I’ve been out and about in the mountains just about every weekend since April. I may have taken two weeks off here and there in and between. I’m not camping next weekend I intend on taking a week off before my trip up north. I’ve found my comfort for the road has overtaken my focus on pretty much everything else.

Coherencing

My word of choice

I observe some of my auto modes that have become the norm without question over time.

Using my truck door as a stall as I stand buck naked under the trees to change

Brushing my teeth while pumping gas

Sink baths at gas stations

Mastering meals behind the steering wheel

Camp cooking mise en place.

Waking up to the birds singing

Insects trilling

Smelling like a campfire for a week no matter how hard you scrub

Configuring propane hoses, tanks, butane for little handheld burners

I do this without much thought three days. It’s become a permanent part of my routine when I’m camping.

I’m approaching a long trip in the New England states the next two weeks. I’m still configuring my itinerary and routes. I’m struggling a bit with this. Hitting multi states surrounded by high populated areas gets me on edge. I don’t care for heavy traffic and big cities and this takes me a through a few. I’ve got 11-12 days to navigate so I may go for the long stretch and hit hwy 1 most of the way up to Maine and then turn west ward towards the Adirondacks. Or the opposite. I think heading north and working my way down west may be the best option for me. I skimmed through some New England areas on my way down last time to get home this will be deliberately the opposite. I want to take in the small towns, coastal vibes. I want to stop at small pullover gas stations with small cafes attached. I’ve worn out enough highways in my lifetime. I’ve been to Maine once before but not the Adirondacks so I’d like to save them for last. Weather will have an impact too so now I must wait.

Went for an overnight stay in Brevard Sunday. The two night camping trips can be exhausting when I try to squeeze too much in two days.

Packing food

Hauling that 75 liter fridge into my truck

Shuffling batteries

Cookware

Shower accessories

On an overnighter like Brevard unless I’m planning a bike ride or a water adventure then all I have to do is bring a change of socks and roll out. I don’t cook I’ll pregame a non alcoholic beer and grab a burger from the Oskar blues brewery food truck for dinner. Bring it back to camp and sit on my tailgate. The only food I bring is an early evening candy bar of choice, usually a Milky Way and coffee which I forgot to pack this last time.

All I do up in that particular area of Pisgah is sit with my feet in the river or creek. The entrance to Pisgah has a some dispersed camping spots near the stables I’d say about 6-8 sites along the gravel road. All first com first serve there are no reservations for these spots so it’s a gamble when you drive up there. In my experience most people are leaving those sites by 11am- 1pm at the end of the weekend I’ve always managed to find a spot right after someone leaves. They are deeded spots for camping. You get a flat platform for tents and a fire ring. I’ll set my chair and my little side table in one of those spots to stake my spot. I’ll also tie a deer cam up in case I get some nosy neighbors. You get some interesting characters in that area. Some of those campers are transients with no homes or anything else. Semi homeless traveling or they move from area to area in for a week at a time because it’s free. Most seem harmless. On occasion my pistol pops out from under my shirt while setting up camp just to be safe. No I don’t go flashing my “piece” around for style points. My gun stays in a gun box 99.9% of the time.

But

If you look like a tweaker you’re going to get a good long look at it while I’m making myself at home. I’ve never had a single issue with one of these individuals I feel like they like to be left alone just as much as I do. It’s the non tweakers that will walk into your camp and talk your ear off.

If the spots are all filled like they were this Sunday I’ll evaluate the sites to see if anyone looks like they are packing up and take my chances. One older gentleman camping solo let me know he would be leaving no later than 1 so I pulled up at 1:15 to snatch the site. As per the norm the guy hadn’t left yet in fact he wasn’t even at the site. I pulled behind his plot and sat in the creek until he pulled up an hour later. He apologized and I was quick to tell him that he was under no obligation to work around my schedule.

“No worries or hurries my friend I’m just here to rest my feet in the creek”

He was a chatty guy most people are like that around me now I’ve just come to accept the fact that my RBF has slowly began to fade. I smile more than I frown now I need to work on that

Jk

Sorta

He had a dog with him he referred to as an American dingo. I’d never seen one before so I had to take his word for it. It was a well behaved mongrel that would fetch the rocks from the creek. Thick southern accent with the face matching Robin Williams when he played Popeye. Old broken tent in the corner by the trees. My new friend plopped a squat after I told him I wasn’t in a hurry. I should choose better words. We chatted by the creek for a short time. In four minutes of conversation I learned

His father was a bootlegger up yonder in those hills (he pointed northwest)

He was 68 and unemployed. He thought I was 32. I think he’s blind

He didn’t drink because of his father’s occupation but he liked to smoke pot. He even asked me for some.

He has a daughter who worries about him a lot.

He has stage four terminal cancer.

The last part I told me just as easy as he relayed the others to me. He was looking at creek when he announced it like he was looking back at his 68 years as the final chapter.

At peace

Smiling

Just a man and his dingo. And an office recliner he threw on top of his car without strapping it down.

He didn’t actually leave. He drove a quarter mile down the road and joined a friend of his at another plot.

He gave his spot to me. I didn’t realize this until I saw that office recliner sitting creek side the next morning.

I was grateful

I didn’t use the tent site next to my plot I didn’t need it. I chose not to build a fire that night I wanted to sit on my tailgate with my thoughts. Around 1am a passerby decided to adopt that spot right next to me and proceeded to chop some logs and start a fire.

Listen

It’s not my land. I didn’t pay for the spot

But

It’s marked as a camping spot by the forestry department. I claimed that spot for the day. That tent area is part of my home for the night. You don’t do that shit. It’s bad manners.

You also don’t chop wood at 1am 30 feet from someone sleeping. Start a fire right in my back window.

Waking me up with ignorance is frustrating. I’m on edge when I camp as anyone should be. I’m lying in my camper having a conversation with myself.

“Do I get up and have a conversation with a complete stranger at 1am in the dark woods?”

“Do I stick my head out of my camper and say a few things about mutual respect and camping etiquette and then leave myself exposed for the rest of the night?”

I have no way of assessing the situation without exposing myself to a possible confrontation with one person but maybe more. I have no intention of ever pulling my gun on anyone unless I’m about to empty all six hollow points into their center mass. So it would take a lot of commotion to get that to happen. Do I walk out of my truck with my pistol in my hand? Do I keep it under a blanket like some sort of Clint Eastwood western shawl ready to draw?

I’d like to go my entire life without ever having to pull a gun on someone.

That shouldn’t have to be a goal. I go camping to enjoy peace.

I kept still. I’ll give them a half hour to settle. And they did.

20 minutes later all was quiet.

She was up when I got up. A lady by herself. I left it all alone and pulled out of camp without a word. I imagine it’s not easy camping solo as a female.

But

Don’t stake someone else’s spot especially late in the evening. It’s dangerous. I’m a little more regulated in the woods than most.

When I woke up that morning I had already told myself a hike wasn’t going to happen. I was tired from the lack of sleep the night before and I forgot to bring coffee. I pulled up to the closest Starbucks in town and decided to sit and write a little on the patio.

The sunrise in the morning was amazing.

Before I wrote the first word in my morning journal my mind said “go climb that fucking mountain.” So I grabbed my coffee, drove back into Pisgah and climbed that mountain.

My 24 hours went as intended.