I went camping this weekend near Nederland, CO. Though I went with friends, I ended up spending a lot of time by myself. On Saturday, they went to a music festival that I wasn't really interested in spending money to go to. I went hiking up Pawnee Pass trail, in the Indian Peaks Wilderness area. I had intended to go up Shoshoni Peak (12,996 elevation), but once I got up to the tree-line and the view shown here, it turned cold and windy and the rest of the trail was rocky and exposed. Considering that I need to take care of my knees and I had forgotten a windbreaker (though I had a sweater), I decided to turn around and go back at this point. Besides, I had done the most fun part (walking in the trees and next to lakes) and had nothing to prove, since I was by myself. Why not? I was glad I did, 'cause my feet were tired by the end. I did stop and dip my feet in a mountain waterfall. That was wonderful, sitting on a rock, eating an apple, and looking out at the gorgeous scenery.Anyway, when I got back, I had a big headache from the sun (remedied with some ibuprofin and lots of water), read a book til I was bored stiff, went in search of a phone signal so I could talk to someone, came back unsuccessful, and started a fire to make dinner and keep me warm. Firemaking was super easy this time around. I had plenty of sticks for kindling, which was great, since I didn't have an axe to chop up the firewood. Dinner was nice -- grilled corn and a hobo dinner -- and then I returned to my book. The rest of my party came back well after dark, probably around 8 or 9.
I had wanted to spend some time by myself, but I should be careful what I wished for. I got way more than I expected and realized that I'm not quite the loner I was before The Squeeze.
On Sunday I hung out with my friends until they packed up and left, then went to a German American restaurant in Nederland (Aileen, you and Brian should check it out, though they didn't have spaetzel like the place in... was it Glenwood Springs?). As soon as I got phone signal, I called a friend (The Ex-Squeeze, actually) to see if he was free to do something together. He ended up not coming down from the mountains himself until late. So, I spent more time by myself, doing household chores and watching movies at the same time. It wasn't so bad though, since I had many more activities to choose from and the cats to sit on me and purr.
5 comments:
The picture looks incredible. I think, if you asked JR, he would tell you he came to the same conclusion about being a Loner. Although he is happy to spend time on his own, I think his "time requirement" is much smaller now than when we first met. Sometimes it's nice to be "alone" w/ someone else in the vicinity; no talking or touching or even being able to see the person. It's just something about the knowledge that they are there if you don't want to be alone. I think this falls under the category of Einstein's Theory of "I just found another way that this did not work". Maybe we can go camping next year - you know, you can go somewhere and camp and we can be in a Cabin a few miles away :) Then we can do some stuff together, but not be on top of each other.
i'm new here. what is the squeeze?
i was just out camping last weekend too.
The Squeeze is my most recent S.O. Sadly, not squeezing me anymore (hence the "Ex-Squeeze"), but we're still good friends.
Oops, forgot to add for Stacey: I've been to a campsite or two that had cabins AND tent sites. We can try that. :)
I love going for long walks by myself. So peaceful and introspective. Even just walking the mile to and from the dentist office on Friday was nice.
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