Office in the woods

Porta-tech. I'm in a folding chair in Brushkana crampground, 31 miles east of Cantwell, Alaska at N63 17.475, W148 03.794, elevation 2,537 ft, accuracy 19 feet, according to 8 satellites and my etrex Legend GPS. I think its all magic, but I appreciate the magicians all the same.

We put up our medium tech tent, tossed in the mats and sleeping bags and our travel pillows, and will be turning in shortly. No, this is definitely NOT roughing it, despite the location. We are in a BLM crampground, complete with picnic table and fire pit. I'm sitting under a nylon tarp I put up to fend off the rain, should it manage to climb over the Alaska Range just to our north. When we drove down this afternoon it was raining briskly north of the range. But we are just a few miles from the tallest peaks in north America. Weather on one side is not very related to weather on the other. Rain up north? Go through the pass and you'll be dry. I'm constantly amazed at this place.

We think occasionally of buying a pop-up trailer which we can tow behind our car. It would be nice for places like this, where the neighbors are far enough away that we don't hear or see them. When we checked in with the host, we did get warned that mama-moose had two young-uns this year and she is hanging around the crampground. There is also a bird about five feet away, checking for dinner leftovers. Dogster doesn't let that happen (leftovers), of course, but bird doesn't know that.

I don't know about the trailer, though. It would be easier than crawling around on the ground to get into the tent. Also easier to stand up in the morning, which is getting ever harder. I just hate to go with more stuff than we already drag along. So we are still thinking about it, but the idea hasn't gone away.