What else do you do when it's freezing out?

Gulf Islands National Seashore – Fort Pickens Area

February 16-17, 2013

Yay!!!  Kris is in Pensacola!  Finally!  The process can begin! 

Shortly after Kris arrived in Pensacola, I was excited to show the photographer one of the most photogenic areas of Pensacola; the Gulf Islands National Seashore Fort Pickens Area.  This is a section of the National Seashore on the Western end of Pensacola Beach.  Fort Pickens is one of three military forts from the 1830s strategically located around the Pensacola Pass.  The fort still stands and most areas are open for the public to explore.  This is also where the Northern trail head for the Florida Scenic Trail is.  Campgrounds are conveniently within the park but geared mostly for RV camping.  I however, love these campgrounds.  Pull your car right up, unload your stuff, walking access to a full bath house (with hot water), and even a place to plug in an extension cord?  Yes, please!

Kris and I decided that on the coldest night so far this winter, we would go set up a tent and test out some of our gear.  Gear to be tested; Kelty Salida 2 tent, Eureka! 30° men’s compression bag, Alpine Design Sierra 20° women’s mummy bag, Thermarest trailite self inflatable air mattress, and various foul weather clothing layers. 

Let the cold begin!  Setting up the tent, was a windy feat.  Snow birds that would be cozy in their RVs for the night gave us confused glances as we set up our small tent.  The sweet ones warned that we better double up on the stakes, that the wind had been brutal; so, we did just that. 

After we set up camp, we had some time to get in some quick exploring before the sun went down, and we went out for some grubbing.  The park just so happens to be next to the best place in town to get oysters.  Let me be clear; I love oysters!  Preferably freshly shucked (from Apalachicola) and served on the half shell.  The slimy and salty delicacy of the sea was a first for Kris, so he ordered a half dozen baked and bravely ate all of them.  I ate close to 2 dozen raw.  I surely will miss those slimy buggers.

Back at camp, the temperature dropped to about 28°F with wind blowing about 10 mph that night.  It was a bitter cold, but inside of the tent was cozy.  We brought a few extra blankets and my extra everyday sleeping bag.  The extra bag was laid on the floor of the tent for insulation, and Kris let me try out his ThermaRest.  The ThermaRest made the ground nice and soft and surely helped to insulate it.  My Apline Design mummy bag was great, however, it is probably not quite small enough to compress to an efficient size for hiking, more to follow with further tests.  Kris said he was “surprisingly toasty” in his Eureka! 30°F bag.  So toasty in fact, that couldn’t fight the urge to plunge outside for a brief moment.  Brrrrr…  The extra blankets might have given some extra insulation, but after the morning, the cold Florida night was quite a nice one.

Astrophotography at GINS Fort Pickens by Kris Rollason

The sun came up to break the chill and an Osprey chatted away loudly.  We prepared breakfast and coffee using Kris’s MSR Whisper Lite stove and my super amazing French Press coffee maker from the house (bless car camping).  Our neighbors didn’t seem too impressed that we made it through the night, but we were pretty pleased with the results.

We packed up the site and went to spend a chilly yet clear and beautiful day on the beach.  Kris went out for some exploring and photographing of the fort.  I set up a chair on the fishing pier and waited for a bite.  The crew that was fishing at the end of the pier pulled an octopus out of the channel that was about 2.5 feet from tentacle to tentacle!  Crazy!  Even when the fish aren’t biting too hard, one never knows what will be seen sitting out on the water.