On our first-ever backpacking/hiking/camping expedition, my 16yo son and I went to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area in the TX Hill Country Thursday, hiked two miles to our primitive campsite, spent the night and scaled the 1,865-ft granite monolith the next morning. WE HAD THE BEST TIME!!!

It was really a lessons-learned outing for us, and a lot of the advice and pointers I picked up from you all really held true. So glad I found this site! I've got some questions now based on our experiences but I'll post those separately. Now, for the trip report and what we learned:

We dallied too long in leaving San Antonio and didn't allow enough time to reach our location before the sun started to set. Google Maps let me down on the time estimate to reach Enchanted Rock (ER). The twisting, skinny ranch road didn't allow for high-speed travel. Anyway, we reached ER about 10 minutes after the ranger station had closed. Not sure what to do, we filled out the form hanging on a bulletin board, claimed a primitive campsite, stuck the parking sticker on our windshield and headed out. It was about a 2.5 mile uphill hike from the parking lot to our selected campsite. It was gorgeous with the sun setting! You’d think City Boy had never seen the great outdoors! It was starting to get dark by the time we reached our campsite, it was dark but we’d practiced setting up the tent at home and had no problem doing it by headlamp. The MSR pocket rocket worked like a champ to boil water to rehydrate dinner – T went with a Mountain Home meal, and I tried a Knorr pasta mix. He liked his; mine tasted OK but was far too soupy. It was getting chilly by then so we retired to our tent, changed into our thermals with fleece pull-overs on top, and spent the next several hours playing card games and reading. We shared a bag of pretzels for a late night snack and turned in officially about 10:00pm.

And then the wind started. I was certain we were going to be lifted off the ground and deposited in Oz! The wind howled all night long. You could hear it rolling in from a distance, passing over us and continuing down into the basin (canyon? valley?). It was a neat sound – repeated over and over and over. I’m an extremely light sleeper in the best of conditions, and I lay awake all night listening to the wind. T woke when the wind really kicked up and stayed awake for several hours, falling asleep again maybe about 4:00am. About 5:30am, the temp dropped to its lowest point, about 38 degrees. The temp inside the tent hovered around 50 degrees, which felt cool to me. I slept with a knit hat and fleece gloves in addition to the thermals and the fleece pull-over. I would have liked to have been a little warmer, but T as fine with just thermals and fleece pull-over. He didn’t fit into his sleeping bag very well, though, and got chilled for that reason.

I crawled out of the tent about 7:00am, when it was daylight and the air had warmed a few degrees. I put my unzipped sleeping bag over T, and he slept for another couple of hours. I put the MSR pocket rocket to use again and made coffee in my 16oz insulated travel mug. I read until T woke up. We enjoyed instant mashed potatoes for breakfast. Then, we packed up our stuff, deposited it in our car and hiked to the top of Enchanted Rock. What a view!

We can’t wait to go out again … maybe in a couple of weeks.

Sounds like a great trip. Glad everything went well.

You are off to a great start. Push the envelope bit by bit - not too much at any one time, if you can help it.

Congratulations on your trip. I have also found Google Maps to be wildly optimistic about times for traveling. Anyone in LA knows better by now after seeing 25 minutes for a trip they know takes at least an hour.

Don't be surprised if the answers to your questions span a wide range of solutions. Backpacking isn't a "one size fits all" activity. It sounds like your bag wasn't warm enough. I know you asked about bags in another post. One thing to note is that bag ratings can be like Google Maps-no relation to reality, especially for less expensive bags.

Did you check out the cave at the top? That is a must see. You need to go all the way through it, if you dare.

2 miles to the camp site? I thought that all the primitive sites were a mile from the parking lot. It has been a while since I was there last.

That is a really good place to learn how to backpack. It is also a really good place just to check out.

Congats,
Those are memories that last forever between you and you boy!

Enchanted Rock is a really cool place.
The granite dome is actually 425ft. But it is 1825 ft. above sea level.

Keep it up! Small steps each time will get you where you want to be.

I find it interesting that no one has offered any advice yet. Sleeping in raging storms is a must - you cannot be sleep deprived for long and make good decisions.

First off you chose a bad spot for your tent. It should be protected from the expected wind direction. Some tents flap more than others, the more poles, the quiter the tent, and the "round" shape of domes makes them the most wind resistent and consequently the quietist to sleep in. Pitch your tent completely and tightly.

Carry earplugs in your first aid kit.

I cannot concieve of how you could be cold at 50 degrees with long underwear and a fleec jacket in a sleeping bag. Get a better sleeping bag. You can get them cheap at thrift stores. I've picked up a Gerry bag and another down bag for a few bucks each. A wool shirt would help too, or insulated pants.

Try real food... "we enjoyed instant mashed potatoes for breakfast". WE HAD THE BEST TIME!!! I guess... but if you had decent food, were warm, had slept well and had a better breakfast you might actually have had a "great time".
Jim

HYOH jim.. I eat instant taters a lot for breakfast on the trail, and I have the best time too..

Everyone's concept of "real food" is different to them. If you enjoy it, and didn't starve, great.

By all means experiment a bit - try going lighter and quicker, see if you still like the food - try going a bit heavier and closer to gourmet - see if the weight carried is worth it for you.. you need to find the right balance for you.

phat
you will notice that I made no value judgement of his food. (nor of yours) I simply suggested real food like I suggested warmer clothes. Taters go from instand to gourmet with grated cheese and herbs on them - I do not object to the later. About 500 years ago I carried a package of instant mashed potatoes and instant brown gravy in case I was out for an extra day. I hated it so much that I never stayed long enough to get down to eating it. YMMV

Sure try going lighter and quicker, then try going heavier and slower with better food. Life is an experiment. Generally those light packs that are nice to carry do not contain the camp luxery items found in heavier packs. Every one makes their own decision as whether something provides enough extra to a trip to make it worth carrying. I like a camp chair, but not if we're camping on a peak.
Jim

Bear in mind that the OP labelled the hike a success. That is all that matters. All our incredibly learned opinions are basically irrelevant, odd as that may seem. I am sure there are official government standards for successful trips (a ten point scale, no doubt), but I can't seem to locate them just now.

I have eaten instant mashed potatoes and survived. The absolute deluxe breakfast is pancakes and maple syrup, but that takes time.

Great post!

The most important thing is that you had a good time and want to go again!

If you were cold while sleeping, the first thing to check is the amount of insulation provided by your sleeping pad. In cold weather you need more between you and the ground. It's a lot cheaper to replace an inadequate sleeping pad than a sleeping bag, so try a beefier pad on your next trip.

I've found (after a number of not-so-tasty camp meals) that it's a good idea to experiment with meals at home, first.

You should be very proud of your success. You've made it past the first obstacle, which is just getting out there. I commend you on your choice of first trips. Slow and easy is the way to go. You didn't over commit. You had a chance to test out your packs, check weight load and gear without putting yourself in a risky situation. Well done.

Exactly, why my most profound advice is Just do IT! Get out and go and work the bugs out with time. Its all good if we strive to find it!

Thanks for all the constructive feedback, everyone. My son and I are going out again this weekend to Pedernales Falls State Park, sort of in the Austin, TX area. So far, we've replaced our backpacks, the tent and my son's sleeping bag (with a "long" model for the 6' kid!) so we'll evaluate how much of a difference that makes. We're going to practice with carrying all the water (3 gallons each) we'll need for Big Bend over spring break although we won't actually need nearly so much for an overnight trip in a less dry place.

No doubt our choice of trail cuisine could be improved! However, the novelty of actually preparing something in a plastic bag made it taste all the more delicious, I think. We eat hardly any prepared / convenience food at home so shopping for the packaged food items added to the fun. Live and learn, right?

Lesley