First 'All Day' trips

[Charlie Spencer]

The Carolina Bird Club has its quarterly meeting next weekend.  I'm signed up for two all-day walks (8+ hours).  While I've been out for an entire day several times, it's always been in two- to four-hour chunks.  I always carry some cash and extra camera batteries.  I've never carried supplies or a backpack before.

Suggestions?  Three bottles of water, a big bag of munchies (Quaker Oat Squares, walnuts, cranberries, choc. chips), bug spray, maybe a poncho depending on the forecast.  Anything else?

Thanks.

 

[Clip]

Extra memory card perhaps, sunscreen the only two things I can think of. Except maybe one of those backpack chairs that fold up tiny in case you need a break. Maybe some tissues. Pocket knife and flash light if you are going until dark. Often the organizers have suggestions what to bring.

[aveschapinas]

18 hours ago, Charlie Spencer said:

The Carolina Bird Club has its quarterly meeting next weekend.  I'm signed up for two all-day walks (8+ hours).  While I've been out for an entire day several times, it's always been in two- to four-hour chunks.  I always carry some cash and extra camera batteries.  I've never carried supplies or a backpack before.

Suggestions?  Three bottles of water, a big bag of munchies (Quaker Oat Squares, walnuts, cranberries, choc. chips), bug spray, maybe a poncho depending on the forecast.  Anything else?

Thanks.

 

Wow! Most of my big birding adventures are at LEAST 8 hours. Water is probably first priority for me; depending on whether you'll have options for refills. I always have my 2-liter hydration bag in my backpack, and often a couple of liters more too. 

Snacks - portable, not crush-able, won't melt in the sun if applicable, and easy to grab and eat, and put down when the rarity comes by as soon as you open your ziplock bag of chocolate chips in one hand while inserting them in your mouth with the other; you drop bag and grab binoculars, bye-bye chocolate chips. Many people here prefer granola bars - eat them in the package so you can stick them in your pocket quickly when the Harpy Eagle shows up - but I find them too sweet and cloying. I've brought peanuts in a small drink container with a flip-open lid. If you're going to stop to buy meals, that sort of thing is enough; otherwise sturdy sandwiches without too much goopy dressing and such are good options for meals on the trail. Fruit - apples or oranges are much better than bananas, which WILL get squashed and turn brown in your backpack.

Whatever clothing you might need (protection from rain, cold, and sun). Some simple binocular cleaning supplies. Small phone charger battery and cable. Plastic bag for storing any trash you produce. A few wet wipes in a ziplock bag. A bandana - serves as a napkin, hand towel, bandage, etc. as needed. Simple first aid supplies - alcohol wipes, a few band-aids, maybe a small tube (or if available there, a tiny tin) of anitbiotic ointment.

Edited September 23 by aveschapinas
typo

[Kevin]

A length of string has endless possibilities. Plastic parts on backpacks, camera vests, etc. have a nasty tendency to break at the worst moments. Also doubles as a belt, shoe lace, or to tie extra clothing or something on with.

[aveschapinas]

3 hours ago, Kevin said:

A length of string has endless possibilities. Plastic parts on backpacks, camera vests, etc. have a nasty tendency to break at the worst moments. Also doubles as a belt, shoe lace, or to tie extra clothing or something on with.

Great idea! One of my nephews used to make paracord bracelets when he was a kid (now he makes gorgeous handcrafted wood products). They were braided with a clip fastener, rustic and appropriate for men and women. The idea was that you could undo the bracelet when a piece of paracord was just the thing you needed!

[aveschapinas]

I forgot to say anyone with long hair will appreciate an extra ponytail holder in the backpack or on your wrist.

[Clip]

I thought of two more things. It is probably too late but for future. A lens cloth and something to protect your camera from rain separate from your rain poncho. Rain ponchos are great for you but make your camera difficult to get to to use.

[lonestranger]

So how were your all day trips, @Charlie Spencer?  Besides the Caspian Tern and other birds you saw, how'd you make out on your longer day trips?  Were there enough young people around to help carry you back to your vehicle at the end of the day?   Will you need to adjust your list of necessities for your next trip or did you have everything you needed/wanted with you?  Curious minds want to know.

 

[Charlie Spencer]

10 hours ago, lonestranger said:

So how were your all day trips, @Charlie Spencer?  

Well, it turned out 'all day trips' meant we'd be out all day but not away from cars / vans.  On Friday, the closed preserve we birded has a 14-passenger van with plenty of room for small coolers.  Saturday we moved around a state park in our cars; 3.5 hours was the longest we were away from our vehicles.  Sunday was always planned as 4-hour half day.

93 species including a lifer Piping Plover and 22 'first of year' (many of those 'first in several years').  The Marsh Wren and Seaside Sparrows would have been lifers but I caught only a glimpse of each as they disappeared into the reeds.  That isn't enough for me to list a lifer.  Peregrines every day!  Here's the group's combined list and my trip report:

https://www.carolinabirdclub.org/meetings/birdlists/Litchfield_Fall_2023.html

https://ebird.org/tripreport/161080 

[aveschapinas]

4 hours ago, Charlie Spencer said:

Well, it turned out 'all day trips' meant we'd be out all day but not away from cars / vans.  On Friday, the closed preserve we birded has a 14-passenger van with plenty of room for small coolers.  Saturday we moved around a state park in our cars; 3.5 hours was the longest we were away from our vehicles.  Sunday was always planned as 4-hour half day.

 

Glam birding! I'm used to setting out at 4 AM with a backpack and hopefully getting back to a vehicle or reunion point by 6 or 7 PM.

[Clip]

This is how all the day trips were that I have taken. Organizers also always made sure there were a few bathrooms available at some of the stops. I have not taken any since we moved to Florida.

11 hours ago, Charlie Spencer said:

Well, it turned out 'all day trips' meant we'd be out all day but not away from cars / vans.  On Friday, the closed preserve we birded has a 14-passenger van with plenty of room for small coolers.  Saturday we moved around a state park in our cars; 3.5 hours was the longest we were away from our vehicles.  Sunday was always planned as 4-hour half day.

 

[aveschapinas]

3 hours ago, Clip said:

This is how all the day trips were that I have taken. Organizers also always made sure there were a few bathrooms available at some of the stops. I have not taken any since we moved to Florida.

 

Bathroom! What a luxury! (In some places here the friendly  nearby bushes are much more appealing than the public bathroom.)

[Charlie Spencer]

11 hours ago, aveschapinas said:

Glam birding! I'm used to setting out at 4 AM with a backpack and hopefully getting back to a vehicle or reunion point by 6 or 7 PM.

That's what I was expecting, only with an 7:30am start.

I've seen some bathrooms that make Port-a's and even bushes look preferable.

[Clip]

On 10/3/2023 at 9:51 AM, aveschapinas said:

Bathroom! What a luxury! (In some places here the friendly  nearby bushes are much more appealing than the public bathroom.)

You sound like me. I really do not like public bathrooms and have been known to hold it for long periods to get home and use my own. I will use them I'm not obsessive about it but if I think I can make it home I will.

That said there was this one place in Colorado I visited fairly frequently and the bathrooms were were always Horrible. So I would open a back door and the front door of my car and sit on the edge of the front and go. Affording privacy from 3 sides just in case anybody happened by. It was not a very people active place (great birding spot though)so no one ever did come by. I have known some gals with weak bladders that sit on the back or front bumper if there was no bathroom. I hope I haven't gone into TMI.

Edited October 4 by Clip

[Clip]

23 hours ago, Charlie Spencer said:

That's what I was expecting, only with an 7:30am start.

I've seen some bathrooms that make Port-a's and even bushes look preferable.

You guys have it easy!

[SirVive]

On 10/3/2023 at 6:51 AM, aveschapinas said:

Bathroom! What a luxury! (In some places here the friendly  nearby bushes are much more appealing than the public bathroom.)

That is if you can even find one that doesn't charge you for the TP. 😄

[aveschapinas]

6 hours ago, SirVive said:

That is if you can even find one that doesn't charge you for the TP. 😄

Yeah, you can try. I'll be behind that bush over there. 

(They charge even if you don't want TP; it just costs more with TP!)

[aveschapinas]

On 10/4/2023 at 8:16 AM, Clip said:

You sound like me. I really do not like public bathrooms and have been known to hold it for long periods to get home and use my own. I will use them I'm not obsessive about it but if I think I can make it home I will.

That said there was this one place in Colorado I visited fairly frequently and the bathrooms were were always Horrible. So I would open a back door and the front door of my car and sit on the edge of the front and go. Affording privacy from 3 sides just in case anybody happened by. It was not a very people active place (great birding spot though)so no one ever did come by. I have known some gals with weak bladders that sit on the back or front bumper if there was no bathroom. I hope I haven't gone into TMI.

Men pee in public all the time here! They figure if they face a wall or the side of their car they're good to go (so to speak). It's less common for women. Some restaurants and shopping malls have free bathrooms, but in bus stations and marketplaces they are always gross and always paid.

[Charlie Spencer]

12 hours ago, SirVive said:

That is if you can even find one that doesn't charge you for the TP. 😄

Geez, even I didn't have to ask about that for this trip.  That's a left-over from my Army days - TP is the FIRST thing you pack.  Good soft two-ply, too; none of that cheap half-ply where you can still count the tree rings.

Edited October 9 by Charlie Spencer

[Clip]

22 hours ago, Charlie Spencer said:

Geez, even I didn't have to ask about that for this trip.  That's a left-over from my Army days - TP is the FIRST thing you pack.  Good soft two-ply, too; none of that cheap half-ply where you can still count the tree rings.

Best to pack some good stuff any time you travel. I don't know about luxury Hotels but the rest it is best to bring your own.

[Clip]

22 hours ago, Charlie Spencer said:

Geez, even I didn't have to ask about that for this trip.  That's a left-over from my Army days - TP is the FIRST thing you pack.  Good soft two-ply, too; none of that cheap half-ply where you can still count the tree rings.

Imaging a guy needing TP out birding... Remember me mentioning I don't like Public Bathrooms-it has been decades since I pooped in a public bathroom. That business is taken care of before leaving the house or it waits until I get home.

[Charlie Spencer]

26 minutes ago, Clip said:

Imaging a guy needing TP out birding... Remember me mentioning I don't like Public Bathrooms-it has been decades since I pooped in a public bathroom. That business is taken care of before leaving the house or it waits until I get home.

As I noted, Army habit.  Being out in the field for days, public bathrooms and even Port-A's are desirable.

[lonestranger]

1 minute ago, Charlie Spencer said:

Being out in the field for days, public bathrooms and even Port-A's are desirable.

 

45 minutes ago, Clip said:

That business is taken care of before leaving the house or it waits until I get home.

 

A five gallon pail lined with a plastic bag might not be as desirable as a real bathroom, but they're easy to put in your trunk and might even be desirable on those trips that might need an emergency stop before finding a real bathroom.

[Charlie Spencer]

6 minutes ago, lonestranger said:

A five gallon pail lined with a plastic bag might not be as desirable as a real bathroom, but they're easy to put in your trunk and might even be desirable on those trips that might need an emergency stop before finding a real bathroom.

We used to pair that with a cheap folding chair with a hole cut in the seat.  

Edited October 10 by Charlie Spencer

[Clip]

23 hours ago, lonestranger said:

 

 

A five gallon pail lined with a plastic bag might not be as desirable as a real bathroom, but they're easy to put in your trunk and might even be desirable on those trips that might need an emergency stop before finding a real bathroom.

Good tip for multi-day trips, for those that are one day I can wait. Of course, as one gets older one never knows what is going to go hay wire next so will keep this mind.