That one night on the Long Trail where I camped by a beaver pond and heard loons for hours

The whole week had been nothing but rain and mud, but that evening the fog lifted just as the sun hit the water, and I sat there watching muskrats swim while the loons called back and forth across the pond, has anyone else had a single perfect moment make a whole rough trip worth it?

2 comments

2 Comments

coleman.jade28d ago

What got me is how those loons aren't just making pretty sounds - they're literally calling to each other across the pond, checking in, making sure everyone's still there. I've had similar nights where the whole trip was a mess of wet gear and bad food, but then you get one sunset like that and it rewrites the whole memory. Makes you wonder if we'd even appreciate those perfect moments without all the garbage that comes before them.

val22328d ago

Coleman, that thing about rewriting the whole memory really sticks with me. You think there's a specific moment, like that sunset, that actually changes how you feel about the whole trip, or does it just bury the bad stuff deeper so you forget it was even there? Because I've had that happen where a perfect view made me block out three days of rain, and later I wondered if I was just lying to myself about how good the trip actually was.