Riding to the Root: Maiden camp stove use unsuccessful

Well, I guess I couldn't count on ALL my equipment working according to plan. I just figured it'd be my bike to malfunction first.

After setting up camp in Grand Meadow last night and NARROWLY beating the heavy rain that hit the area, I figured it was as good a time as any to test out my new camp stove. I got it for Christmas from my dad and at first glance, the thing was pretty much designed to be a backpacker's best friend. It's lightweight and packs into an area no bigger than a cell phone.

I brought along a package of Tuna Helper to test it's mettle, and as the water slowly approached boiling point, the stove seemed to work quite well. It started up easily and the flame was pretty easy to adjust.

However, a combination of winds and a faulty spot welding job on the stove conspired to do this:

As you can probably guess, a camp stove doesn't work so well when it's in two pieces. The water spilled everywhere and the Tuna Helper has been discarded as dead weight. Hopefully I can send the stove in to get it fixed when I get home.

In the meantime, I guess I'll have to live off restaurant/gas station food for the rest of the trip.

Time to head out to the Mystery Caves. I'll check back in later.