Tag Archives: Camping

Apr6

Disorientation

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Weekend from Thursday, 07-Aug-2025, through Saturday, 09-Aug-2025


When I started the MBA, we went to Orientation.

So, logically, now that the MBA is over, we should go to Disorientation, right?


I mean, I hadn’t considered the concept, but one of my classmates did, and planned a getaway, and invited everyone. And I’m definitely not someone to say no to the chance to get out of town and do some camping / escaping / enjoying the not-city.

So… Disorientation!



The plan was simple – I rented a car, we picked up a few of our friends, and we headed out toward Sligo on the Northwestern corner of the island. Our small group was aiming to arrive a day or so earlier than the rest – to set up and get oriented before we got disoriented with the whole group!

In the end, our planned group of 15+ turned into a small cadre of 7, give or take… a bit frustrating, to be sure, but it made for a really fun small-group adventure. We cooked, we walked around, and we went to a local traditional music night at a nearby pub. I lost my ring, I found my ring (after like 6 hours of searching), and much rejoicing occurred.

I even got to fly the drone a bit; both for my own enjoyment, and as a thank-you gift to the owner of the glamping spot we were staying in!

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Feb19

Camping out at Crotty’s Lake

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Tuesday, 08-April-2025


Dear Lord, how long has it been since I’ve slept in a tent?

Sat by a fire?

Enjoyed the cool air outside of a city?



Well, that last one I was able to get every so often by sneaking out to Howth, or Bray… but they’re still close to the city, you know? You can feel the city nearby, if not actively smell it in the air… and getting out into the woods outside of Waterford meant that we couldn’t really even see any city lights!

Now, this is Ireland, of course. And so you’re never ACTUALLY away from a town. We could still see some farmhouses in the distance, and there were some lights that shone nearby in the evening once dark fell. But you know what? I could smell the trees, hear the gurgling of a nearby brook, and we had an absolutely lovely fire going on to keep warm and to amuse us with the crackling of the logs.

That’s right – City-girl Andrea came camping too! Now, to be clear, this wasn’t nearly her first time camping – and while I was cooking up burgers for dinner, she was handily getting the fire started and the camp chairs set up. A good delegation of labor, a hallmark of us brilliant MBA students.

The next day, we even had chance to hike up to Crotty’s lake itself!

Now’s as good a time as any to introduce my dear readers to Crotty – a highwayman and bandit from the… well, from the unknown history of the Waterford region. According to the owner of the land (yep, this is Ireland, and so everything is privately owned. Including the lake, and the mountain it resides on), Crotty was one of the inspirations for Robin Hood – an assertion I’m not completely convinced by… but I’ll leave this link for my readers to peruse at their own leasure:

https://waterfordtreasures.com/crotty-the-robber-a-waterford-legend/


What I can say, though, is that the lake is beautiful, and very much worth the short walk up to.

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Mar12

Backpacking up to the White River Glacier

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Friday and Saturday, 16-Feb-2024 and 17-Feb-2024


I really do stick to the spots I know, don’t I?

But why not, when the goal is just to get out of town and sleep on the glacier? I mean… the goal here isn’t to get crazy views (even though I like to!), nor is the goal to hike a ton of distance (though I do hike some extra miles when I can)… The goal is to get out of town, carve a spot into the snow, and appreciate the cold and solitude.

The white river glacier works well for that – I know it like the back of my hand, it’s not a long hike, and I can take my time on the drive out. I mean, I’ve never set alarms for days that I go up onto the white river glacier. I wake up slow, get brunch, then… take it easy. It’s nice.


This trip was no different from the others. I mean, I didn’t even get to the trailhead ’till 5:00 or so! And Sundown was 6:30!


But that’s fine – I know the path, I have headlamps, and…

Why was there a fire going near my campsite? Was there someone else in my spot?? For the first time in three years???

No, dear readers, thankfully I hadn’t been site-sniped. It was better… so much better. I’ve never seen any one else camping near my area, in the 3+ years I’ve been up that trail. Which is kind of strange, since I only found this specific spot because, when I went up in 2021, someone else had already carved it out from the hillside…

Anyways, I met a team of folks who were making fondue, and we shared fondue. It was delicious, and I very much plan on making fondue the next time I go backpacking. Also I plan on saying fondue as many fondue times as I fon-can. Do. Due.

In trade, I promised aerial pictures of their camp – I made sure they were okay with my flying my drone ahead of time, of course, and they were quite psyched for the opportunity, so… win-win, right? Heck yeah, right.


The rest of the trip was exactly as normal – quiet, relaxing, and exceptionally enjoyable. I adore the snow, the cold, and the quiet that I can’t ever seem to find in the summer. Something about the stillness of the air, maybe? Or where the world seems to be hibernating, and not expecting anything from us? I can’t say for certain, but I can say that I appreciate it.



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