Renegade Rip

Issue date: 5/6/09 Section: Battle of the Sexes

Media Credit: Rip staff writers Seggan Moore (left) and Kelly Ardis (right) watch their fire start to burn.

We won. This was the challenge to end all challenges, and we won it.

We talked up our game for weeks on end and after all that, we had to win. There was no going back. We could not face the shame of losing.

Our challenge was to go on a two-day camping excursion completing other challenges along the way. Pitching a tent, preparedness, making a fire and cooking were the four things we were ready to beat the boys at. We got to the Cedar Creek Campgrounds near Shirley Meadows at sundown on Thursday, April 23 and left early Saturday morning. To the guys, the challenge started when we left for the campsite; for us, the challenge started nearly two weeks before we left.

We went to the campsite the weekend before, which the guys will try to say gives us an advantage. What they fail to mention is that going the weekend before was part of the plan, the guys just flaked out at the last minute. That's not our fault, and we refuse to be penalized for that.

Our strategy beyond the actual challenges was to not complain in front of the boys. We wanted to maintain a good attitude, so we wouldn't give the boys an opportunity to say anything bad about us. It seemed like the guys were trying to do the same thing, but they didn't last. At least we won our own challenge already.

We came up with a list of the things we assumed would be necessary for our trip. We thought it through and kept adding things, up until the day of the challenge.

We went out and bought all of our food items as well as some other camping gear that we didn't already have. Before we left, we established a "no-no" list that we would adhere to for the campout. This list included no electronics, no prepared food and no junk food.

Packing was simple. We had one big bag filled with our cooking utensils, a lantern, a camping shovel, a tarp, a camping knife and more. We also packed two flannel-lined sleeping bags. The boys apparently didn't think about the cold mountain weather and did not even take sleeping bags. One of the boys didn't pack a sweatshirt, either. We clearly won the challenge of being prepared.

Although the boys did not think it was a fair fight because of the size of our tent, we won the tent-pitching challenge. It's true: Our tent was a lot smaller and possibly easier to put up, but this was a part of us being prepared. We knew this would be a challenge, and we knew that a complicated tent would take a lot longer to put up. The guys clearly did not think this way. We also believe the boys lied about our setup time in an attempt to make themselves look better.

Continued...

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