Inaugural Cricket Camping Trip

Finally!  We've been wanting to bust out our fancy new Cricket for a camping trip since we got it in December, and the crotchety Kodiak cold & rainy weather finally cooperated. It's not easy to plan for a sunny outing around here.  Much less one that falls on a weekend!

Our fun new Cricket camper!

Worth the wait!

We set up camp on the cliff side above Fossil Beach, a local favorite, and our companions were free range bison.  Huge mothers!  They didn't get too close, but they ambled about and grazed near enough to our camp that I was just waiting for the Pugbull to start unhinging.

Surprisingly, the boy never even had the bison on his dogly radar. Well, other than sitting at attention and sniffing the wind in their general direction.

We set up our camp in a field the bison like to frequent, evident by how chock full of poop the whole area was.  CHOCK full.  I won't go into how Cheety found the bouquet irresistible and had a few nibbles and rolls here and there.  He can be a gross pup.

Bison poop aside, the views were spectacular.

This time of year is when gray whales annually migrate past Kodiak, so we saw a few spouts while we camped - which is always a unique & memorable experience.

The sun streaks through the clouds were so pretty

Looking out our little window while we were eating dinner to this magnificent view wasn't too shabby:

Cheety seemed to appreciate the scenery, too.  But, I may be giving him too much credit. Ha.

We kept things simple for meals and stuck with the tried and true Mountain House camp meals.  Chili mac for dinner and a skillet scramble for breakfast. Next time we'll plan to do some real cooking, but the freeze dried meals were surprisingly pretty good!

Dinner time

Breakfast & coffee with the boy

It's such a cool little camper - very cozy inside and it's so well built.  My favorite part is that it's designed to function completely off the grid.

We charged up the batteries at home - basically the equivalent of two car batteries - and then used the solar panels to charge them while we were out camping.  Not that we needed to.  Fully charged, the batteries are meant to last for 3 days with standard, regular use.

It has a little fridge/freezer, a stove top, sink, toilet, and even a shower hook up.  It was a little too cold to be using the shower this time of year though, especially in Alaska.  The Cricket is like rustic, tiny house living.  I kind of dig it.

We hiked around a little bit during sunset and it was such beautiful country.  Chilly in the wind being up on the cliff side, but it's hard not to appreciate that crisp, clear air.  I know I'll miss it.

Beautiful sunset, and one of my favorite pictures from our weekend

Our inaugural camping trip was a nice dry run for all the overnights we'll be doing on the road trip back down to the lower 48 this summer.  Although, I don't know if we'll have the privilege of gazing out at such beautiful landscapes.

Then again, maybe we will.  Stay tuned!

Ta-ta for now.