Camping was a good time. On Friday morning, Spira, Haiyan, Missy the dog, and I headed up to Vermont. Our usual place had few sites available and those were sub par at best. Spira, anticipating this outcome, had researched a couple of other primitive campgrounds nearby, providing us with a back up plan. One of them, called Texas Falls for some reason, was only a few miles up the road.
The sites there were more abundant, but none were situated near a stream, which was not desirable . We checked another location Spira had researched, but the mountain had no camp sites, just a long, gravel-strewn road. We headed back to Texas Falls; despite the absence of a nearby stream, it had the best sites out of the three places we went to.
The site we chose was near the crest of a mountain, spacious, shady, and fairly isolated. All around it were signs of animal activity. I set up my tent next to a tree with bear claw marks all over it. Moose and deer tracks were everywhere.
It was late in the day by the time we unpacked the car and set up our tents. The ride up, including several pit stops for the ladies and the time it took to find a camp site, took close to six hours, almost double the time it should have taken. We set up our tents, gathered wood, made a fire, and relaxed.
Haiyan, who had never been camping before, was ready for bed shortly after it got dark. Spira and I encouraged her to stay up a bit later. She did, but not for much longer. She was fast asleep by the time Melanie and her friend Andy arrived.
I knew Melanie, a friend of Spira's, only a little bit, and Andy I didn't know at all. Good people, both. Very mellow, low maintenance, and engaging. Andy had lived in Taiwan and other parts of Asia for years and conversed with Haiyan in Chinese.
That first night, we had wine, whiskey, some mother nature, music, and a lot of great conversation. Every so often, one of us would lay down by the fire with Missy the dog. who is one of the sweetest, most serene, dogs I've ever met.
For dinner, we had Greek sausage, garlic mashed potatoes, and a delicious salad of chick peas, mandarin oranges, and black beans that Spira and Haiyan made.
The next morning, one of the first sights I saw when I came out of my tent was Missy the dog walking around with a blue fleece jacket on. I thought I had walked into some Jim Henson production. Turns out, Missy had been shivering quite a bit in the tent (greyhounds aren't really equipped for cooler weather) and Spira, being the attentive mother that she is, put the coat on her. I didn't disapprove, certainly not, but I still thought it was pretty funny.
We had pancakes, fruit, and coffee for breakfast. Afterward, several of us went out in the woods and collected wood. Everyone pulled their weight, no one complained. I worked myself hard;it felt good working off the cobwebs. A bit later, we all went for a hike up the old logging trail Andy found in the woods behind our site. We were deep in the woods; no sign of humans anywhere. As we reached the top of the mountain, we walked out onto a beautiful scene: rolling fields, a farm off in the distance, and an almost 360 view of the surrounding mountains. Spira, Missy, Melanie and I ran around with Missy, who was thrilled at all the open space. We hung around there for a while. No one was in a rush.
Along the trail, especially where the ground was muddy, were plenty of tracks. Bear, moose, a couple that could have been mountain lion, coyote, and one impressive track of a very large bare foot.
After reading Christopher Noel's well written and way more legit seeming than I anticipated Impossible Visits, a book about Bigfoot habituation across the country that also chronicles his own experiences with the creature in Vermont, I've wanted to conduct a bit of my own research up there. The footprint was impressive, particularly because as I was crouched over it, Melanie commented that someone had been walking around barefooted before I said a word about it.
What made me believe it was not made by a human? First of all, the print was at least 14 inches long, making it quite a bit longer than the average human foot. And, with all my weight pressed into the ground next to the track, I could barely make an impression that came close to the depth the footprint produced, which was about two inches. Also, the print was crossing the path, not going along with it. It strains credulity to believe someone with very big feet and quite heavy was out in the middle of the woods barefoot. It's possible, sure, but most definitely atypical. In the final analysis, I'm not sure what produced this lone print, but I'm pretty sure. Now I want to go back and look for more prints.
That night, we ate hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, and other tasty treats. Spira and I had some flan for dessert. At one point, Haiyan asked the group what the meaning of camping was. We told her that some of it has to do with getting back to nature, but ultimately it may mean different things for different people. "In China, we didn't camp. We were already pretty much living like we were camping", she said.
Haiyan retired to her tent fairly early that night, but stayed up later than the night before. I wasn't too far behind her. I had been curled up with Missy and kept dozing off. We had an active, albeit relaxed, day and it wasn't long after I shut off my lantern that I fell asleep. I had tried reading a bit, but it was a futile endeavor.
I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of rain drops on the tent. Very tranquil, but I wondered if it was going to abate by morning. It didn't. In fact it still hasn't stopped. We ate breakfast under a tarp and then packed up our gear and cleared out.
I'm really glad I went camping. I feel re-energized. We had a nice mix of people; it was good getting to know Haiyan, Melanie, and Andy. It was also nice spending time with Spira. We've known each so long, sometimes it's like we're married. We had some nice time together, just her and I, that I'm grateful for. We've had our difficulties, but that's par for the course when you're close friends with someone almost twenty years. I love her and I'm thankful I have her in my life.
It was a wet ride home. Spira commented that Melanie and I would make a fine couple. I couldn't disagree, but considering she and Andy looked to be heading into a relationship, I didn't really entertain the notion. She did say she was a Werner Herzog fan- unsolicited, even - which got my attention, but alas, it doesn't appear anything will happen, at least not in the foreseeable future.
We stopped off in some town in NH and hit a McDonald's. I haven't been to one in a loooong time. Each of us got a fillet o' fish. Delicious, son! And for desert, a hot apple pie. Everything tasty, but I won't be frequenting that establishment again any time soon. Evil stuff going on there.
Okay, you're tired of me and I'm just tired. Let's call it a night, shall we?
1 comment:
Sounds like a really great trip! Your relationship with Spira is a good reference to what I was speaking of when I commented your earlier post about loving in various forms. I once dated a guy that I had very little in common with. He was a really nice guy but a big time couch potato. He had a room mate that shared many of my interest. He enjoyed reading writing cooking, not to mention a neat freak like myself. So we ultimately ended up doing most of the chores together and spent many evenings cooking dinner, conversing about ideals, novels, school, etc. It was a completely platonic relationship but it often felt like we had a more involved relationship than my boyfriend and I had. In the end I remember very little about the boy friend but I will never forget the late night evening discussions with his roommate over dinner. Its good to have love like that.
You also bring up some interesting thoughts about why people go camping... thoughts of which I will have to maul over a bit.
Great read Kevin and happy you had a great trip.
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