Sleeping outside, without a tent, is one of my personal favorite outdoor experiences. You can look up at the stars, play out the stories of the constellations and look for meteors. Its a great way to fall asleep. This is what I did last night. I was watching Orion fight Taurus and I had already spotted three errant meteors.
I like to keep my clothes in my sleeping bag so they stay warm. Adjusting myself in my sleeping bag, I relocated my pants. My keys were still in their zippered pocket but something else was in there. Something I didn't remember putting there. Triangular and hard, I couldn't think of what it could be. I pulled it out and hit it with my flashlight. A cheese wedge. Tomato basil cheddar.
Cheese! In my sleeping bag!? No! I was breaking one of the cardinal camping rules.There could be no worse food item to have in your sleeping area in the wilderness. I would rather meat. Everything loves cheese! Rodents, birds, dogs, mule deer, coyotes, bears, and humans. Humans... I was pretty hungry.
The world against me because of cheese!
One mile into the woods and I am having a culinary crisis at 10pm. Eat the cheese? Well, then I would have an open package with residue and I did not have a bear bag with me. This was a real ethical issue. Wild animals can not get used to our processed foods. I could risk the package unopened and nothing would probally happen, but what if something did? I would be responsible.
I did the right thing.
I ate the cheese.
Then I got out my parachord and used my back pack as an improvised bear hang for my single item of waste. Crisis solved, hunger abated and Orion pushed Taurus ever farther west.
-MG
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