Camping Experience
My favorite camping experience was camping in the bad lands in Drumheller with my scout troop. It was just at the tail end of summer so the days were hot and the nights were cold. We arrived at the camp ground during one of the only rains of that summer. It was pouring. Erecting the tent was as simple as it could be under the circumstances but we were drenched. As soon as the tent was done we threw our sleeping bags down and fell asleep. When we woke up it was seven in the morning and blazing hot. We put all of our wet clothes on rocks to bake and we set off for a hike through the hoodoos. We just walked and walked through crevasse and atop mountains and you couldn't see anything but dusty hills in every direction. The excruciating heat of the sun was matched only by the exquisite cool of the shaded areas. As we adventured I saw larger snakes than I had ever seen slither under rocks and out of fissures in the hills. We finally got to our destination we saw a solitary rock standing above the hills. It was khaki brown with a steep buttress that we were facing with a steep climbable incline hidden from our view. We climbed atop it and gazed into the distance. The horizon disappearing into a clear blue nothing holding a solitary yellow orb directly above us. It was gorgeous. We climbed down and set off in the direction we had came. We felt like pioneers. in uncharted territory struggling to make it back to our campsite alive. As romantic as a sonnet we each envisioned our heroic return to the meager civilization we called home. Unexplained to us this had been a hike planned by our leaders and carefully plotted to fit within the fragile and complex agenda for our weekend. We didn't care. We had disappeared into a wilderness unlike we had ever seen and found our way home again. After our triumphant return it was just past midday. After a camp meal of hotdogs and chips we were given free time. We immediately headed back for the mountains and climbed and climbed for hours on end. We watched the sun set through two mountains forming a wedge of red hot light between the slopes of two hills. As the wedge slowly decreased its size we headed away from it towards the camp. As we reached the apex of the final summit before the long decent we saw a solitary pillar of smoke characteristic of a fire newly weaned from paper to wood. We reached the bottom of the hill just as the sun set and marshmallows were brought out. I sat on the nearest log and simply stared at the fire. Seeing in the flames the red of the sun we left behind. The sun that illuminated our adventures.
My favorite camping experience was camping in the bad lands in Drumheller with my scout troop. It was just at the tail end of summer so the days were hot and the nights were cold. We arrived at the camp ground during one of the only rains of that summer. It was pouring. Erecting the tent was as simple as it could be under the circumstances but we were drenched. As soon as the tent was done we threw our sleeping bags down and fell asleep. When we woke up it was seven in the morning and blazing hot. We put all of our wet clothes on rocks to bake and we set off for a hike through the hoodoos. We just walked and walked through crevasse and atop mountains and you couldn't see anything but dusty hills in every direction. The excruciating heat of the sun was matched only by the exquisite cool of the shaded areas. As we adventured I saw larger snakes than I had ever seen slither under rocks and out of fissures in the hills. We finally got to our destination we saw a solitary rock standing above the hills. It was khaki brown with a steep buttress that we were facing with a steep climbable incline hidden from our view. We climbed atop it and gazed into the distance. The horizon disappearing into a clear blue nothing holding a solitary yellow orb directly above us. It was gorgeous. We climbed down and set off in the direction we had came. We felt like pioneers. in uncharted territory struggling to make it back to our campsite alive. As romantic as a sonnet we each envisioned our heroic return to the meager civilization we called home. Unexplained to us this had been a hike planned by our leaders and carefully plotted to fit within the fragile and complex agenda for our weekend. We didn't care. We had disappeared into a wilderness unlike we had ever seen and found our way home again. After our triumphant return it was just past midday. After a camp meal of hotdogs and chips we were given free time. We immediately headed back for the mountains and climbed and climbed for hours on end. We watched the sun set through two mountains forming a wedge of red hot light between the slopes of two hills. As the wedge slowly decreased its size we headed away from it towards the camp. As we reached the apex of the final summit before the long decent we saw a solitary pillar of smoke characteristic of a fire newly weaned from paper to wood. We reached the bottom of the hill just as the sun set and marshmallows were brought out. I sat on the nearest log and simply stared at the fire. Seeing in the flames the red of the sun we left behind. The sun that illuminated our adventures.
Chris,
ReplyDeleteGood job, I would have never camped there, I hate snakes. Thanks for taking the time to edit your work.