 Mountain Memories |
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In thinking about this whole backpacking idea, I decided to revisit where my head was the summer I spent the most time doing backpacking-esque activities. These passages are transcribed from my paper journal from my summer as a camp counselor in North Carolina. The first trip was one spanning several days that a bunch of counselors took before the campers got there. The second was a spur-of-the-moment trip on one of our nights off. These are my mightiest mountain experiences unless you count the one from a few years before when, as a junior counselor, I went on a rock climbing trip and woke up in the middle of the night with a field mouse in my hair and the one several years later in Colorado when we camped in the snow, we smoked so much pot that we could not remember our names, and my sanity was saved only by clinging desperately to the warmth of a golden retriever named Cody. June 3, 1994 
Foolishly optimistic at the beginning of the backpacking trip It's midnight. BUT WHAT IS TIME, ANYWAY? My Lord. To say that the last six hours of my life have been an experience would be the understatement of my life. I thought, I truly thought, that I was going to die. If not from sheer exhaustion, then from the many times I slipped and fell on wet, slippery, slimy creek rock into the icy water, or the times the trees I grabbed to support me from tumbling down some ravine snapped, or while crawling with hands, feet, and face imbedded in soil and leaves, or getting banged in the head by swinging branches -- I was really scared. We were hiking in the rain, backpack covers snagging on every tree, I was miserable. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I mean, I'm lying here, it's midnight, my hair is wet, there are bugs flying everywhere, I'm freezing -- I'm trying to be positive, but this is just NOT FUN! I HATE IT! I'm thinking that teaching arts and crafts instead of wilderness is looking pretty damn good! Bring it on, lanyards! I'll tie-dye my heart out, but FUCK THIS! The next day We survived the night. Amy and I slid downhill, but miraculously we stayed dry. I prayed the whole night that God would spare us rainfall -- because, honestly, I don't think I could have handled one more treachery. Hopefully today will be easier. We had eggs for breakfast, and I devoured an apple. David kept singing showtunes. Today: up, up, UPHILL. Impossible. Thought my lungs were going to fly out of my chest. It is beautiful here, though. I love the cloudshadows passing over the mountains. I'm ready to be back at camp, though. Ok! Thanks! Appreciate the hospitality. We're hiking 1,000 feet uphill tomorrow. Today turned out to be pretty nice in the end. We're at a beautiful campsite, and the trail we walked for most of the way was nice, flat, and easy, and we had an awesome view. The guys keep talking about sausage. The next day I'm sitting in my cabin. We made it! Just when I thought I couldn't take another step. I'm sopping wet with sweat, but I'm actually glad that I did it. Our little break waiting for the van turned into five hours of flagging down cars on the Blue Ridge Parkway, doing the wave on the side of the road, eating peanut butter and granola with our rancid fingers, someone pouring oatmeal all over his face, crawling into garbage bags like little raisin pods to keep dry, and bonding with a straight-toothed park ranger. It was quite an experience. It's raining now, and my first instinct was to "CHECK THE PERIMETER!" But, believe it or not, everything is safe and dry and inside with me. Miracles do happen. 
Sitting proudly with part of the group after surviving the trip from hell June 24, 1994 
Hi. I know how to set up a tent. Just kidding. We decided at roughly one in the morning to go and sleep on Black Balsam. Okay, swell. It was a wee bit windy, but we were going to deal. I barely know the kid, but I had confidence, silly me, that Watson had some clue about how to set up a tent. Of course, we were basically trying to bodily hold down everything with us, seeing as how we were in the middle of a practical hurricane. The tent set-up was a nightmare -- it was collapsing all over the place, but we were laughing, and finally we decided to sleep on top of the tent. I zipped my hair up in my sleeping bag zipper, and Watson was laughing too hard to get it out and then started steamrolling Amy and me. Finally we got to sleep. Then the rains came, and somehow we crawled into the blue and white abyss (the tent). Without erecting it. We ended up getting wet anyway and getting no sleep. THEN came trying to get everything together this morning. The wind was so strong, I swear it was forty degrees up there, and the wind was about to completely blow us over. It was fucking unbelievable. I had the greatest time, though. 
(I really did.)
© Copyright 2006 elb |
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