Camping Adventure By: Charlse
The year was 2017, and Charles was on a camping trip with his best friend, James, at a remote location far from any town. They had always been adventurous boys and had been friends for most of their lives.
Charles prepared the tent while James cleared an area for a fire pit. They wandered into the woods together, searching for dry brush and fallen twigs to use as kindling. With hatchet in hand, James began falling a small tree that would supply them with enough wood for the fire.
As they sat around the blazing orange and red flames, Charles strummed on his guitar as the two bellowed out their favourite songs…occasionally off-key. Wolves howled along in the distance with the musical duo. Even the crickets seemed to want to get into the act as they chirped along in harmony. The trip was to last for three days, but by the third day, something changed the course of the two of them forever.
It was a crisp autumn morning and the fallen leaves crunched under their feet as the two teens hiked through the woods in search of a new adventure.
The birds whistled cheerfully in the trees above. A bluejay glided down from a high branch and swooped past the two friends as if it wanted to play.
Chipmunks and squirrels scurried along the ground in search of the last few bits of food they could store away for the winter. The tall birch trees stood like sentinels guarding the forest. Everything was so peaceful. This is why they loved camping out in the wilderness so much; they could escape the hustle and bustle of city life. No cell phones or electronics of any kind. All they used for guidance was a map and a compass along with the sun's direction. All of the things that they remembered from their days in the Boy Scouts.
Charles always told James that if he had a choice, he would live in the forest year-round. James enjoyed camping, but he also enjoyed the convenience of buying food from a store instead of hunting or fishing for it, though he didn't want to tell Charles that.
The boys hiked along the river's edge until they reached a waterfall that plummeted down a thirty-foot drop to a churning mass of water and rocks below. James wanted to find another path, but Charles assured him that they could scale down the rocky ledge. Reluctantly, James went along with his friend's idea. They fastened a rope around a nearby tree, and Charles offered to go first to show James it was safe.
Charles began his descent with the rope wrapped loosely around his back and the other end tied to his belt. He eased his way down at first, and then when he was about twenty feet down, he began to rappel along the rocky face, kicking his way out as he lowered himself quickly to the surface below.
It was time for James to go, so Charles undid the rope from his belt, and James pulled it back up. He double-checked the knotted end tied to the tree, took a deep breath, and began to ease his way over the cliff's edge, searching for a foothold below. We both made it down un staved . We made our way back to the vehicle and talked about what and when our next adventure would be.