I burned a bra on Xmas eve

“Yesterday I did my annual Christmas eve solo backpack up in SNP. I go there as a challenge to my winter BP'ing skills and to have a good campfire to sit by and remember the past. This time I went to Black Rock Hut (only huts permit fires in SNP for BPers) and I found a fair bit of wood already cut and waiting (someone had failed to get a fire started using paper) and all I had to do was to cut a good yule log to go with the rest of the wood which I did. Once again the one match olive oil and toilet paper starter worked like a champ and soon I had a good strong fire going. As I was finishing up dinner I was looking for other trash to burn and noticed that someone had left a bra in the hut - well of course it went on the fire too along with all the other bits and pieces of paper and foil that had not previously burned.

After I let the fire die down came the challenge - hammocking in 10 deg F weather - worked out mostly OK except for the bug mesh over the hammock turned white with condensed water vapor from my breath - each time I had to get up all that snow would rub off on my hat or fall on my bag - oh well. The DAM plus the blue foam pad keep my back warm and the 0 deg bag did a great job for the rest of me.

A couple lessons learned - Sun Maid dried apples worked well in the cold but the tuna fish was hard as a rock and was a failure. My oil lamp worked quite well but my olive oil froze very solid so the refills were a problem - I should have keep the oil on my body like I did the water just to keep it from freezing - I have a favorite fleece with a large kangoroo pouch type of pocket that is great for keeping the water from freezing. I used a hot water bottle in a sock to keep my feet water initially then moved it up to my lap area for my hands - worked well.

Anyways thats my trip report (grin). Now that I am back home and the trailer feels about 10 degrees hotter than it did before I went.”

“Merry Christmas HOI!!!!!!

thanks for sharing the trip report with us.....no pics??

HUGS to you!!!”

“Those PATC huts are great --”

“my question is...were they d cups?”

“hey div - you know me - no camera but great memories”

“more like AA cups if I had to guess - it was one of those exercise stretch things so who knows but my opinion was that it was a small sized bra - no way would it fit me for example.”

“Cotton bras burn best...none of those synthetic stuff.”

“well then it just might have been cotton cause it burned real good - of course it was a hot fire at the time to burn the foil and the rest of the crap - if it matters it was an "Everlast" bra”

“lol, did ya find yourself wondering how it happened to get left behind?”

“only casually - I just assumed that it was forgotten in packing up. The mini basketball hoop looked to be something a hiker might bring just for laughs and then leave for the next person. The dog's flea collar well I guess the dog slipted out of it and the owner did not notice. The pepper spray that was right next to the bra was probably another item forgotten but it might have been used up for whatever purpose - bear attractant perhaps. There was also one AA battery left that probably was dead.”

“LMAO... I could make up quite a story with all those items, HOI. Or maybe you were making some of Pedxing's Christmas cookies and just don't remember your visitors??!?!? LOL!

By the way, what is the DAM that you slept on?”

“The DAM that I have is the Exped Down-filled Air Mattress (aka Downmat 9) - 70 by 20 by 3.5 inch. For some reviews see : backpackgeartest link
note I have the non-DLX version - 32 ounce weight not the DLX which is wider and 45 ounces”

“KabinKamper gave me a Big Agnes primaloft insulated airmattress for Christmas. 20x78x2.5 and it weighs next to nothing. I'm looking forward to using it soon.”

“What are the costs of those two air mattresses? Tagalong had the Big Agnes on the last Yellow River hike, but I missed testing it. *pout*”

“$70.00. It's lighter and packs down smaller than my short Thermarest. And it's 2.5 inches thick. That helps when you're my size. I almost always wake up with a stiff neck and shoulder when I use a skinny pad. Now my legs won't hang off the end of the pad from my ass down.”

“Downmat 9 - $149
Downmat 9 DLX - $169
Downmat 7 - $139

not much variation amoung distributors either (sigh)”

“I looked at the Exped for a long time, it looks like a top of the line pad.”

“about the only other DAM mfg. is Stephenson's but I had mixed feelings about their reviews : Reviews and so I went with the Exped. The price I see for the Stephenson's is slightly less at $140 and the weight is a bit less also.”

“Hmm, a dog collar....some S&M stuff.
Battery for a BOB.
Pepper spray worked....he only managed to get her bra off...

The basketball hoop must've been left behind by an earlier group.”

“Glad to hear you made your annual trip HOI.

Sorry to hear about the trash folks leave behind. This reminds me of why I don't go to SNP. The last time I went there my kids and I were camped down in White Oak Canyon. The deer were begging and there was abundant trash.....TP, tampaons, food wrappers. The joint is overrun.”

“Hammock + Cold = frozen corpse”

“Nice trip report HOI. My son and I stayed there last summer. Nice hut and plenty of camping nearby.

JO - I have been hiking the SNP for years. I have done many of the circuit hikes and all of the AT in the SNP and I have never seen abundant trash anywhere. I think your experience with trash was the exception, rather than the rule.”

“Sounds good Creekdancer.....I'll have to check those places out.”

“Hey Jo - you have a son at Va Tech, right? My daughter is a freshman there this year. I recall a thread some time ago where you were looking for a good campground near Tech. Did you ever find one?”

“You gave up a perfect opportunity to re-gift??????”