Finn's First Camping/Climbing Trip

We just got back from a 3-day camping/climbing trip up to Pisgah National Forest (just outside of Brevard, NC) and Finn did great. He loves being outdoors. We think that he just sees all the trees and sky as a really big mobile. It was a bit cold (40's at night), so we were concerned on how he would do sleeping. We put him in a very thick insulated fleece jumper with a hood and we never heard a peep out of him. Actually, he slept better in the mountains than he does most nights at home.

Between the baby and two dogs, we looked like the Clampitts, but we all had a great time. Our friends, Nick Guastaferro from New York and Genna Suggs from Asheville, joined us for the weekend and helped out with baby duties while we all took turns climbing.

Saturday, we headed up to the nose area and climbing the first pitches of The Nose and Sundial. That night we headed into Brevard and had dinner. The best part was the great little bar we found called The Square Root. It had the best drinks, and a really cool wood floor made from the center cross section of pine. (Too hard to describe, but if you are ever in Brevard take a look.) We soon retired to camp and lit a campfire. Well, Tripp lit the fire after several failed attempts by Nick and Lisa. (If you are ever lost in the woods make sure it is with Tripp, otherwise you are in for a very cold night.)

Sunday, we headed back to the southside of Looking Glass and climbed Bloody Crack and Short Man's Sorrow. A great day was had by all even though Nick got stung by a yellow jacket. It was all Hank's fault. He thought it would be fun to try an catch a few yellow jackets as they flew back into their nest. Needless to say, he was unsuccessful and poor Nick felt the brunt of Hank's effort. We soon headed back to good ole Beaufort.

Now that we know how easy it is to camp with the little man, we plan to try it more often. See the rest of the photos on snapfish.