Crystal is Everywhere 4/24

My journey started around 6:00pm when I left my home, leaving the worried words of mom and dad behind. THe ride there was uneventful, and a little tiring. Everytime I turned my head to see if a car was coming, my 25 pounpack would wind around, casuing me to temporarily lose balance. When I arrived at the lake I hid my bike in the trees and walked deep into the park. I had an idea of where I wanted to set up camp, and I ended up finding a nice clearing about 50 feetfrom the cliff and out of sight of any of the paths, or so I thought. I set up my tent and started cooking. I was so thankful that my stove started without too much drama. I cooked cheese quesadillas for dinner and ate them while watching the sky and water slowly darken with my legs hanging over the cliff. After dinner I started studying which didn’t really work. I had to have an email conversation with Mrs. Vesperman at like 9:00 which kind of ruined the vibe. Overall I felt way too connected to fain a lot from the night. The morning was a different story. I slept great and woke up at 7:00. I went to the clidd and made coffee while appreciating the sun that was suprisingly high. My phone was dead and I think thats why I was able to appreciate everthing more. By 7:50 I had hidden my tent and started making my way to my bike. I made it about a mile before my rear derailer popped off completely. I stupidly had no phone and no tools so I called my dad using a gas station phone. THen I fixed the derailer but since my phone was dead and I got chain oil all over the clerks phone, I just waited for my dad to get me.

From Bike to Hike 4/26

I was all ready to go and out the door by 5:00. I had just fixed my bike, or so I thought, with Colton after school so I was pretty confident that the ride there would go smoothly. But, as soon as I got of of my street, ol’ Oprah Schwinn-fry started actin gup. Her back wheel was rubbing gently on the frame of the bike. At first I gnored tit but it was not long until the friction was too hard to pedal through. I was left with two options: walk home with my bike, or ditch it and walk to Cliffside before dark. Luckily, I was just down the road from Maya’s family’s farm. So, I left my bike leaned up against her barn and hid any extra weight I had in the farm house. After I squeezed my tent into my pack I was ready to trek. Google said it was an hour and a half walk but I figured I could go faster than average. Along the way I got a lot of weird looks and some people asked me where I was headed. I told them my friends house...because I am ot sure of the legality of my camping situation. Once I got to the lake I instantly felt like I was in Massechusets or Maine on the salty coast, as I was being sprayed by the large waves. The wind was kind of brutal due to it being directly out of the east, but my campsight was far enough into the trees where it was relatively calm. I set up my tent much quicker than I did on Sunday and made quesadillas again. I figured I deseved two as the walk left me pretty tired. After dinner I gathered wood for a fire and tried to watch the sunset on the lake but it was too windy to chill out. Once it got dark I started my fire. This was a fire unlike one I have ever experienced. It may have been tdue to the dampness of the sticks, but the fire had a hard time starting. Once the kindling caught the larger sticks still wouldn’t. It wasn’t until they dried out on top of the flam that they would catch. This slow process of drying the wood then watching it catch made the building of the fire so much more rewarding. Once it was really going I was completely mesmorized. This fire felt like my child. There was a point when I realized I wouldn’t be awake much longer, and I watched the fire peak, then slowly die. Once it was all embers, I put the poor fire out of its misery with a classic George Hayduke move. I pissed it out. After the fire I snuggled up in my tent and started reading Desert Solitaire. I woke up before sunrise, brought my hammock and earbuds to the cliff and observed as Sufjan Stevens accompanied an amazing sunrise in a clear sky above rough seas, a great day for crabbing. After my laze I packed up and went to find Brett’s house. He gave me a ride to school and let me make coffee in his front yard.