Testing, Testing

I'm pretty much in flat-out Confidence Camp prep mode. I did a few other things this morning.

About the most hard-core survival skill we are going to learn is how to make a solar still. I have tried a couple in the past three days. I wanted to find out how well they worked with a smaller hole than "recommended." And, as it turned out, I got to find out how well they worked when there wasn't very much sun.

I did the first one in some badly contaminated soil. The theory is that it's a still- in other words, it distills water and gives you clean water.

This site still reeks of oil, even 45 years after the oil storage tanks have been removed. The water was clean, no odor or taste, but with a little bit of soil that trickled in that could be filtered out with just a bandana. Got over a cup of water in a day.

Then I tried another with an even smaller hole, but in cleaner dirt.

You can see the condensation on the underside of the plastic.

Got the same amount of water in less time. Winner!

Cathy came over and we set up my screen house. Thinking it could be shelter in light rain, or too much sun (not a likely scenario according to long-range forecasts).

It collapses in wind too easily. But I might try to add some extra guy lines. I think we'll just go on the deck or inside if rain becomes serious.

We did a couple other small things, and pretty much finished the gear packs. There are a couple of tiny items to go in them yet. L-R: notebooks with info (I'm still working on those pages), gear packs, emergency packs.

Tomorrow is a group hike that is a fairly long drive. So much for getting much done other than that tomorrow.

It's been either too wet or cold to stain the picnic tables. We did a couple other small tasks. But it's coming together, and it won't take that long to stain the tables.

See Mostly Confidence Camp Prep

Mostly Confidence Camp Prep

The day began with taking Tara back to the trail fairly early in the morning. No rain- hooray!

But the entire rest of the day was getting ready for Confidence Camp. I had to hustle back from dropping off Tara because Doug was coming to make sure we have a driveable lane back to the campsite. Mostly that meant getting rid of autumn olive. (Now, this method is efficient!)

I had a very minimal amount of work that I thought would accomplish what I needed. Doug said, "I'm your equipment guy! If I come over, I'm doing it right."

And he did, of course. He pretty much created a nice clear packed lane.

It continues back through the trees,

and ends up at the open space where we will set up the campsite. Mostly for access to deliver the porta-potty, but I'll need to drive back there to deliver the picnic tables and other gear. We have the use of a four-wheeler for the week which we will use to bring meals out from the house.

A man and his toy.

Then in the afternoon, Cathy and I went out to explore a section of National Forest where the final field exercise of Confidence Camp will be held. I needed to be sure it was going to work well. I'd selected it from a forest map based on some requirements I wanted, and it's not perfect, but it's close by and will do the job. I've already scouted out the other location where we will do a field exercise.

Between going to the woods and walking out to the campsite four times, I walked a fair amount.

Miles walked in 2026: 152.4

Some old roads in the National Forest and out to Confidence Camp four times: 3.5 miles

See Two Picnic Tables

I've Got Tara!

It was a very good day to NOT hike all day. I picked up long-distance hiker Tara at Timber Creek. The rain that was supposed to be over during the night hung on all day. She was very glad to come off the trail and get dried out, cleaned up, and get some new supplies. We also looked at maps.

We've been talking trail stuff all day. It's such fun! We eat very similarly, so getting things for meals was really easy. We've also been comparing how we eat on the trail. She's working on hiking all the National Scenic Trails, and my next Ludington Daily News column will tell more about her.

It was WET. She had this black oak leaf stuck on the rain cover of her pack. Very artistic.

A few of the wildflowers are trying to put on spring faces, but they were crying today. Here is Wood Anemone.

Spring Beauty was also hunkered down waiting for a drop of sun. Maybe tomorrow.

I did get to walk out and meet her on the trail. Got in 2.5 miles

Miles walked in 2026: 148.9
NCT Hike 100 Challenge: 45.6

NCT Lake County, Michigan, Timber Creek TH south and back. 2.5 miles.

See TI Kidnapped Chris

More Yellow

I had a hard time getting into gear today, but finally managed to get off my butt and do some things to prep for Confidence Camp.

Meanwhile, enjoy more yellow!

First is another daffodil. I'm pretty sure this is 'Haworthia.' I used to have a ton of these, but only a few seem to be left.

I'm not sure I've showed you this before. It's a variegated absinthe, a gift quite a while ago. It can get too aggressive, but it looks nice right now. It looks much more yellow-green in real life. I'm not sure exactly which one- there are a couple of choices

Lots of the Cowslip Primrose are blooming in the front bed now. I really like these.

I know I've never put this on the blog. It's a shrub that was around our old house. I really don't like it because it spreads all over. But it's Golden Currant, Ribes aureum. At least it's native.

Shopping, bell choir and a short walk.

Miles walked in 2026: 146.4

Methodist Church trails: 1.7 miles.

See Festival in Yellow

Small Goodies

I spent most of the day working on Confidence Camp. Cathy came over and we divided and packaged a lot of the items that participants will receive and learn how to use. I spent most of the rest of my time refining "lesson plans."

Meanwhile, some more areas of the rock garden are looking nice. This area of color is great. The yellow is Moneywort, Lysemachia nummularia 'Goldilocks.' This has totally surprised me by looking better than ever since I've revived the rock garden. It really prefers something more moist. There are violets, and a Sempervivum Margaret gave me that stays quite red.

This is another of the miniature daffodils I bought a long time ago but has come back. This is 'Sweet Sue' with violets and some of the first of the moss phlox to open behind it.

This is a daffodil I split last year that had gotten all bunched up. The other patch didn't come up, but the ones I left in the rock garden did. They are really too tall, but I put them at the very bottom, so that works. These are a tarzetta daffodil, variety 'Erlicheer.' The leaves persist way too long, so I need to figure out what else I can also put there for later in the year.

I just have to show you the Sempervivum 'Gold Nugget' again. It's starting to change from red to gold!

And for the final act of the day, we will switch to the front flower bed. This is the sunburned Brunnera I bought at the end of the summer last year. It's the first of my Brunnera to bloom this spring! Variety is 'Variegata.' I'm really happy with this one. I really bought all of my Brunnera for the foliage, but have been delighted with the early spring forget-me-not-like flowers.

It still hasn't rained, but it's been plenty windy!

See A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood