Camping Trip

1.      I had a recent experience on the Appalachian trail that made me realize the impact nature can have on someone. Over easter weekend, I traveled to Shenandoah National Park with 8 other women in my sorority. Most of them had “glamping” experience, but two of them had never been camping before. While in my hammock that night, I kept my phoned on just in case anyone needed to reach me, since I was the most experience one of the group (ugh). I received a text message at 2 am from one of the women stating that she thought there were bears wondering through our camp site. I read the text message, and my adrenaline started pumping through my veins. Not only did I have food in my pack that I didn’t hang in a bear bag, but I didn’t even know what do to in order to scare a bear away from our site. Not surprisingly, I didn’t sleep much for the rest of the night, and I laid silently and perfectly still in my hammock. The next morning, the girl who texted me explained that something had touched her through her tent, which I realized was most likely not a bear. The fear that I felt the night before was irrational, but in the moment, it felt real. I knew a bear was unlikely to be at our site, since we were so close to a common campsite, and we also did not eat at the site we were sleeping at. I could only laugh the next morning, to distract myself from the immense relief and embarrassment that I had been so terrified of something that likely ended up being a squirrel, racoon, or other small critter.