Road Trip 2025: Day 5

Last night I slept soundly. Perhaps it was the mountain air. However, I did have another strange and troubling dream. It was the last day of camp or college or something else entirely—my dream was vague—and my dad was going to be there any minute to pick me up. I was frantic because I was supposed to be packed, but I hadn’t even started. So very unlike me. Panicked, I started pulling open drawers and was overwhelmed by how much had to be packed when I didn’t have enough suitcases and bins to store it all. Kati walked in and tried to calm me. But that didn’t make sense, even in my dream, because I didn’t know her at any point in my life when Dad would have picked me up from someplace. I asked her why she was there, but I woke up before she could give me a response.

I stepped out of my tent this morning and, as the scent of pine engulfed me, I was momentarily thrust back in time to when I was 21 and here for the first time. If only I had known then many of the things I know now—especially about myself—life would have been simpler. I’d have been able to spare myself a great deal of unhappiness. But I can’t go backwards. I can only move forward from where I am.

Before heading out this morning, I drank a cup of coffee at the campsite. It was pleasant to sit in the silence of the forest and in the shadow of the mountains. It was chilly enough for a sweatshirt, but not cold. Our first order of business was to stop back at the Wilderness office to book a backcountry campsite for tomorrow. That took awhile, but once it was done, we went out for breakfast.

By the time we were ready to hike, it was late morning, much later than would have been ideal. We wanted to hike a trail down by Bear Lake but, apparently, if you don’t get there by seven you are out of luck for parking and you need to take a shuttle. We drove down to check it out and not only was there no parking there, the line for the shuttle was similar to lines down in Disney World. That meant the trails were going to be mobbed, and I hate crowds. No amount of beauty was worth dealing with those crushing crowds. Therefore, we looked on the map and randomly chose another trail not too far from where we were, one that led to Cub Lake. It was 2.3 miles out and then the same to retrace our steps back.

We started out together, but by a half a mile in, both Kati and G3 opted not to continue. The trail was rather boring, mostly flat, and it skirted the side of valley. For most of the hike, I was in direct sunlight. During the hottest part of the day there was little shade. The view was beautiful, but for more than a mile and a half it didn’t change as I followed the line of the mountains. About twenty minutes from the lake, the trail wove into the hills, a slow and gentle incline. The lake wasn’t anything special, but it was pretty. Actually, it’s impossible to escape the beauty here. It’s everywhere we look. I did really appreciate the solitude. There were people on the trail, but very few. Mostly, I was alone with my thoughts and I enjoyed the peace.

When I returned to the car, we went into town for ice cream. The cold shake was much welcomed after baking in the sun. We then drove through the national park to indulge in the scenery, and Kati pulled over when possible so we could take pictures. Again, the mountains are stunning. We love visiting Shenandoah back home, but the peaks here make Shenandoah look like a series of small  hills.

Our backcountry excursion is off. Kati isn’t feeling well, plus there are thunderstorms in the forecast for much of tomorrow.

Our campsite is definitely in the top five of best campsites we’ve ever had. The only thing it’s missing, that would make it close to perfect, is a creek or stream. There is one in the near distance. We can hear it from our site, but we can’t access it easily. Since we like the campsite so much, we all agreed to get back to it relatively early this evening so that we could enjoy it. We stopped at the store to buy wood and I got a campfire started. There was enough dry wood laying around for kindling that I struck a match and the twigs caught almost as quickly as the paper.

The three of us had a relaxing and enjoyable time by the fire. When we were worried we might run out of firewood, G3 got the hatchet we gave him as a present when he earned Eagle, and he cut up a downed log. We joked with each other and G3, as always, had a great deal of fun making fun of me. Kati and G3 drank hot chocolate and we watched the stars come out. The sky is amazing. The stars are bright and plentiful. I love looking at the sky when I’m not in New Jersey. I’m going to be sad to leave this lovely spot tomorrow.