Upper Shamokin Falls, Roseland, VA
July 3, 2023
1-ish mile round trip but lots of boulders and narrow board “bridges” to navigate so moderately challenging. Beautiful falls with a nice little swimming hole at the base.
I decided to take advantage of the 4-day July 4th holiday weekend. I did all the things I needed to do around the house and yard the first 2 days and then went camping the last 2 days!
It was just the doggie doos and me. I had a choice: not go, or go by myself. It’s hard to find people that like to camp, especially at my age. I was telling my mom about my adventure when I got back, and can I say, “God bless my mom!” She was not a fan of me adventuring on my own as a single mom with my sons 20 years ago. Today she just listened. And isn’t that what we usually need? Someone to just listen–not solve our problems, not tell us what to do… just… listen…
Camping by myself, even with dogs, requires a moment of serious consideration. I’m not going to lie. I had an incident camping in Prince William Forest Park many years ago. Our cute little dog that everyone loved went through the tent growling like a wolf going for the jugular when a strange man approached our tent in the wee hours of the morning. I’m convinced Lexi-Lou-Lou saved our lives, and I’ve been hyper-vigilant ever since.
I love camping, even by myself. I love sleeping outside and listening to the wind rustle through the trees. Everytime I hear that sound, my heartbeat slows and my soul feels peace. I love a campfire, and the solace it brings. I love not having cell phone reception–not just turning my phone off only to be able to turn it back on, but literally seeing Airplane mode which is even worse than SOS mode. I love waking up knowing my only “to dos” are making breakfast, making sure my area is clean and bear-proof, and finding the next waterfall.
For me, camping takes a bit of planning. It’s not as easy as packing a bag and locking the door behind me. I had to make sure the cat was taken care of, laundry was done for the coming week, house was secured, dogs had what they needed for the adventure, and food and supplies were purchased and packed. Nothing hard, just things that needed to be done.
The more I do this, the easier it gets, but still, I got a late start this time.
As I drove down to my destination, I was revamping my schedule in my head–OK, I’m not going to do the 3.5 mile hike I originally planned. We’ll just set up camp and go from there. I got to our campsite as the dark clouds were rolling in. I could hear thunder in the distance. Of course I knew there was a chance of rain, but this has been the threat all week–heat and humidity build up and burst into a micro-storm which may or may not be over your particular head. That day it ended up being over our heads. I got the tent set up, rain fly secured, and chuck boxes in the bear box. With a quick whistle, Bogey and Cuzco leaped into the back seat of the car just as the heavens burst open and started dumping. I saw the pile of firewood the previous camper had left just as I was diving into the car and quickly threw it under the picnic table. Better than nothing! We drove out of the campground–destination unknown as I had no cell phone coverage to figure out what was around us.
Once we had a signal, the rain was gone, blue skies appeared, and I discovered there was a waterfall not too far from us that was less than a mile hike. Perfect!
I gathered kindling, which was abundant but wet so I got to try out my latest more-sustainable purchase–Bee’s Wrap rekindle starters made from their wrap scraps. They worked perfectly under my wet kindling and let me get a roaring fire going to cook dinner–teriyaki beef, onions, and peppers on the cast iron, and quinoa and broccoli cooked on the propane stove. To use my dad’s oft-repeated line, I think bugs and berries would have tasted amazing by that point!
I was reminded that cleaning up after dinner in the dark by firelight is not optimal. I don’t always like to light a lantern because it attracts so many bugs. I’ll remember that for next time. Bogey and Cuzco are learning to enjoy the fire as much as I do. Once they realized I was just going to sit in my chair, they circled around and around to make a bed in the pea gravel, and settled in. Bogey already knows the wonders of cuddling on a bed in the tent so she was very excited when I unzipped the tent and let them both in.
Have I mentioned that I love listening to the wind rustle through the tree leaves?