I enjoyed reading along on your journey and the accompanying photos add so much.
I think this is my favorite two sentences of all:. "I slept soundly through the night. The fates have given me another day, and now is the time for coffee!"
Reading about your sleeping experience really put me in the scene.
I camped once in a lean-to with a buddy in an area that had a lot of black bears. We had decided a tarp would be good enough because we didn’t have a tent big enough for two. So we had two sides wide open. Aron was so worried that a bear would sneak up on us that he gathered dry sticks and small dead trees and positioned them all around the front of the shelter, so an approaching animal would make noise.
I slept okay for a couple hours. And then this chipmunk kept coming in to check out my pack. He was fearless and not that quiet. The chipmunk woke me up over and over, he was darn near crawling right on me.
I never tried the lean to method again. The psychological difference between being in the open and having that tent wall is huge.
I did a 2 week backpacking summer camp as a teenager and we slept in tarps the whole time. I guess I was oblivious back then because I don’t remember having any issues. Not so now!
I think your experience demonstrates the point perfectly- its the problem of being asleep when something else is potentially out there. The sticks or zipped up tent give us enough peace of mind that we’d wake up before getting ambushed!
I loved reading your nighttime musings....and some of the irrational-but-also-totally-understandable fears that creep close in the dead of night and the imagination runs wild. The waterfall shots are insane, and so is that gorgeous shot of the road! What a way to ask, "what's next?"
P.s: take. Some. Rest. You crank out awesome work. I hope you take the holidays to relax a little (yes, maybe an unrealistic thought, I know...!) , guilt free. We Substack folks will be here when you return. I definitely will!👌👍
Thank you SO much Niki! That is exactly the feeling I was trying to convey with the nighttime musings. The imagination can do some weird things at night, lol!
I'd love to be able to rest over the holidays but the fates and my own stubborn ability to put way too much pressure on myself are working against me. I really do appreciate your words of encouragement. It means a lot!
Yes it definitely can!! I met a lot of people who got real nervous at night. That only happened to me if I ventured outside my tent for a bathroom break in the dark...then I saw and heard EVERYTHING!! 😅
oof. Best of luck to you then, as we enter the crazy holidays!!
I enjoyed reading along on your journey and the accompanying photos add so much.
I think this is my favorite two sentences of all:. "I slept soundly through the night. The fates have given me another day, and now is the time for coffee!"
Keep it up!
Haha! Thanks, Chris! That first cup of coffee in the morning is always the best!
Reading about your sleeping experience really put me in the scene.
I camped once in a lean-to with a buddy in an area that had a lot of black bears. We had decided a tarp would be good enough because we didn’t have a tent big enough for two. So we had two sides wide open. Aron was so worried that a bear would sneak up on us that he gathered dry sticks and small dead trees and positioned them all around the front of the shelter, so an approaching animal would make noise.
I slept okay for a couple hours. And then this chipmunk kept coming in to check out my pack. He was fearless and not that quiet. The chipmunk woke me up over and over, he was darn near crawling right on me.
I never tried the lean to method again. The psychological difference between being in the open and having that tent wall is huge.
I did a 2 week backpacking summer camp as a teenager and we slept in tarps the whole time. I guess I was oblivious back then because I don’t remember having any issues. Not so now!
I think your experience demonstrates the point perfectly- its the problem of being asleep when something else is potentially out there. The sticks or zipped up tent give us enough peace of mind that we’d wake up before getting ambushed!
Quite an adventure!
It was a very nice backpacking loop! I’d love to return some day.
I loved reading your nighttime musings....and some of the irrational-but-also-totally-understandable fears that creep close in the dead of night and the imagination runs wild. The waterfall shots are insane, and so is that gorgeous shot of the road! What a way to ask, "what's next?"
P.s: take. Some. Rest. You crank out awesome work. I hope you take the holidays to relax a little (yes, maybe an unrealistic thought, I know...!) , guilt free. We Substack folks will be here when you return. I definitely will!👌👍
Thank you SO much Niki! That is exactly the feeling I was trying to convey with the nighttime musings. The imagination can do some weird things at night, lol!
I'd love to be able to rest over the holidays but the fates and my own stubborn ability to put way too much pressure on myself are working against me. I really do appreciate your words of encouragement. It means a lot!
Yes it definitely can!! I met a lot of people who got real nervous at night. That only happened to me if I ventured outside my tent for a bathroom break in the dark...then I saw and heard EVERYTHING!! 😅
oof. Best of luck to you then, as we enter the crazy holidays!!
Nice end to a great walk Erik. I have also felt those irrational fears of sleeping out in the open. A tent feels so much more comforting!
Pretty strange, but true! Thanks James!