Camping: Redondo Campground, Santa Fe National Forest

May 21 – 23, 2021

Well, it’s official. Alan and I took our first camping trip over the weekend of . This was my first time ever tent camping and the first camping I’ve done at all in decades.

It was a life changing experience.

Preparation

Alan had put together a spreadsheet on Google Sheets that included a pack list. I started packing up what I could, including loading my folding table, a bin with my cast iron cookware and other kitchen supplies, a couple changes of clothes, and my folding camping chair and loaded it all into my car Thursday night. Friday morning, I loaded everything else, like pillows, blankets, my CPAP and hygiene stuff and set off for a series of errands.

I spent the better part of the day Friday running around Albuquerque picking up the last minute things I needed for the trip, including Smith’s for groceries, Dollar Tree for a dish draining rack and dish wash tub, Target for some plates and silverware, The Air Force Base to rent a sleeping bag and mat, Barnes & Noble to pick up a copy of Wild by Cheryl Strayed, Big 5 for some water shoes for an anticipated hike, and REI for a hammock and headlamp. After I left REI, I realized the hammock didn’t come with straps. I called Alan and he said he had some tie downs we could use so I was set for the weekend.

Arrival and Setup

The Redondo Campground is nestled high in the Jemez National Recreation Area of the Santa Fe National Forest just over 28 miles up highway 4 from highway 550, about an hour and a half drive from my home. After leaving a little later than I had anticipated, I arrived at about 2:30. Alan was already posted up at one of the most remote sites in the campground. He directed me to the empty site directly adjacent to his so I parked there to claim it and started to unpack.

Once I got the food, kitchen stuff and my chair unloaded, Alan and I pitched the tent he’d brought for me to use. It was a large Coleman 6 person tent for just me and Ash. Not only was it a large footprint but it was also tall enough for me, at 6’5″, to fully stand up in. We pitched the tent close to my car so I could have easy access to the stuff I didn’t unload to the campsite, like my clothes and CPAP.

When I had enough time, I took a peek at my phone and saw that there was no signal.

Perfect.

Fun with Ash

While Alan and I unloaded and set up, we had Ash tied to a post with a 25 foot lead that Alan had lent me. Not loving to be constrained, Ash yanked on the lead so hard that he broke it clean. I was astonished at the exhibit of strength, but was concerned about him suddenly not being on a leash. While he did VERY briefly sprint off, he came right back to me when called. I decided to experiment and let him wander freely off leash (which is against the rules of the campground.)

I was both surprised and ecstatic at how well he behaved. He, for the most part, stayed close by and came to me when called. The only times there were any issues were when another dog was around but he was usually pretty good about coming back when I beeped his collar. For the most part though, he just kind of lazed about, laying in the dusty dirt.

Seeing his off-leash behavior really made my heart sing. That’s why I adopted him in the first place was to take these kind of trips. Knowing how well he will behave in those situations puts me at ease.

It’s All About Relaxation

The primary reason I NEEDED to get out this weekend was to relax. I’ve had a ton going on with the move, issues with my parents, work and everything else going on around me. I needed to get away from the noise.

To ensure that I specifically did that, I made sure to buy a hammock that I planned on spending a significant amount of time in. I had a rather inexpensive hammock in my cart on Amazon but neglected to pull the trigger on it in time. Instead I went to REI and picked up an ENO Single Nest Hammock for $8 more than the carted item on Amazon.

The hammock includes an attached stuff sack and carabiners attached to the ends. The biggest draw for me on this hammock was the weight capacity. I needed something that was going to hold me at 350 pounds. This hammock claims to hold up to 400 pounds.

Again, not realizing a camping hammock wouldn’t come with tree straps, Alan and I jerry-rigged a setup that ultimately worked similarly to the setup he had for his, using a pair of 500-lb tie-downs from his truck. We attached the hammock to the tie-downs and I gently lowered myself into the hammock where I was easily supported, suspended between two 40 foot tall ponderosa pine trees.

I didn’t spend a bunch of time in the hammock at this point as we still had some settling to do, but worry not, I’d be back…

Friday Night

After finally getting everything unpacked and settled, Alan built a campfire while I paid close attention to the process. In my extensive research, I already had a pretty good idea on what to do but to actually see it in practice was still beneficial.

The fire ring had an attached grill that we flipped over the fire, threw on my cast iron grill pan and we grilled up a package of bratwursts.

I’ve had bratwurst a million times before but there’s something to be said about cooking them over an open campfire. I couldn’t even tell you if they actually did taste any different, but I feel like they did. Maybe it was the smoke from the fire, maybe it was the environment I was in imparting a different flavor into the brats, but they were, without a doubt, the best brats I’ve ever eaten in my life.

After dinner, Alan and I sat around the fire as the rain came and went. We just sat and watched the flames, stoking and feeding the fire when needed. We retired well into the night.

My First Night in a Tent

I had a thin sleeping pad and sleeping bag I’d rented from Kirtland AFB. And when I say a thin sleeping pad, it was a THIIIIN sleeping pad, probably about an inch thick. Knowing it was going to be chilly, I made sure to bring a couple of blankets with me.

I plugged my CPAP into the Jackery, unrolled the self inflating sleeping pad and laid the sleeping bag and blankets on top of it. I got into some sweat pants and a long sleeve henley and laid down to get some shut-eye.

The sleeping pad did very little to insulate me from the ground, and with Ash’s first night in a tent, he was a little anxious. He wound up sleeping with the sleeping bag and most of the blankets. I had no padding from the pad and being a side sleeper, my shoulder was in constant pain throughout the night. I wore thin athletic socks rather than my nice, warm wool hiking socks so my feet were frozen. It was raining and the rain pattering down on the nylon tent seemed to shake the earth beneath me. Around 1:00 am, a parade of extremely loud sirens passed by the campground, presumably on highway 4. I suppose I slept for about 45 minutes before getting up at 3:30.

I was able to get back to sleep about an hour later and slept fairly solidly until about 6:00. I got up to find Alan stirring about. I was tired, frozen and in pain.

And I wouldn’t have traded it for the world.

The Rest

Saturday morning, Alan and I made breakfast burritos, including farm fresh eggs from his ranchette, bacon, green chile and cheese on nice, big flour tortillas.

Shortly after, I left to try to go on the hike that I’d need water shoes for but the trailhead was closed. I tried looking for another trail nearby but didn’t have a signal to look anything up on AllTrails.

Instead I headed back to camp to find Alan asleep in his hammock. I read for a bit, began journaling, and when Alan got up, I took a cue from him and took a snooze in my hammock. I didn’t really get any sleep because I wasn’t wearing my CPAP but it was still an amazing experience. I now know that to successfully sleep in my hammock, I’ll need to drag out the machine and the Jackery.

The rest of the weekend was more of the same- relaxing and enjoying nature. The day was extremely windy putting the prospects of a fire in jeopardy, but the wind calmed enough for Alan to be comfortable lighting one. I took the lead on this one, got it lit and the wind acting as natural bellows stoked it to a rip roaring fire in no time.

We cooked up a couple boneless skinless chicken breasts for dinner, with corn and a salad on the side. Not your typical camping meal but I was OK with it.

After dinner, we did the same as we’d done Friday night, just sat, drinking, watching the fire, and before long, getting rained on. I didn’t mind one bit. I sat in the cold rain, huddled up in my hoodie and sweatpants and once more, wanting nothing more in my life.

We headed off to bed a little earlier Saturday night as we were both bushed. I rearranged the sleeping bag and blankets in the tent so it would be easier for Ash and I to share them. I laid down once more, brought Ash close to me, and covered us both with the blankets. I made sure to wear my wool socks this time, and wound up staying much warmer, and thus, sleeping better than Friday night, though still waking up at 3:30 am. This time, I did not go back to sleep. Instead I stayed up, watched the sun rise from between the trees and enjoyed my last morning on this trip.

When Alan got up, I made a pot of coffee in his percolator and started breakfast, making breakfast burritos once more.

We leisurely broke camp, taking hours to do so, the whole time making plans for our next trip. We have the trip cemented now (and I will make an effort to get the report posted in a much more timely fashion than this one gets posted.)

Part of the plans we made included a more reasonable plan for food. We simply brought WAY too much food with us on this trip. But hey, as was said numerous times throughout the trip, I’d rather have it and not need it than to need it and not have it (the one good thing to come out of my relationship with my father.) At about 11:30, we said our goodbyes and I departed shortly before Alan did.

I got home at about 1:00 pm and all I wanted to do was come in and lay down for a nap but I was responsible and unloaded the car of the stuff I needed to bring in. Then I laid down for a nap.

Final Thoughts

As I suspected, I confirmed exactly who I am on this camping trip. I got a good sense of what’s important in life, and what’s not. Journaling while I was out there certainly helped guide me to those conclusions, for sure.

As I mentioned, Alan and I have another trip planned soon, this one will be a little farther away, in more unfamiliar territory than the Jemez, which I’m hoping will push me a little more out of my comfort zone.

The plan is, once that trip is in the books, I will take a solo trip, without Alan, back to the Redondo campground. Once I have my first solo trip under my belt, I’ll be branching out to farther and farther locations for longer and longer trips until hopefully, I’m ready for a solo run through the southern part of Utah, into Arizona and back. That trip will include National Parks so I will unfortunately have to do that sans-Ash.

That’s still a bit on the horizon, but close enough to where I need to start making plans and finish checking off my get list, which at this point still has a tent, an air mattress (lesson learned), a stove, lanterns, a hatchet and/or saw, and some miscellanea, like paracord, hammock straps, tent stakes, etc.

In the meantime, the apartment is just about settled and I’m getting to the point where frequent hikes are just on the horizon.

I do have another report from this past weekend (geez, I’m super late on posting this one, aren’t I?) That will be a short one coming shortly.

Until then, pics are up on my Photo Diary.

As always, thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you!

-Phil