I’ve never quite understood why people love to go camping.
For people who don’t know me, they may say, “Maybe it’s because you’ve never
really been.” To which I respond, “I’ve camped more than you can imagine.”
One of my accomplishments I’m proud of is earning my Eagle
Scout ranking. There are many things I learned in scouting that I still use
today. In addition, I got to do things I never would have had the chance to do
before. I learned how to cross-country ski, shoot a rifle (and even hit a
target!), go whitewater rafting, and build a pinewood derby car.
I also learned I don’t like camping. It was something we did
a lot—in fact we went on a camping trip once a month, every month.
I’ll admit some of them were okay. One of the better ones is
where we hiked only about a mile into the mountains into this small valley that
was filled with wildflowers. It was spring and so it wasn’t too cold or too
hot. We played a game of “capture the flag” which was epic in scope.
And then there were other ones. One winter we hiked into the
mountains, again, (I grew up next to the Rocky Mountains) and built camp in the
snow. Some of the scouts made snow huts / tunnels to sleep in. I shivered the
whole time we were there. I don’t think I slept at all. The fires we built were
hard to keep going because we didn’t have a lot of dry wood. That, and we had
to dig a pit in the snow for the fire. Once the fire would get going, it would
melt the snow around the pit, causing water to go into the pit and put out the
fire. Frustrating!
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| See how fun this looks? |
The toughest camping trip was a hike into the Unita
Mountains. I don’t recall how many miles it was, but it was quite the distance.
We planned on being there three days. We camped next to a lake and for the
first couple of days, everything was fine. There was a small island not far
from the shore, and four of us boys wanted to sleep there the last night of the
trip. The problem? How to get there.
We considered building a raft—but we didn’t have a way to
lash fallen trees together. One of the scouts realize that the water wasn’t too
deep between the shore and the island—we could walk there and the water would
only be up to our waists. So, holding our backpacks over our heads, we walked
to the island and made camp—thinking we were all awesome and tougher than the
rest of the scouts who stayed on the shore. We started a fire and set our wet
clothes out to dry and then called it a night.
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| Unita Mountains |
I woke up to thunder that was so loud that it shook our
tent. For the first time on the trip, it started to rain—and Mother Nature
seemed to make up for any rain we would have missed over the last few days.
My waterproof watch told me it was a little after two o’clock
in the morning. My friend, Tom, woke up as well. We noted how the rain was
really coming down hard—and then realized our clothes and backpacks were
outside.
We waited through the night, and the rain didn’t let up. If
anything, it got worse. And we faced yet another problem: the scout troop was
leaving at first dawn to go home. We couldn’t wait out the rain—we had to hope
it stopped. Which it didn’t.
As soon as the sky started to brighten, we heard shouts from
our leaders on the shore, telling us we needed to hurry and come back. I wasn’t
sure why we had to hurry—it wasn’t like they were going to leave without us.
Once we got brave enough to look outside our tent, I
understood why. The lake level had risen. In the downpour, the four of us on
the island packed up our camp as quickly as we could. Our possessions were
soaked, which made our packs even heavier.
My friend Tom went first to walk through the lake. The water
had risen enough that instead of being at his waist, it was up to his neck. The
distance wasn’t too far, but it was even harder now that the wind was blowing,
causing waves to splash up while trying to hold an extremely heavy backpack
over your head.
The four of us made it back to shore—exhausted. Yet, it was
now time to hike back to the cars. It took us a good part of the day. I was
cold. I was wet. I was tired. I was so sore, I had to force one foot in front
of the other to keep moving.
When we finally arrived at the cars, I literally kissed one
of them. That night, I was never so grateful for a warm, comfortable bed.
So, when my wife hints that she would like to go camping, I
hope you can understand my reluctance.
