I set my schedule to have the freedom to “get away” every weekend. Weekends for me recently have been Saturday – Tuesday. Don’t think I haven’t thought of being closed three days a week but that extra day tends to cause people to forget about you.

I don’t necessarily go on an adventure every week. It can be exhausting and it brings a lot of wear and tear on my truck and myself to be perfectly honest. I have a couple of places just a little over an hour away and then my zen is about 2- 2.5 hours away depending on where I find a spot. I prefer dispersed camping. I’m not a minimalist maniac. I have my luxuries I take with me. My roof top tent has a mattress but I pack an extra 4 in memory foam to lay on. My back thanks me for it. I have every cooking accessory needed to cook roughly just about anything. I don’t carry a fridge with me and my only power source is an old goal zero battery that will keep a 12 volt fan running all night if needed. I rarely camp if it’s over 72° at night.

I give myself two choices on these adventures, gear it out and try for an epic hike, bike or paddle. Cook all of my meals at camp or rest my feet in a creek, walk or drive into town and eat a hot meal with actual clothes on. I’m happy with either one. The first one consumes a lot of my free time but it’s just as rewarding as resting in a creek.

Rarely do I plan it all out. When I hit my favorite area I may end up on the opposite side of the mountain I intended to be. I plan my day out after I make camp. It may be a gravel ride or walk. I may hike a spot I’ve never hiked or hit a perch on top of a short hike. I’m more familiar with this area than my own. I set up my camping mise en place. It takes about 30 minutes if I go all out with my trailer. I am methodical with every step of my process. Some will say there is alot of time invested in set up and break down and sometimes it can seem that way. Part of my decompression is the process. I am methodical with my steps of set up. It’s like building a home in 30 minutes. To be able to find a secluded spot in the woods and in less than an hour you’ve made a cozy little makeshift home to relax and live your life outside your comfort zone is good for your noggin. My noggin is hard to please at times. This always fixes it.

This last adventure was meant to be mild due to my body being a little broken down. It had been a few months since I was last in my zen zone. Round trip is up to 5 hours of driving but it’s the Appalachians, I can drive around in those mountains for days and never get tired of them.

I have 4 hot spots I like to camp up there. I love the ridge side. That’s the sunrise side. Three of those spots reside on that side. They’re extremely popular due to their location and you won’t get these spots on the weekend I don’t even try. The other one is opposite ridge. It comes with a nice sunset and a fairly open spot to stretch your legs. Somedays I won’t get any of these spots. It’s fine I can still camp up there I know of a few hidden spots. They’re cramped in size but it’s still better than sitting at a traffic light on woodruff rd.

I get asked a lot “why do you always go to the same spot?” I don’t actually I go all over the place but chances are the pics I share are usually in that area because I’m sharing my euphoria. No not “look at me I’m camping and you’re not!” I’m only sharing the experience that you can make time to do things regardless of the time you have.

I do travel there more often than my other spots. I went to chimney rock four weeks in a row last month but I was feeling lazy and lethargic. I could sit in a creek and grab a burger 1/4 mile from my site.

My other spot I’m at least 30 minutes from any point of civilization. I’ll go all day without seeing a soul.

Time moves differently here. It’s hard to explain. That little hand on the clock moves slower. I started a book Sunday afternoon when I set up camp. When I got home I noticed I was on page 200 plus. I got there around 1, set up camp, cooked some lunch, chopped wood for a fire that evening and took a solid half hour nap. Like mouth wide open and drooling nap. Saturday was exhausting. I sat by the fire, journaled a bit and set off to find a sunset. Took some pics and came back to cook dinner. Did my “preclosing” which is my nighttime process of putting away anything critters may try to steal or nibble on while I try to sleep. Or if the wind looks like it’s going to visit I’ll take down my awning and secure any fabrics or items that’ll move into another zip code overnight. Camping on a ridge is nice and all but you’re leaving your ass hanging out for the elements to sample it.

I sat in my tent with my headphones on (another part of my decompression) I may be a bit autistic y’all I have to have these headphones on for about 20 minutes every night they are amazing. I’m not concerned about apex predators sneaking up on me here. In fact I don’t believe any harm can come to me in this area. It’s my zen.

I’m not an idiot. I’m very aware of my surroundings when I camp. I take the necessary precautions.

But

Time moves differently here. It slows down. Is it mental? Well yeah I don’t think the earth’s axis revolves around my geographical location

But

It moves differently up here. Many things are different up here. When I come home I’m euphoric. I’m rested and I always sleep like RV Winkle the night I get home. When I sleep up there it’s odd. I don’t feel like I sleep I feel like I’m in some sort of mental chamber. I always sleep better at home. My bed is amazing.

It’s different up here. It doesn’t feel like I’m sleeping it feels like I’m meditating. Almost like my eyes never really close all the way. No im not on some crazy recreational drugs. I’ve only done mushrooms a half dozen times in my life (highly recommend though)

I quit sharing my spot once I couldn’t get a good one on Mondays. Y’all stay off my mountains..

I’ve spent a lot of nights in the Rockies and the Appalachians. Rockies are more majestic and breathtaking. Appalachians are more magical. Nah they are mystical. That fits better. There’s some wild shit up here y’all. I’ve never felt in danger at all. If anything I feel more protected. I don’t believe anything bad can happen to me up here. When you love something hard enough it begins to love you back. Don’t slip up here though I’ve always felt it can go the other way too. I’m not concerned for myself. I can feel it’s embrace when I’m up there.

If anything ever happened to me up there then take my ashes and spread them around. I was meant to rest there.

I keep her clean when I go up there. I clean up my sites, pick up the trash. I talk to the crows when they fly over and wave at the peregrine falcons when they soar above. I talk to the trees while I collect deadfall for a campfire. I want them to know my fire is only for warmth and food. I keep it low and friendly.

The trees give me my oxygen. If you talk to them enough you can almost feel them smile over you. Do I sound crazy? I don’t know. Have you ever tried it? I wrapped my arms around one yesterday evening. The first time I’ve ever done that shit and no I wasn’t 100mg deep in an edible. I just walked up to one at my site and hugged it. I literally hugged it. It’s not what you think. It wasn’t that rigid, rough bark embrace you’d expect. You could almost feel it soften. Like it exhaled.

Some of you reading this are thinking “Mr. Gangwer has left the building” and you would be correct. I’m a long way from the building. It’s intentional. Spend enough time outdoors and you’ll get it. It doesn’t happen overnight. You earn this shit like a transcendental Boy Scout badge.

Pair this feeling with a 2 hour paddle with one of your BFFs this next morning and you have the perfect reset.

It’s different up there yall.

In related developments I started writing a fictional short story while I’m up there. I probably only wrote half a chapter but it was fun. It’s an entirely different thought process. I’ll probably only write while I’m resetting up there. It seems fitting.