Test run our gear for weekend camping

After we decided to do this long trip, we knew we needed a test run, since we have not been camping in a while. I’ve done a lot of camping and backpacking in the past, but not recently. Vagish moved to Ohio from London and is a big city guy who has done very little camping. Before our littlest was born, we did a bit with the oldest's Cub Scout troop, but that’s pretty much his whole experience.

There was a freak beautiful weekend in November 2020, where it was like 70 degrees F in Ohio, and I started planning so we could take advantage of it.

I’ve always wanted to go to Cuyahuga National Park. It’s close to us and we drive by the signs on the turnpike on a regular basis. But when I researched it, I learned that there’s no camping there! And for just a weekend I didn't want to camp half an hour away from where we really wanted to spend our time. We’ll have to plan a day trip to Cuyahuga some other time.

So I started looking at state parks and decided to go to Hocking Hills, which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places in Ohio and was a reasonable drive for a weekend trip. There are campgrounds, waterfalls, and caves in the area and we hadn’t been before. I wasn’t sure we’d be able to get a reservation at such a popular park on such a beautiful weekend, but when I called there was a primitive site available. Since we are working with a tent (and not an RV), I went for it. I had assumed primitive meant no flush toilets or potable water nearby, which was fine. But when we got to the visitor center to check in, we found out we were not in the regular campground, but a walk-in one.

Our campsite was .6 miles from the car. We had a heavy bin with the stove, propane, pot, and all the dry food in it plus a huge cooler, and neither of these things had wheels. I had planned hot dogs over the fire for dinner our first night and we only had giant bottles of condiments at home. Plus I packed a giant jar of peanut butter for sandwiches the next day and gallon jugs of water. This is all fine for car camping, but a little heavy to lug .6 miles each direction. So we took only what was immediately necessary and made sure to always pack out what we were done with at the site, but it was a struggle. Hence Vagish advocating for the wagon  for our long trip. Watch—we won’t even need it.