can wake up gently and begin the day with a smile.

Her little eyes opened, she closed them,

then I guess the realization of us not being home in her familiar bed caused her to immediately open her eyes again and she sat up. She looked around and since it was day time she could see out.

The rain cover was still off.

The sun was shining and she smiled so big as she looked all around the tent.

Yay, her first night camping was a hit!

We all played for a bit as we discussed how we slept and felt after sleeping basically on the ground.

We debated about a real mattress for future camping trips.

With the unzip of the tent it was time to get breakfast going

which meant Dave had to gather more wood for the fire and get it blazing again.

We both took turns entertaining Emerald.

She wanted to get down and explore. It was a little muddy and she still puts everything in her mouth so that was a bit of a hassle. Eventually Dave suggested that we put something down...

we finally decided on stretching out the rain cover for the tent and letting her play on there.

Maybe an extra tarp and a large thin sheet would be best for future trips.

Amazon also has really cute large affordable outdoor rugs. Maybe one or two of those should be added to the list for convenience. Dave's mom bought one last summer and it was super cute on the porch.

Thinking about that rug made me miss his mom. I missed sitting out on the porch chatting about random things last summer. That was when we were still Ohio, before we moved to New York.

I put the cast iron and the stainless steel pot full of water on the fire.

Coffee, avocado toast, and some boiled eggs made the perfect camp breakfast.

I boiled plenty of eggs at home before we left. That is one good thing about weekend camping trips vs week long ones. Quick trips are convenient for prepping food ahead of time.

A slow morning, watching the water, feeling the sun and gentle breeze. It was magical.

We sipped our coffee then decided to go explore a bit.

We cleaned our space and made sure everything was secure then we headed off to ride around and see what we could get into.

We wondered around twists and turns of the mountains as Emerald took a really long nap.

She was exhausted from a new experience, also getting four new teeth in at the same time,

and hitting a 9 month old growth spurt!

She needed some rest.

Once she woke up we happened to also stumble upon a really fascinating waterfall area.

We pulled into the pull off viewing area to take a look.

Bog River Falls

It sounds like a slow moving fall but the name is a bit deceiving.

This current was swift! The water was rushing over the rocks quickly.

It was wide, fast, huge, and fascinating.

We sat there and watched the water for a bit.

Black flies started emerging a little.

If you haven't heard of the black flies up north then let me go ahead and say you have been spared by a form of torture by nature. We didn't even know then what was about to come.

The Bog River is about 18 miles long and is part of a huge wilderness canoe route tied into Low’s Lake, Hitchins Pond, and the Five Ponds Wilderness region. It spills into Tupper Lake. The melting snow makes it more rapid and extreme, but once summer settles in the water calms a bit.

At one point ancient hemlock trees, hundreds of years old and enormous in size, were cut down during the 1800s logging era. They used this river to transport the cut trees to other locations. The surrounding area of this river is around 25,000 acres of Adirondack land.

You can keep your eyes peeled for loons, eagles, interesting wetlands, paddling routes, and remote campsites.

At one point this was a sought after fishing spot for trout. We did see people at the bottom fishing. Currently it is popular for bass.

The Adirondacks are constantly giving us surprises.

We rarely ever plan anything because we know a random drive will lead to

something interesting which makes it even more fun.

We ended up going down a random dirt road and wandered around a different area.

We stopped, rolled the windows down, and planned on enjoying some of the pasta salad I prepped at home,

but the black flies started emerging from the depths of hell to invade our space.

Dave ate his pasta salad.

I waited until we were moving again and the wind from the windows

being down blew away the pesky uninvited guests.

Still, we were unaware of how bad it was going to get.

“Those black flies are annoying, but not nearly as bad as people make it seem on YouTube and blog posts!

They are easier to deal with than the southern mosquito or the no-see-em bugs at the beaches,”

I ignorantly and confidently said to Dave as I took another bite of delicious pasta salad packed full of dill.

I love dill in the spring and summer. It is such a refreshing herb. Emerald loved having little bites too.

We rode around and talked and eventually found our way back to the campsite.

Clouds started rolling in. We were getting hungry for dinner.

The pasta salad snack was wearing off.

Dave started the fire again,

surprised that it was still going a bit from that morning. Emerald played in the little laundry basket I had brought along specifically for her to have a play space. I remembered seeing that tip on Pinterest years ago. It worked perfectly for little moments while we prepped food.

Eventually she got tired of it.

Dave got her and while I was cooking on the open fire they went and played in the little woods to the side of our campsite. I loved seeing them have fun on the mossy floor of the woods.

It looked like a true fairy tale.

We ate our grilled carrot dogs. I love making these.

Dave had never had them so a few weeks ago I made them and he was shocked by how much they taste like traditional hot dogs, but he said even better because he could enjoy them without feeling weird about random mystery meat.

I love being creative and still keeping the majority of our food as clean and organic as possible even when traveling and camping. We do have the occasional processed treat from time to time, but mostly we keep it clean and always incredibly delicious.

I love proving that good and healthy doesn't have to be boring, especially when camping!

That was exactly why I created The Sigh Of Relief Method

We even took along a batch of my favorite cacao brownies.

After we ate we could feel the weather shifting.

We had checked the forecast earlier when we had a little cell service.

Possible small rain showers were a possibility.

Different from what it said on Friday,

no rain all weekend.

The weather changes without much warning in the mountains

about like it does in beachy towns.

“Maybe we should go home,” I said... with immediate regret.

I didn't want to go home.

Neither of us wanted a cold night with rain and the wind was picking up.

Dave started packing as I cleaned up dinner and held Emerald.

We kept going back and forth wondering if we were being too cautious.

With the last thing being shoved into the jeep,

.the rain started and the wind picked up more.

We made a great decision.

It rained all the way home for the whole hour and a half.

The next day, we went back to the mountains.

We love living close enough for exploring even if we can't stay overnight each time. We found another area, Taylor Pond, and took our camping chairs out there along with a few towels for Emerald to play on. The sun was shining but earlier we could see the aftermath of the previous night. It looked like a giant had wandered through the woods and tore random trees up, tossing them anywhere. It was confirmation that going home the night before was the best idea.

"let's remember this place! what is the name of it?"

I asked Dave. I'm always shocked when we find views worthy of a postcard and no one is in sight.

"Taylor Pond." he answered

I tucked the notebook back in the bag,

"well, I can remember that!

My nurse sister's last name is Taylor"