so, this was the trip before the trip. Before my work trip to ireland, we were supposed to go camping with some friends we met through turntable; everybody bailed, basically, but we decided it’d be nice to get away for the weekend and have some quality time away from the world before I was gone for two weeks. The drive in was somewhat perilous, but also gorgeous. It didn’t help that I was trying and failing to beat sundown. Anyway, picture a dark dirt road with some washboard, some hairpin turns, a couple river fords (that’s places where you go in the water, instead of a bridge), and some cliffs. The beauty of the valley we were making out way down was not lost on me. There’s something really nice about moonlight. It looks like midday at first glance, but the shadows are super deep. Gone. There’s also the the chance that the photo won’t work at all; that my eyes are compensating for a contrast ratio that my camera can’t match. So it feels extra good. Once we got there, the trouble really started. We’d only brought one flashlight and no firewood, so we had to forage for it. In looking around for wood, I found one of the posts marking the parking area with my shin, fracturing it (I think; I never got an x-ray, but I still have a bump 6 weeks later). I found wood, though, and made a fire. Then, of course, we had to pitch the tent, and we slept on rocky, slanted ground. Sort of par for the course by that point. Then the morning came, and things started looking up. My shin was bloody, but didn’t hurt too much if I didn’t touch it. We made steak and eggs, moved the tent to a more level spot, and decided to go for a hike. We hiked down to the river, about 2 miles, and dipped our feet in. Cool and nice, and then I hung my hammock and did some real relaxing. At around 6pm, we decided not to spend another night; we’d had our night out, our relaxing by the river, even a nice hike.
