Out of doors.

After reading this article, I want to move to a more outdoor friendly area.  I'm not going to get crazy and start wandering around the Amazon or the Artic Circle, but getting out to nature and camping has always been a fun thing for me, especially in my adult life.  Last summer, I took a weekend trip to Elk City and camped for a couple of days and went on a hike on their one trail.  It was hot as hell, I got into a little poison ivy when I went off the trail to check out the views of the lake from a small cliff (not the brightest idea I have ever had, but I would do it again.  The view was phenomenal even by Kansas standards), but at the end of it all, it was great.  It may have been because it was close to one hundred degrees at mid day or that it was a small nature trail, but I didn't come across anyone.  Very secluded.  I got up to the top of the trail and there was peace and quiet.  Far from the noises of the city and traffic.  Far from the daily distractions of cell phones, work, and the internet.  It was everything that camping should be about. 

Sitting amongst the rocks and trees and the little critters roaming about, I wondered if this is what the ultimate goal of the trip was.  I wanted to go camping that summer just to do it.  To get use out of the tent and sleeping bag and play with fire and cook over that open flame.  But was there something in my deep conscience that drove me to find this campground with a trail?  All I know was when I got back into town at the end of the weekend I was in a different state of mind.  Very serene.  Can the outdoors have that affect on people?  I think so.

Camping with friends is always a great experience.  Sitting around and drinking and talking and all that fun stuff can bring you closer.  That is one kind of camping.  The other kind is just going by yourself.  Just getting out there and let everything else slip away.  It can bring out the best in you.  It allows you to sit back and think.  At least it did for me.