On March 20 I returned to Holsten Creek. I went further upstream than I did on my previous trip. I also pitched my hammock, so I could hang around and just enjoy the mild weather, before it gets hot and the blood-thirsty mosquitoes reappear. There were a few gnats, but not the biting variety.
I also waded around in the creek a bit. I probably love being in the water as much as I do anything. Holsten creek is pretty shallow and the bottom is sandy, for the most part. There are a lot of logs on the bottom that make wading a bit tricky. The water was still a bit chilly and the weather wasn’t *that* warm, so I had to dry off and put on warm clothes after about 15 minutes.
On March 21, Fred and I hiked to the bridge on the South side (the Weetock trail south of Hillfield Rd) and experimented with a “zip line” of sorts. I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to work well, since all I had with me was a stretchy nylon rope. It was still an interesting experiment, and gave us something to do while we enjoyed the late day sun in the forest. I might try it again with something less stretchy.
I decided not to return home, and instead, spend the night in the Croatan, so I am writing this at my desk, having just arrived home a couple hours ago. It’s supposed to rain later today into Saturday (March 23), so I’m drying my gear and washing my sleeping bag. I do hope to camp out again, soon. I’m still loving my Haven hammock (pictured).
