Brother Thelonious & Camping part 2

Last night had a bright gibbous moon and in combination with my firelight, I really didn't need anything else in order to see fairly well.  Undaunted, I was still eager to try out a new headlamp I'd purchased to take to Iraq.  My previous two headlamps had both been "opportunistically relieved of my possession:" one during a party at Pitt and another at JRTC in January.  This new one is a Princeton Tec like my first one, but a cheaper/lighter model with a red LED that only needs 2 AAAs.  I sewed a nametape on the headband so hopefully this one doesn't walk off like its predecessors.

My stainless steel camp cup has split 3/4" along a seam, but it still performed well for making a pack of ramen noodles.  Straining the cooked noodles took some creativity, though.  I used a nalgene bottle to push the hot noodle-water out the sides like a leaky piston.

Tonight's beverage is Brother Thelonious.  North Coast brewery donates a portion the sales of this brew to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.  So off the bat, that's a pretty cool tie-in.  The beer itself is a strong dark Belgian-style ale.  It pours with a rich, mahogany color with strong raisin flavors, including a relative sweetness.  This flavor profile masks the 9.4% ABV very well and makes it pretty good for sipping.  I would get this again and may do a side by side comparison with Maudite in the future.

Camping & Snake Dog IPA

I went back to the Peak Trail yesterday to do some camping up on the little peak.  I was looking forward to having a fire and actually being able to cook something instead of just heating things up in my motel microwave. I cooked some mild italian sausage, noodles and beans over the fire. and stacked on some cheese and trailmix as well.  Pretty solid meal, though the sausage would have to be replaced if I were taking a more lengthy excursion by foot.  Suitable firewood is way more bountiful here in contrast to places I've camped in Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario.  Lots of dead and dry pine just laying about and dry, fibrous bark that peals off and takes a spark easily.  Not many large limbs, though.

I was eager to try out my issued Military Sleep System with my hammock.  I left the goretex bivvy-sack behind, but the patrol and intermediate bags kept me pretty warm until 0430 or so.  You'll always be warmer sleeping on the ground, but that's one of the tradeoffs when choosing a hammock.

Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA

I got this as part of a Flying Dog Brewery sampler pack.  No revelations here; I still don't like IPA.  But I want to thank the Flying Dog Brewery for introducing me to International Bitterness Units by putting the IBU value of their brews on each bottle.  Snake Dog's 60 IBU is just way to high for my tastes.