After our May and June backpacking adventures, I had a
really hard time putting all our gear away. So I didn’t. While I kept looking
for a weekend I could head out again, our gear “lived” in our living room,
sprawled out yet loosely organized on the floor and the furniture. This was
pretty helpful at the end of July when Navigator had to pack for Scout Camp!
I, however, just couldn’t find a good time to get back to Zaleski
here in Ohio, despite trying. Work, dogs, home, kid stuff, Scout stuff… I
finally eked out time for an overnight in August, packed up, headed out and
maybe a mile in, dripping with sweat and overrun by mosquitoes and gnats,
high-tailed it out of the woods and came home.
I still refused to put all my gear away. I left it all out
in the living room until, finally, in September the weather and schedules cooperated
and I was able to have a little adventure of my own.
I left home in time to hit the trail head at 8 a.m.
Saturday. I was by myself, which was strange, yet the woods were quiet and
welcoming. I hiked a fairly easy 5 or so miles to the camp Nav and I initially headed
to back in May, took a lunch break, aired out my feet, and then headed around
the north loop—another 7 miles. I found the north loop to be the most
challenging part of Zaleski’s trail, and the most beautiful.
Coming back into camp where I’d had lunch, there were now
tents everywhere. “Scouts?” I wondered. I found a small tent site on the
outskirts of the camp area and as I set up my tent, realized there were several
adults around the camp fire area. After my enjoyable yet solitary day of
hiking, I headed over to say hello. Turns out the group was a backpacking
Meetup from Cincinnati, some of whom are members of the Columbus group I had
joined earlier in the year—which apparently never goes backpacking! I spent the
entire evening hanging out with this new group of friends (I promptly joined
their Meetup upon getting home!). What a great time!
This overnight was my first taste of what backpacking is
really like: the solitary challenge of hiking all day alone, keeping yourself
company, enjoying the beauty of the forest, hiking some 12 miles with 30 pounds
on your back… and coming into camp to enjoy the camaraderie of like-minded
folks.
Sunday, wanting to enjoy the early morning on the trail by
myself, I quietly broke camp and hiked on. It was a pretty easy hike about 5 miles
back to the trailhead, despite the blisters the north loop had given me the
prior afternoon. Blisters and all, this was an amazing experience and the
biggest lesson learned: I LOVE backpacking. My gear worked pretty well, my legs
worked pretty well, I still can’t sleep well, but heard more owls!
