Oh my gawd camping was so amazing!
So I went to this father/son retreat campout thing with this group my Dad is in. At first, being the city boy that I am, didn’t want to go at all. I’m serious. I just kept to myself for the first hour. I didn’t really talk to anybody, I just sat in the car and listened to music. Then they gave their little “circle up” whistle thingy and I, somewhat reluctantly, stepped out of the car and got into the circle.
In the circle, they told us that we were going hiking up a mountain called “Old Rag Mountain.” It was about 3000 feet high, and I, having no sense of vertical direction whatsoever (to me, 1000 feet in the air = 100 feet), thought that it was some sissy mountain and that I could handle it. Boy was I wrong.
It turns out that this mountain was one of the highest peaks in the region. The first half of the hike (to halfway up) was actually kind of challenging. There were all these rocks and things that you had to step over, and the path was jagged and challening. I was literally getting winded. It was VERY strenuous. I basically thought that this was going to be the worst of it, and, again, I underestimated this mountain.
Then, we came to the part of the mountain that seemed to be pure rock. There were boulders the size of cars embedded into the ground. We were supposed to be able to climb through them to continue on the trail. The first actually hard part was this little crevice thing that was probably 3 feet wide and 10 feet deep. You had to jump down the crevice 10 feet to continue on the trail. I was literally histerical. I didn’t think I could do it and I was about to just go back. But, eventually, I moved on.
There were SEVERAL hard parts along the way. You had to jump from rock to rock over crevices that were 20+ feet deep. You had to climb up crevices in the rocks that were 30+ feet high, with only small rocks about the size of a computer screen to stand on. It was awful!
But the worst part was that there were several fake peaks. You’d get to part of it and then say, “Yes I’m done!” but then you’d look up and see another part of the mountain. There were probably 5 of these. It was very unnerving.
But, after risking my life and almost falling into a crevice and off the side of the mountain, I finally made it to the top. The view was AMAZING. You could literally see for hundreds of miles from up there. Of course, I didn’t look because I was too scared. But I got some cool pix.
So then we hiked down the mountain (much easter- no rocks) and drove back to camp and ate, slept, ate, and came back.
So now let’s talk about location. The farm where we were camping was located on a farm in Virgina. I was under the impression that VA was a hillbilly state. And of course the Faquiher County sign that said “Welcome to Faquiher County, an area dedicated to preserving agriculture…” sign didn’t help change that belief. But on the way home, I realized the real beauty of Virgina.
Although we passed exits for Richmond and Massasses, we were never in urban/suburban areas. But that doesn’t mean that there weren’t incredible sights. All along the roads there were these beautiful little creeks that would stretch for miles. They were full of rocks and fish and the water was actually pretty clear. Then, this creek would empty into a tributary pond and into another creek, and so on. All of the waterways wre incredible.
The landscaping was incredible, also. The trees and flowers and plants were placed just right. They gave the area a beautiful summer feeling. It just felt great. I wanted to live there! Then we came back to Maryland and I realized a few things.
We have a lot less HOV lanes and way more HAZMAT lanes. But I guess that’s pretty minor. Lol I guess that’s really all I noticed, but at least I noticed something.
And that’s my camping trip in a nutshell.
~!dAnNy!~