2018/12/15 – 2018/12/16
I took what is probably my last camping trip fro the season. I spent a night in the Oi Futo Ryokudo, a narrow greenway that is about 50 meters wide and about a kilometer long the low areas along Tokyo Bay. The greenway is sandwich between two heavily traffic roads but thanks to the trees there is a sense of isolation despite being in the city. I don’t think there are many places in the City of Tokyo proper where you could stealth camp without being noticed.
The main objective of this trip was to experience sub-zero (celsius) temperatures. When I was growing up in Wisconsin camping was always a summer activity. I experienced some cold weather on my previous trip to Motosuko but it never got below freezing.
Packing
When I went to Motosuko I wasn’t prepared for cold weather though I was expecting. I planned to take a jacket but forgot it when I was packing up my panniers. This time I prepared for the cold weather. I wore jeans and long socks. I also had a hoodie and my high-vis cycling jacket as well as two pair of gloves. For a sleeping bag I used a Logos bag that has been packed away in my closet for years. I don’t really know if it is warmer that the sleeping bag I used on my other trips. I assumed that it is warmer because it is puffier and I can’t roll it up as tightly. It turns out that it was warm enough.
A word about my gloves. I don’t have expensive gloves. They are probably the cheapest kind you can find. I bought them at my local 100 yen shop. The first pair is black and very tight and thin. They are the kind that have the first and second finger cut off so that you can use your smart phone without taking you gloves off. I wear these gloves during the fall and the spring but I found they are not enough for the colder months of winter. For winter, I have another pair of gloves that I got at the 100 yen shop too. These are what are called gun-te. Basically, they are very cheap work glove that people wear to protect their hands when they are doing physical labor. These gloves are full fingered. In order to use my smart phone with these gloves I cut off the very tip of the finger on the first two fingers. On cold days I wear these gloves over my black gloves. Since my hands are bigger than the average Japanese the gloves are bit tight on me but they work for me. These gloves are pretty but they keep my hands warm enough most of the time. You may wonder why I don’t get a proper pair of gloves. The reason is simple. I lose gloves…a lot. It is a waste of money for me to wear expensive gloves because I will probably lose them before the season is over. I have gotten really nice gloves for Christmas and my birthday and I always feel bad when I lose them.
Food
The nice thing about camping in colder weather is that you can pack food that you really can’t in summer because it would spoil. This time I carried butter, eggs and milk without any fear of spoiling. During the heat of summer I would worry about the eggs and milk going bad and the butter would have turned into a greasy, runny mess.
The Campsite
I had a late start, leaving the house around 3:15 in the afternoon. By the time I arrived at Oi Futo Greenway it was already dark. Fortunately, I knew exactly where I was going to camp. I camped under a wide wooden foot bridge. Standing under the bridge the bottom supports are almost in reach if you jump. There doesn’t really seem to be much use for the bridge as there is a perfectly passable path that runs parallel to it just 10 meters away. The bridge is more decoration than a functional bridge. It spans a dry gulch which I think has never had water in it. I knew about the foot bridge because several years ago I hid a geocache under the eaves of the bridge. The campsite was perfect. People walking over the bridge couldn’t see me and if I didn’t make any noise passerby couldn’t hear me either. Of course, I was plainly visible from the parallel path. Nobody passed by on the path until the next morning but I did hear someone tramp over the bridge once while I was setting up and a couple of times the next morning. For those who are considering stealth camping it should be noted that Japanese people are early risers. At least elderly people tend to be.
I have ridden my bike in winter before so I am used to that. It is tricky because if you dress for standing still you bundle up and then start to sweat once you get moving. Everything you hear about cold weather safety warns against sweating in cold weather. If you dress for action you start out cold and you get cold every time you stop for more than a minute. I tend to run hot so layers are important. When I was younger I had more hair on my head. Nowadays, if I don’t cover my forehead with something my forehead gets painfully cold. Years ago, I never anticipated this side affect of growing old. Who does? For this reason, I don a skullcap du rag. It is thin enough to wear under a helmet and warm enough to keep my brain case from freezing.
The Weather
The weather was clear and the temperature dropped with the sun. As mentioned earlier, one of my goals of this trip was to camp in cold weather. The temperature dropped to -3 degrees celsius. I came through the night without turning into a popsicle. My tent is not rated for really cold weather or snow I wouldn’t take it into snowy country. I’m not sure what my sleeping bag is rated for. For these reasons I think this trip is the last trip of the season.
Lesson Learned
My take away from this trip is that my phone batteries don’t last as long in cold weather as they do in warmer weather. Especially in my older devices. This is something I already knew but had forgotten. It has been a long time since I tried to use electronics in cold weather over a long period of time. Next time I will make sure I bring enough auxiliary batteries.
Conclusion
Over all it was a fun little trip and it is on my lit of places to return to in the future.
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