Apr
3
2009

Order Tara's Bicycle Touring Cookbook Today!

Stealth Camping

by Tyler

David and I left this morning to pick up a 'dongle' that will allow us to have internet access basically anywhere in the UK that has cell service. It took a bit longer than expected so Tara and I didn't leave David's until around 2pm. We stopped at a grocery store to pick up our first batch of supplies and met a very old and friendly man named Lorie with a rickety bike and a single pannier. He talked with Tara about bicycle touring, being in the mountaineering club as a 50 year member, and his wife making him do all the shopping and cooking (with a smile)! He was adorable but very difficult to understand due to his thick Scottish accent.

We took our time, taking photos and detouring to see a bit of the West Highland Way before we realized that our goal of riding to Stirling (about 30 miles northeast) was pretty lofty given the amount of daylight left. Going slowly and actually going at all is going to take some practice. We didn't make it very far before we decided to pack it in for the night with a bit of stealth camping.

Making Camp

We snuck off the road into the woods at the peak of a large hill, setting up camp in a well-hidden clearing with a multitude of daffodils. Tara worked on making dinner (potato & leek soup) while I tested the dongle from David and was able to video chat with a few friends, crazy!

Stealth camp cooking

Our Walkstools worked wonderfully and I could tell right away that they were going to be one of my favorite pieces of equipment for camping.

Later in the night a light flicked on in the distance and then faded out. Tara was worried it was somebody with a flashlight but I was pretty certain it was just a streetlamp or a motion sensitive light on a house. Tara sent me out to investigate; I was thankful to find I was right and also surprised to find out how close houses were to our very well hidden spot.

Before we went to bed I had to break out our shovel to go to the bathroom. It was a pretty humbling experience that made me truly appreciate indoor plumbing in a way I never have ;)

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5 comments

How come I can never see your pictures with your blog? They show up on the homepage :(
Looks awesome, I have already used one of your photos for my desktp background. Feeling JEALOUS of your awesome adventure!
Amanda
Posted by Amanda on April 6th, 2009 at 1:44 PM
The blog only shows photos that we hand pick and post, the home page shows a current listing of photos we have recently uploaded. At some point when we get time we'll update the photos page to have links to all of our photosets!
Posted by Tyler on April 6th, 2009 at 4:29 PM
No, the pictures you post within the blog are just big white spaces....is it me? hee hee
Posted by Amanda on April 7th, 2009 at 9:22 PM
Amanda, this should be fixed now. Upgrade your browser though, IE6 is like a decade old!!
Posted by Tyler on April 8th, 2009 at 7:44 AM
Hey now...I like my IE6!! That IE7 and I think even...horrors...saw there is an IE8?? is just too much change for this girl!
Posted by Amanda on April 8th, 2009 at 10:45 PM