Camping the Ostraya Concept August 12th and 13th 2022

20220812 I planned at trip for Chris and I to check out a newly purchased glamping tent and the Ostraya campsite. Before I open things up I want to make sure the experiences are vetted and opportunities for improvement are considered.

We headed down after work on a Friday. It was supposed to rain but ended up being a nice cool night, partly cloudy night with little wind. We decided to go trout fishing. Checked out a few spots, mainly the north branch, and caught a few. Chris caught an eater, but it got off before it was landed. The banks were very thick with plants. Lots of beautiful flowers and birds, lovely smells too. In one spot there was a wonderful aroma of mint.

When we arrived back at the Ostraya camp the sun was setting. I cooked some potatoes and beef franks with a little MSR backpacking stove and we had a nice hot meal. We made a fire for the first time in the Ostraya firepit that my mother-in-law helped me build. After dishes and handing our food bag in a tree, we went for a short hike in the night and laid on the stargazing mat for a bit. It was just a day after the full moon and lots of light in the sky. The annual Perseid meteors were out. Chris saw a couple coming from the North. We tried identifying a few constellations and stars using a stargazing app. We saw satellites and were discussing different interventions to keep them from reflecting light and polluting the sky. We saw a large bird that we thought was a Barred Owl, some bats and fireflies. It was very relaxing.

I had put 2 mattresses in the tent and we brought our sleeping bags and pillows. One of the guy lines had come loose and a portion of the tent wasn't taught. Some water had leaked in. It wasn't bad but caused me to double check my work setting up the tent. I didn't do any prep on the ground and so the tent was on a bit of a slope. I should have found a way to better level the tent or the individual mattresses. The slope didn't look too bad but it was enough that we were slowly slipping down our mattresses throughout the night.

In the morning we met some friends for a kayak on the South Branch of the Whitewater River. The recent rain increased the water levels and speed. There were lots of snags and obstacles in the water which made for an entertaining trip.

Later in the afternoon, we wandered around looking at mushrooms. Lots of Chantrelles, Short Stemmed Russula, Lobster mushrooms and many other smaller species that I have yet to learn the names of. The Lobster mushroom were found near the Short Stemmed Russula and several of them were surrounded by a light colored powered on the ground at the base of the mushrooms.