S'mores, bright embers, and cold-early mornings... Ahh camping!

"Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean."
-John Muir

I find it kind of funny to talk about camping just days after the winter solstice, and that incredible eclipse. But I am. That's because I look forward to the warmer months when friends and I get out to the Great Outdoors and revel in the beauty and the mountain air. Living here in Colorado I can look out my home's windows and see mountains. I'm very lucky.

One of my fondest childhood memories was when my family went camping in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The funny thing is I can't for the life of me tell you how long we were there, but I can still remember the ice cold water in the stream, and the pines towering overhead.

As I mentioned, I live in Colorado. While there are plenty of outdoorsy activities, and camping that I can do, typically my biggest regret when the leaves begin to change is that I haven't been outside enough. This might sound a wee-bit cheesy but there is almost something magical about sleeping in a tent in the middle of nowhere. It is there that you can easily leave your work stress and worldly cares behind. Even better if you can find a place remote enough that your cell phone doesn't even work.

Camping shouldn't be as complex as our day to day living, so I tend to ridicule those people who go "camping" in an RV. They drag along all the amenities, to include satellite TV, and then miss out on the beauty around them. Camping should be simple, because the more simple it is the more we can love the experience.

Life doesn't get much better than when you sit around a camp fire with your closest friends. You can be laughing at the ridiculous (but true) stories they're telling or completely silent staring into the crackling flames; either way you feel more alive than you have in awhile.

Maybe I'll write a post at some point where I can outline some basic gear you should have. If you live near an REI they have free classes you can take to teach you everything from navigating with a compass to snowshoeing to avalanche survival to packing for a 3 week trip of Europe.

"The mountains are calling and I must go."
-John Muir