Before the Dawn, Kachina Peaks Wilderness, November 2012
The other day I threw my tent and cold weather sleeping bag into my big Osprey backpack and headed for the Peaks looking for the edge of snow and some silence. I ended up spending the night near an old aspen grove up in the wilderness, my tent nestled in under the cover of some limber pines. The next morning I unzipped the tent, stepped out into the frosty stillness and snapped the above photograph.
The steaming hot mug of crappy Folgers instant coffee I heated on my backpacking stove never tasted so good. Any other time I can't stand the stuff, but drop the temperature down to 30 degrees, surround me with miles of pine trees and the roar of a propane stove and that stuff is amazing, way better than anything Starbucks can brew up.
That's my favorite thing about wilderness travels. Not the Foldgers, that stuff is horrible any time, and not just the instant. But I'm trying to say that the simple life, the fact that your on the edge of pain and hardship all the time, in the purity and clarity of those uninterrupted moments... the simple foods taste like high class dining, mountain water as intoxicating as fine wine, a fire as interesting as a blockbuster film.
You only have the most basic things, but you don't feel like you lack anything, because in the end, comfort is relative.
Posted by: Brandon | December 11, 2012 at 06:52 AM
Yeah, you nailed it, bud. There's something about the deliberate, forced simplicity and refinement of the act of cooking or traveling with only the bare necessities that enhances the wilderness experience for me.
Posted by: del | December 11, 2012 at 02:44 PM
.... but I do have to respectfully disagree with you about the Folgers instant. :-)
Posted by: del | December 11, 2012 at 02:45 PM
It is wonderful how the simple pleasures an often the free ones give us the greatest joy. All my fondest memories are when I have been out in the great outdoors.
Posted by: The Camping Trail | December 11, 2012 at 07:07 PM