I was feeling a little burnt out and decided I needed to get away. Well, actually, Right Turn, Rainbow, and I said we should get together, which then turned into “let’s car camp one weekend”, which I turned into four days.

I packed up my stuff on a Wednesday night, and Thursday morning drove up to Dolly Copp campground. We were too late in our plans to reserve a spot, so I wanted to get there early for the first come, first serve spots.

I got there around 12:30, went in to the registration office, and then drove around hoping to find two spots next to each other. Between Rainbow and Right Turn (who would be camping IN their cars), myself (driving up Thursday), and my friend Beth who was also joining us (and driving up Friday), we had four cars. So we needed two spots.

It’s a huge campground, with lots of separate loops. One of the loops is just a giant field. HUGE NOPE. You’re supposed to find a spot you like, throw a chair or something in it to claim it, then drive back to registration to reserve it. Since I needed two (and they needed to be sleeping in your car friendly), I picked two, threw out stuff, kept looking, found a better two, threw out stuff, went back to the first two and grabbed my stuff. One of the loops of the campground had a little spur off of it with three spots. One was taken, and the other two were opposite each other. Perfect! I drove back to the registration office to pay. Paid up, and then brought them a box of donuts I had picked up on the way. Hey, a little bribery never hurts, right?

I went back to our two sites, and set up my tent and my hammock. Beth wanted to try out the hammock and it’s a great spot for an afternoon nap.

That’s my new tent! I love my hammock, but when I backpack with other people and we go somewhere with tent platforms, sometimes they send me and my hammock to a different spot than my tent friends. The whole point of going with other people is to be with other people, so I bought a tent. It’s the Durston X-Mid 1. I love it! Comfy, big, easy to set up… unless you’re in a gravel/rock tent site like this one. I couldn’t get the stakes in more than an inch, hence the logs on the guy lines.

Since I was there so early, I hung out in the hammock (without the tarp up) and read my book. Then I wandered down to the campground’s river access.

On the left, the view from my hammock. Middle is the Peabody River. Right is the view of Imp Face from the campground. In person, it’s much easier to see the face on Imp Face. Also known as “Dolly’s Imp”, as in Dolly Copp, the namesake of the campground. Her and her husband used to own the land here, and some sources say it was Dolly that named it the Imp.

There is ZERO cell phone reception at Dolly Copp campground. I brought my Garmin InReach for my hikes, but also so I could communicate while at the campground if needed. Rainbow wouldn’t be arriving until around 8 PM, so I drove up to Gorham (15 minutes) to grab some dinner and some sweet, sweet internet.

Speaking of no cell reception, and being alone, I mentioned earlier that the third campsite was taken. It was an older guy, alone. Sitting in his chair and just staring. He had no belongings on his picnic table. All very odd behavior for a campground. I kept hoping his family would join him, or that he’d start cooking or in some way do normal camp things. But he didn’t. I became increasingly paranoid about him. Especially when I walked down to the bathroom, only to return to my site, and see that he had gotten up for the first time all day, and was rummaging through his trunk carrying a travel mug. I had left my water bottle on my picnic table and now worried I’d been roofied. Spoiler alert: I wasn’t. Long story short, I was being paranoid. I didn’t notice he had a big screen tent thing, where his belongings were probably all inside. He was just chilling solo, you know, like I was. But whatever, better safe than sorry.

Rainbow arrived around 8PM. She set up her car set up, and we had a fire.

Because of my paranoia, I ended up sleeping in my car as well. Luckily it was an easy switch to just grab my sleeping pad and quilt and throw the back seat down. Previously I had camped in my car and my big upgrade this time was window screens, so you can crack the window for some air, without having every bug in a two mile radius come in your car.

The next day she and hiked Owlshead. While we were out hiking, Right Turn arrived, and set up her car for camping in. Beth was arriving at dinner time, so we all met at Big Day Brewing in Gorham.

After a hilarious dinner, in which Right Turn and Rainbow described to Beth how to care for me on a hike (apparently, there’s a lot, it’s like pet sitting), we went back to the campground. Beth set up her free tent.

We had another fire, some good chat, and then bed time. This time I slept in my tent, which was great! Lots of great features, and loads of room. Super happy with my choice.

Speaking of tents, here’s a fun little Then and Now.

We woke up Saturday, and Beth and I were off to hike Mt. Success, while Right Turn and Rainbow went for a bike ride. Right Turn and Rainbow left after their bike ride. Beth and I returned to Big Day Brewing for dinner again. Then back to camp, and we were so tired, we went to bed without a fire.

The original plan had been to hike again, but we were pretty wiped out after Mt. Success, and the heat and humidity, AND we still had to break down camp in the morning. So we decided to be more leisurely, grab breakfast somewhere, maybe hit a waterfall.

We attempted to go to the White Mountain Cafe and Bookstore in Gorham, but it was PACKED. No coffee was worth that crowd, so we left and headed toward Glen Ellis Falls. I suggested we stop at the AMC Joe Dodge Lodge. I knew they had a little store plus we could at least get a coffee there. (Speaking of coffee, I should interject that Beth brought her pour over stuff and made me coffee both mornings. SO much better than the instant garbage I had brought with me. Thank you again, Beth.) Not only did they have coffee, but they also sell breakfast sandwiches! Perfect. We got breakfast sandwiches and sat outside and guarded someone’s stuff from squirrels, as you do.

From there we went to Glen Ellis Falls. It’s a great stop. Usually not too crowded, not difficult to access. And they just re-did the entire parking area. So much nicer. I’m pretty sure there is more parking now, and it’s all paved (no giant potholes in the dirt and no giant rocks).

First we stopped at the Ellis River, by going through the tunnel and left. It seems like you shouldn’t be going that way as it looks like steep rocks leading up to the highway, but it’s only a few feet, and it is actually blazed as the way to get to Wildcat Ridge Trail. Incidentally, I crossed this back on one of my hikes to the Wildcats. If you read the linked post and see this photo and wonder what my problem was, note that water levels are incredibly low right now, I’m not THAT big of a baby. haha!

Then we headed to the falls. For a Saturday morning in August, we saw relatively few people. I think since you can’t see the falls from the road, it’s less popular than some. There are also some stairs to contend with, so obviously, if you can’t do stairs, skip this one.

There are several view points of the river and the falls along the way and then the final viewing platform.

Glen Ellis Falls are 64 feet high. And still impressive despite the current low water levels. We had this spot to ourselves for several minutes and we enjoyed the cool mist from the falls on a hot day.

After this we stopped for gas and headed home.

I had a great four days. Relaxing, hiking, chatting with friends, trying out my new tent, and just generally reviving myself. Thanks ladies for a great time!