So it starts out, I’m going on a camping trip. I’m feeling that pull back to nature. Naturally, I just flow with it. I invite everyone I know to come, but only 2 agree, the unfortunate bastards. So my boyfriend, Vega, and I head out to the Appalachian Trail- AT for all intensive purposes. (Oh please don’t get any ideas about a threesome Ducky) Vega is a Japanese exchange student, bless her heart. I wanted to show her an All-American camping trip before she left, because I thought she should have something memorable to look back on and tell her kids. We teamed up with my girl crush- Slovakia (she’s not Slovakian, she was in my UN class representing said country) - and her 3 friends.
Little did I know this was going to be 4 mile hike UPHILL. Now, I’m not heavy by any means, but after this I’m starting to feel like I weigh about 200 lbs. Oh wait, did I mention I have a humongous backpack on? Filled with enough food and supplies for probably a 3 day hike? Curses… Therefore, I did weigh 200 lbs according to my legs. My legs are on fire, and I can’t breathe. Every step is agony. It’s a chilly spring day, yet I’m sweating like a beast of burden. I’m grabbing nearby bushes and twigs trying to pull myself inch by inch up this Mt. Everest of Virginia. My back is killing me and I'm wondering if I’m gonna make it. Finally, we get to a clearing that opens up and I stop and look at my watch- it’s been approximately 10 minutes. I can see my car. Should I break for it, run for the car, and yell behind me “HaHa Suckers!”?
Goddamn pride. I keep hiking.
Slovakia and her 3 friends hike ahead while I lead my two comrades at a slower pace. I stop every 20 minutes to catch my breath. As we get higher up, it starts to snow a little bit. Little flurries float through the air. Do I stop and think- “Hmm. Today might not be a good day to hike.”? Naaah. That’s for wankers.
Finally, we make it to the top. I have to admit the view was worth it. You could see Roanoke, and a farm directly below. It was magnificent. There was a misty fog that cast a pearlescent sheen over everything below. Yet it wasn’t difficult to see the whole mountain range. It was a different view than one might’ve seen during a cloudless day, but I think I liked it better. It suited my mood.
All along the hike Ducky quizzed Vega on how to say all sorts of things in Japanese, like “titties”, “boobs”, “ass”, and the like. He’s so cute. He really has that thirst for knowledge.
The campsite is .6 miles downhill on the other side. Once we get there we set up shop. Ducky is my hero from this point forward. He riggs up everything. Our tent, their tent, the tarps …even a tarp over the picnic table which he climbs trees to string up. He starts a fire. The girls and I gather wood. We build the fire, and then start cooking. It starts snowing more. We start drinking more. Note: the amount it snows should be relative to the amount of alcohol one should consume. This way, when it comes time to sleep you don’t realize how mutherfucking cold it is.
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