Its been a long time since I had a chance to do some camping, so I was really excited to go on this 3 day camping / fishing trip on 20 September 2024.

I love the outdoors, always have. Being in nature, whether camping, hiking, backpacking, fishing, or mountain biking - brings me happiness.

So, I packed up my truck for a low-key adventure of camping, fishing, and maybe some mountain biking at the Potapsco State Park in Maryland, to meet with my long-time friend and former college professor Dan.

I arrived around lunch time on Friday. The weather was perfect: mid-70s with low humidity. I quickly setup my camping tent (more on that later), and had a quick lunch followed by a nice nap. Then it was dinner time. Dan was doing dinner on Friday and I was cooking for Saturday dinner. We had a great dinner that night: salmon with lobster cooked in foil over wood coals, with stuffing on the side and garlic bread. It was delicious.

We spent the evening sitting around the fire, catching up and trying to solve World's problems.

Next day, I woke up early as I always do and made some coffee, sitting around enjoying the quite time. Dan woke up and I made bacon and eggs breakfast which we both enjoyed. Then I had a choice: go fishing or go mountain biking. The weather was holding up and I decided to hike out one mile from Hilton camp to Potapsco River for some small mouth bass fishing. Even though I didn't catch anything, I enjoyed the process. I do prefer to fish in lakes though. The river's current was fast and I'm not used to river fishing. I also think I went out too late, around 11 am, and the fish wasn't hungry. That's my excuse anyways.

I hiked one mile back to camp, took a shower and a quick nap. By then it was time for dinner. We wanted to eat a bit early, as the forecast was calling for rain in the evening.

The black angus ribeyes grilled on the fire, paired with the skillet-fried potatoes were delicious. The rain didn't come in the evening, so we sat around the fire and talked and enjoyed the peacefulness of the forrest.

The rain did come at night though. I woke up around 3 am from the water dripping on my face from the leaking tent. This Coleman camping tent has been in use for a decade, so I think the seams decided to finally give up. I repositioned my sleeping arrangement to have some dry space and fell back asleep.

I woke up around 7 am, which was a bit late for me. I realized that Dan already packed up and left the camp. Later in a phone call I found out that he couldn't sleep early in the AM and decided to head back home to Richmond.

I contemplated whether or not I wanted to do some mountain biking, but altimately decided against it, as the trails were wet and it was still drizzling.

I made some coffee, packed up camp, threw away the tent, to be replaced by a new one later, and drove 30 minutes back home.

I enjoy these trips to Potapsco, Rocky Gap, and other camps in the area. They let me disconnect from the hectic daily life, and to recharge. Unlike my backpacking trips on the Appalachian Trail, these camping trips are relaxing and comfy, although getting woke up by the water dripping on my face overnight wasn't much fun.

I look forward to the next trip, but for now - so long until the next adventure.

S