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Sometimes it's good to get away for a while. That's why I decided to pack up and head down to our local lake here. There are trails around the lake with several secluded spots to make camp. I brought my dog and 30-30 so I'd have a little company.

I didn't walk very far in to find a nice spot. Along the trail I found a cove with a tree line nearby. Someone had made camp here before as I found some rocks outlining an old fire pit. I ran some paracord between two trees and staked down my poncho to make a little shelter. Inside my sleeping bag system was enough to keep us warm overnight.

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I had some wood prepped for a fire and my shelter set up so I decided to make an impromptu fishing pole. I cut a long limber green sucker off a tree and attached some line and a hook. After it was set up I went to work turning over rocks and logs looking for a cricket or worm. However, after turning over pretty much everything around my campsite I didn't find any bait. The crickets added insult to injury as I heard them chirping in the tall grass where they would have been difficult to find. 

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Since we couldn't find any bait for fishing I decided we would just go for a walk. It was nice and warm in the sun as we walked the rocky banks. There was a nice spot to sit and watch as the sun went down. I was wishing I had my real fishing gear as I saw some BIG fish splashing out in the cove. Along the shore people had carved some messages into the stone.

When the sun was getting low we headed back to camp to light the fire. Some dry grasses nearby made some great kindling and the fire lit right up. I had brought some leftover lentils and rice that tasted great by the fire. After a long day of light winds, it decided to pick up after the sun went down so we decided to head to bed after it got dark. After I got settled in under the sleeping bags and had my dog snuggled up next to me I fell asleep.

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I woke a few times during the night, but we didn't have any major disturbances. We had a few cold spots between me and the dog trying to get comfortable. It was down around 40F last night. Overall though I felt great when I got up, no back pains or anything. This shelter was really quick to break down and since I didn't bring a bunch of extra gear I was all packed up in less than 30 minutes. I restoked the fire to keep my hands warm while I was packing up. We were back on the trail and headed back to the truck as the sun was barely coming up. No surprise to find my truck was the only one in the parking lot when we got there.

Hope you had fun following along on my little camping trip. This can be a great experience and confidence builder if you haven't done something like this before. We're going to have the kids down soon for another camping trip I will be bringing you here soon!