Hey you,

We heard about the shut down on Friday evening, March 27, and Saturday afternoon, March 28th, I made a desperate spring for the mountains. Ok, not desperate because it’s still lawful to be outside, but I have some friends who are the best at camping and when they invite, I try to go!

It was to be super short, but the trailhead at Gragg Prong is only two hours away and I was excited to try out a new tent and sleeping bag I had bought for the 2020 camping season. The ones I had were from ages ago, and despite my protestations, mom was positive the tent had been mine. All my wiggling did not get me out of the ownership of that old tent, so back to NC it came. Probably when someone insists a tent is yours it should be gratefully accepted, but you see I wanted the excuse to buy a new one and this would meaning limping along on the old one for another year or two.

It was just so… old. It didn’t keep water out anymore either. Rachel and I had taken it to a church camp last year and a nice shower came along and moistened everything inside the tent properly. Finally, when the elastic totally gave out in the poles, I threw it out without a second look. Fine, I let it sit on the side porch for 6 months because throwing away a tent just feels wrong, you know?

Then I bought a new one with painting commission money. Debuting new tents is one of the most exciting things to do, and if you disagree with me on that, not being the outdoorsy sort, that’s fine too. More fresh air for me.

I set up next to the crik, in a little spot which seemed tailor made for the tent. It took awhile to figure out, but with the expert guidance of a small, freckled boy who is far more used to setting up tents than I am, it was up in short order.

Waking up the next morning was pure pleasure for three reasons. One, the new sleeping bag had delivered well in warmth, but I was used to a little more weight so that bothered me a bit, and two, the inflatable sleeping mat did not stay inflated, bless its heart — I made a better acquaintance with some local rocks and roots than I really wanted to make. Unrelated to the tent, with the creek so nearby there was a weird thing I noticed during the night. Most of the water rushing had a low, melodious sound, but there must have been one place where the water funneled with just enough volume to create a higher, almost whiny sound. Had I known which rock to go move, I would’ve done it. It became fine by, don’t laugh, imagining fairies playing on a waterfall. It was the first story that came to mind! It worked too, and I was able to sleep. It’s just weird how things like that can become bothersome.

Three, I woke up and unzipped the door to the spicy, cool mountain air and the sight of the brook beyond.

Suffice it to say, I will use a blanket with the sleeping bag for weight, and probably go back to using Thermarest sleeping mats. The tent, was perfect. Room for me + things.

OF CAMPING AND FOOD

As I said, when these folks ask you to go camping, it’s going to be good. The fire was a bit cranky, but Micah and Ryan are masters at fire-whispering a.k.a charming a nice fire into being from greener wood. They also bring the best coffee.

• Apple pancakes, or is that flapjacks in the woods?

• Sausage

• Fried eggs.

• Coffee

• Ahhhhh

Morning Faces.

Honestly, it was a blinker trip, as in, over and done before one could fully settle into camping. It doesn’t really matter though, it was a breath of fresh air in this whole time. There’s nothing quite like the peace of the woods to soak into one’s soul in the best of times, or the worst of times…