I wanted to “play hooky”. I needed to throw my To-Do list into the wind, to experience the thrill of the unknown, and taste the elixir of the explorer. Deep down ,I also knew some serious immersion in nature would do my body some good. I needed to go camping.
But I didn’t feel confident. Between the physical limitations of my autoimmune disease and the intrinsic emotional roller coaster of a chronic illness I was filled with self-doubt. Besides the backroads and tangled forests of the Klamath Mountains were strange and scary to me. I had lived nearly surrounded by them for 15 years, traveled through them but never ventured into them. Three summers ago, with a little gumption, a paper Forest Service map (yes, I said paper) and my furry BFF, I bumped down a dirt road that lead me in to the Klamath Mountains.
It was exhilarating. Immersed in the wild, the forest around me saturated in solitude, I found myself unexpectedly nourished by the solitude away from the clamor of modern life, my sprit lifted, my pain eased. I went out for one night and stayed for three. It was magical. I was capable. It was exactly where I needed to be! Two weeks later I set out again to a different location, and then again, and again. My admiration and affection for these uniquely beautiful mountains blossoming each time. It has been several summers now of playing hooky and escaping to the wilds of northwest California. Full of tree aerosols, natural soundscapes, purifying rivers and acres upon acres for gazing contemplation Nature does provide a special kind of medicine.
Wild Escape Guides 