Mountains, Bare Feet, and Rain

Here is a great example of how JD pushes me outside my limits.  This weekend, we went camping (along with 2 other friends).  And I’m not talking about parking a camper and firing up the grill, I’m talking about hiking down into a gorge and setting up a tent.  Dinner is cold spaghettios, running water is the river and a purification tablet, and your bathroom is squatting behind a rock.

We went for the first time the summer we started dating.  I was nervous that I’d be miserable.  Turns out I love it.  Sure, it’s not the best night’s sleep I’ve ever had, but there’s nothing like waking up to the clean mountain air and washing your face in the cool river.  It’s quiet and peaceful, a welcome break from our lives, overwhelmed with the constant hum of TVs, phones, and computers.

We brought one of our dogs (a Lab-Chow named Harrier) who LOVED hiking the trail and sniffing around the woods. 

 JD, always trying to make things more adventurous and difficult than they need to be, decided to hike down the trail barefoot.  And this wasn’t an easy trail- it was basically a narrow path carved out of the side of a mountain.  He got progressively more miserable and the rest of us could tell.  I begged him to put on shoes, but my USMC husband had to prove he could do it, no matter the cost.

We enjoyed a sunny, beautiful hike down into the gorge, some swimming in the river, and relaxing around the campfire.  But at 11:30, we felt it.  The first few sprinkles of rain.

I don’t know who to blame- myself for the letter to The Weather Gods (at least we don’t have to water the lawn today!) or our friends, who have never had a rain-free camping weekend (I think their count is up to 7 rainy camping adventures).  It rained most of the night and started storming in the morning.  We were dreading the soaking hike out of the gorge, but I was once again surprised.  It wasn’t too bad.  The rain kept us cool (which was nice since up is definitely worse than down), and the views of the misty mountains were breathtaking.  

I’ll admit that I am glad to be home and be surrounded by my modern-day comforts.  I love camping, but I love coming home to a hot shower and a cozy bed just as much.  This may be the best night's sleep ever :)