outdoor camping, camping stoveThis weekend we're planning on going outdoor camping because we got our new tent yesterday. The weather is going to be perfect in the lower Sonoran desert, and I'm getting the camping gear ready today for a three day weekend. We ordered a backpacking tent because we might start hoofing it again instead of car camping and liked all the features of this tent for outdoor camping, especially the bathtub floor. The tent weighs just over four pounds and folds down quite small, so it won't take up a lot of space in our camping supplies or backpacks.

We have been working out this winter and carrying heavy day packs to get in shape to go backpacking this summer deep into the mountains of northeastern Arizona. We used to go out once a month on two or three night backpacking adventures and want to get back into it. In order to get back into shape, we put bottles of water in them and hike for eight or nine miles each day to emulate what backpacking is like. The heavier we can get our day pack, the better. When backpacking, we have to carry everything we need, including our water, so our strength training exercises at home are helping, too.

Outdoor camping when backpacking is completely different than going car camping. It's a much more relaxing experience because we are completely away from any signs of civilization and we are 100% on our own. On some trails our cell phones don't even work. We bring all our food, a small camping stove, pack the lightest pans and dishes, and try to get as much high quality dehydrated food as we can. We also bring along high calorie food like cheese and pepperoni, since neither needs to be refrigerated for the short duration of our backpacking trips. We stay away from fruit or vegetables that we have to peel to eat since those peelings take up space and their weight adds up, too. Apples and grapes are good things to take, as are potatoes since they are nutrient rich.

We ordered this Eureka Pinnacle Pass 2A Backpacking Tent online from Bridges Outdoor World at http://bridgesoutdoorworld.com/ and set it up last night in the family room just to see what it was like. It came together really quickly and it's a compact tent with some features that will come in handy when we are outdoor camping or backpacking. It has a flashlight loop and two gear loops so we can stow things we need inside the tent when we're outdoor camping. It has two doors and two windows, so we'll have plenty of ventilation just in case we want to use our camping stove inside the tent to make the morning coffee and tea.