A little late, so be it. It’s been a long day and a lot got done. Firstly, so far this week the wind has had the upper hand. Each day I have struggled (minor dramatization) to put up an awning and/or then the front tent. And most each afternoon and evening the high winds come and do their best to knock it down. The weak spot the last few days, has been the tent poles. Ultra lite, telescoping and portable, yet they just cannot hold up in the wind. They have not broken, and they were fine in the lighter winds this week too. However the seventy plus gusts today put so much downward force on the fabric that it pushed the telescoping poles back in on each other.
On their last chance today they failed again, then Lowe’s was on my list (a real Lowes, hardware store, not like the grocery store in Jal!) for two eight foot closet rods, trimmed to six foot four inches each. My ZP fabric is ten foot by fifteen, hence with the new poles my two tents should be the same width at eight foot. Hopefully the front tent, although narrower will benefit from the few extra inches at the peak (current at six foot.)
See, goes to show you do need to know math in real life. I suppose I could have trial and errored the right maximum height with my fabric spread eight feet, yet why bother doing that back at the campsite when I could have Lowe’s cut them to the precise length for me? Though I carried them in the cab on the way home, I checked and once packed on the back of the truck they only hang over an inch or two which I think should be fine.
Tomorrow morning I will install the new poles in the early windless morning, they see how the tent fares tomorrow. When the wind howls and screams, I hear it say to me that I am no tentmaker and I aim to prove it wrong. The new poles are solid and straight as an arrow. My tent will be taut and quiet in the wind.
Also finally picked up a twenty pound tank of propane. A one pound can will last five days cooking or one full night (six hours) heating. This tank reduces my cost of propane from five to one dollar per pound (five dollars per canister or twenty for a propane exchange.) Of course, with this tank and the new water jug (seven gallons) the next camp move is going to be an interesting pack. Gladly no more car camping in my future.
Recently I purchased the On X Offroading App. Not that I plan to ride any trails- well, actually, maybe I could pick up a bicycle- yet anyways, it shows all the land ownership across the nation. Going through the map, I’ve been able to find dozens of places where I could set up camp next. One spot is about halfway between here and the lower portion of the Lincoln National Forest in the Guadeloupe Mountains. Half way there and halfway up. It will be a touch cooler there for two weeks, then maybe the next two weeks at he top of these one before moving north into the main part of the Lincoln National Forest outside of Alamogordo. Then? Keep going north I think, across the Rocky’s to Alaska.
Took a nice walk today, two actually, one this morning and another this afternoon along the Pecos River. Just another little roadside pulloff that dots the landscape. And walking at he stores. For as much as I can keep my ankle behaving, my leg is really feeling good with steps.
Long day, fighting the wind uses a lot of core. The legs, my hips especially have been feeling great, more floor exercises to come.
Time to rest.
