First Cold Night

After the successful Snowy Owl search I still had to get to the Saint Joseph, Missouri area, where I’d made an appointment with Larry Lade, who I’d followed up from his postings on the net. He had mentioned a place called Lake Contrary, which he birded often, so I’d asked directions, and e sent them along with an offer to accompany me if our schedules allowed.

I planned on staying at Wallace State Park, NE of Kansas City, and arrived there in the dark about 8pm. The gate was open, but the campground was closed. Nobody was there. I parked in the picnic area, and went to sleep in the campershell. With a zero-degree rated sleeping bag. About four in the morning, I woke up and spread another equal rating bag over it. Toasty. It was sixteen degrees when I got up, all the water jugs were frozen, but the coffee thermos was still hot. I hadn’t heard the alarm on my watch, so barely had time to get to Larry’s on time