Over the previous couple of days I’d noticed a pungent smell coming from the car (in a previous post I’d compared it to bad meat or good cheese).  While setting up my tent in Rifle Falls I discovered the culprit.

When I left Indiana my tent was a bit wet, so I’d spread it out across the back seats and had been adjusting it so all parts were, at some point or another, allowed to dry.  Or so I thought.  One corner of the tent had accumulated water any my readjustments never allowed that water to escape.  It seems bizarre that a bit of stagnant water would reek up the whole car, but there it is.  I left the (whole) tarp out in the sun while hiking around Rifle Falls and it did a decent job, but I’ll definitely be burning off the remaining funk with a combination of California sun and bleach.

And yes, I’ve entitled this volume one because I fully expect “What’s that smell?” to be an oft-asked question, particularly when we get to hot and sticky places.