Upta Camp....

No matter how many times I go to Rangeley, no matter how many times I take that trip up 17, with my car fully freighted and twisting through those mountain roads.... no matter how many hundred times I see this view... we always, always have to stop the car, take a picture and say "Hello Lake!"

I always take a moment and set an intention for my retreat into the mountains.  Sometimes it is to write.  Sometimes it is to challenge my self.  This weekend, my intention was to fulfill a promise to a dear, sweet friend. 


After taking in a few more lungfuls of sweet mountain air, we climbed back in the car, and headed to the campground to set up camp. 

The tradition of me going camping solo started when I was married, and my husband wanted to go to bike week in Lauden, NH on Fathers Day Weekend.  I went with him once, and decided it just wasn't for me.  Never being one to hold back my partner or deny him from doing things, I started to go camping in the wild, when he went off to be wild.

My friends thought I was a little crazy - camping by yourself? Really?  But I wasn't technically alone.  I go to a very safe family campground where everyone knows me... and when I did venture off on my little adventures of hiking and fishing... I had my White Shadow - my Protector - My Destiny.

Now, I am not a very athletic person, nor am I a very adventurous person.... that's what made these retreats fun.  It was an opportunity to quietly challenge myself.  To build fires in the rain, to seek resources and be creative when I forgot to pack an essential like tent stakes or a sleeping bag, and a time to sit in my tent with my headlight beaming on a wilderness map tracing out new trails to hike and challenges for us to take... just me and my girl. 

As much as we liked finding new adventures, we had our old standbys - stomping grounds that we had to go to each and every year - out of tradition, out of sentimental love of the place, and out of familiarity.  Bald Mountain, Angel Falls, Kenebago River, Steep Bank Pool, and Upper Dam were just a few of our favorites.  I'd pack a lunch, heft my pack on my back, and we'd venture out.  Destiny and I spent hours sitting with our feet (paws) in the streams... casting a line, smelling the pine... and watching the world float by in the clouds.  Problems didn't exist for me there.  They were all back home, in an office, in piles of paperwork a million miles away....


I survived my adult-hood by scheduling frequent retreats away from the world.  Destiny was often my only invited guest.


My days of solo camping are not over.  MyHoney has a crazy busy schedule, and being a high-in-demand wedding DJ, a weekend off in June is a rare treat.  To be able to share this weekend with him, is a gift.

I lit the fire, and MyHoney busied the dogs.  We cooked dinner, and the sun set on the day.  Tomorrow we will hike into Angel Falls...



Paradise is Here, Paradise is Now... Paradise is being able to share your Paradise with the one you love...