Snow Peak Amenity Dome Medium

Two openings in the vestibule

Now that I am retired, I will finally be able to join the RICKA Adirondacks trip. I’ll be canoe-camping for 3 nights with Aaron on the Oswegatchie River, and then join Bill and the RICKA crew for day-trips based out of Eaton Lake State Park.

I dug out the old Eureka Mountain Pass 3XTE that I usually use for base-camping and found that the plastic windows in the fly had degraded and cracked. It's noting that can't be fixed with duck tape, but it wasn’t quite as big as I wanted, so I decided to look for a new base-camping tent.

View from the front

I wanted a tent with plenty of interior room for a cot or large air mattress and a large vestibule to get out of the rain. I ended up with the Snow Peak Amenity Dome Medium. Since it was a discontinued model the price was right.

The Snow Peak Amenity Dome Medium is a 3-season, 4-person, Japanese-style tent that trades some interior standing room for durability in challenging weather. Spec’s are:

• Fly including Vestibule: 16.6' x 9.2’
• Sleeping Tent: 8.8’ x 8.8’
• Peak Height: 4.9’

Front flap set up as an awning

The packed size is 29" x 9.8" x 8.7" in its carrying case with a total weight of 19.6 lbs. It’s a big tent that takes up a lot of room in the canoe and the campsite.

While most car-camping tents prioritize stand-up ceiling height, this Japanese-style tent is intentionally built low to the ground to survive severe wind and heavy rain. The tent is divided into two distinct zones – sleeping area and front vestibule or “porch”. The front vestibule extends the length of the fly by 7.8 ft and can be used as an outdoor kitchen, lounge, gear garage, or a dry entryway during downpours.

All closed up

The front vestibule can be opened from a large front flap or zippered side panel. This allows you to close off the side facing the wind or rain while keeping the other side open for ventilation. The front flap can also be set up with poles to become an awning.

I still need to get an 8’ x 8’ ground cloth for the tent, and I want to get a cot and small folding table to put inside, but I think it is going to work out fine.

Plenty of room inside with a twin-size air mattress

Links:

My Pictures

Snow Peak Amenity Dome

My Tents

Lincoln Woods - August 13, 2026

I tore the meniscus in my knee back in December, and haven't been able to kneel in my canoes since. I have been very good about doing physical therapy, and today I decided to give kneeling in my whitewater boat another try. I was able to paddle from the boat ramp down to the beach for a swim and back - not too painful, but a good NSAID helps. It might be time to try a Fife run.

My solo canoe at the beach at Lincoln Wood

Woodward Forest - August 12, 2026

Heading out

The mid-week hiking crew (Bill, Al, Danny and me) was out again. This time at the Woodward Forest in Norton, MA.

We met at the trailhead at the end of Gateway Lane. The trails are mostly compacted ground through Hemlock and Beech trees. We hiked about 2.5-miles, and then went out for breakfast at the Hanger 12 at the Mansfield Airport.

The crew - Bill, Al, Danny and Erik

Links:
My Pictures
Land Preservation Trust of Norton
Trail Map

Echo Lake - August 12, 2026

Heading out

I did last night's Blackstone Valley Paddle Club trip on an lake that I had never paddled before – Echo Lake.

Echo Lake, also known as the Pascoag Reservoir, is a 325-acre lake located in Burrillville and Glocester. It is popular for boating, fishing, and paddling with a state-maintained boat ramp off Maroney Road. We put in at the boat ramp and headed out to circumnavigate the lake. The shoreline developed with houses, but there are lots of coves and islands to explore. Boat traffic can be heavy, but it wasn’t too bad last night.

Paddling with Cheryl in the Spirit II

Links:

My Pictures

Echo Lake from RI DEM

RICKA Meeting on the Water - Lincoln Woods - August 10, 2026

Skye, Steve and Danny enjoy
snacks at site 45

During the summer, RICKA’s monthly meetings are replaced with “Meetings on the Water” – paddles that are intended to get people together who might not normally paddle together, or to get people out to venues that they might not normally visit. In July, the Sea Kayak group led a Full Moon Paddle at the URI Bay Campus in Narragansett. This month, the flatwater group led a paddle at Lincoln Woods State Park. 

Paddlers launched from the boat ramp for the trip around Olney Pond. We also got a permit for picnic sites 45/46, which has a nice beach for landing boats. We got a campfire going and had snacks for anyone who stopped. Bill brought a homemade blueberry pie, Skye brought home-grown tomatoes, and I made monkey bread and brownies in the Dutch oven, and quesadillas on the fire. It was a nice night.

Hiking at Lincoln Woods - August 5, 2026

I found a walking stick

The mid-week hiking crew with Bill, Alan, Danny and Nancy was back at Lincoln Woods State Park yesterday for a 5-mile hike.

Lincoln Woods is RI’s oldest state park. It opened in 1909 after acquiring farmland and woodlots from the Olney, Arnold, Comstock, and Mitchell families. Over the years, it has grown to 627-acres around Olney Pond bordered by Route 146 to the west, Breakneck Hill Road to the north and Great Road/Route 123 to the east.

Danny at the stone steps

This time Bill took us further out into the woods out near Breakneck Hill Road. In addition to large boulder outcroppings, we found old foundations, stairs carved into the bedrock and other remnants of the old homesteads from the days before this became a state park. And we didn’t get lost - too often.

Breakfast after the hike was at the 9 Twenty Cafe in Lonsdale.

The crew - Alan, Bill, Erik, Danny and Nancy

Links:

My Pictures

Stump Pond - August 5, 2026

Giving the safety talk

I led my second Blackstone Valley Paddle Club trip of the year last night at Stump Pond.

At 300 acres and 2.3 miles long, Stump Pond in Smithfield (also known as the Stillwater Reservoir) is the largest pond in the Woonasquatucket River watershed. The wooded shores, islands, and scenic hills make it a great place for a paddle.

Heading out

The Stillwater Reservoir was built in 1910 to provide a reliable water supply through the summer for the mills down river. It was never a drinking water reservoir. The local name “Stump Pond” came from the many tree trunks that remained standing in the water after the dam was built.

We put in at the Stump Pond Fishing Area and paddled across to the Pleasant Avenue Bridge. The pond was too high for us to paddle under the pipe under the bridge, so we then headed north to the dam, and then east to the where Woonasquatucket River enters the pond, and then back to the put-in - about 3-miles. Nice night.

Back at the put-in at sunset

Links:

My Pictures