Finally got into Cheaha yesterday afternoon. What a mess. Anyway, I am using this opportunity, the two new batteries and solar trickle charger to practice dry camping while I have power and water at my disposal. For those of you who don’t know the term, dry camping, or boon-doggling means living off of the systems in your camper and not relying on shore hook-ups such as power, water, sewer and in some campgrounds, cable TV and wireless Internet access.
I now know that I have enough reserve power to stay at least two or three days without power. Maybe more. I also know that from past experience I can go four to five days with the water I have on board (40 gals). I went the whole week in Gainesville on just 40 gals just by taking advantage of the campground bathhouse which is not always an option when dry-camping.
So I spent the better part of the day putting things back together, walking a bit and took a bike ride around the park for a couple of hours, including about a 750 foot climb to the top of Cheaha Mountain. Lots of wildlife here. Some of them a little too friendly. Several different flowering trees and bushes make parts of this park very colorful. A couple of spots have gorgeous overlooks that were obscured during my visit due to overcast skies and some thunderheads rolling through the area.
There is also a hotel, cabins, chalets and a restaurant here. Did not get a close look inside, but it all looked nice. The restaurant looks over an open valley and across miles and miles of mountains. This is not a huge mountain (2407 feet) but it is the highest point in Alabama and you can see quite a long way.
Had wanted to hike the Pinhotti Trail a bit, but my delay in getting here kind of put that on the back burner for another day. Guess I will just have to come back. What a shame.
This will be my twelfth night in the camper, which is officially the longest amount of time I have spent to date in my little rig. I do not expect another night elsewhere for the next couple of months, with the exception of a night or two of tent camping while backpacking or biking. At least, that’s the plan for now.
