A Princesses Guide to Hiking and Camping

My brother is a cool dude. He’s 2 years younger than me, so much fun to be around and frankly, a bit of a pain in the ass. We argue— ahem, debate everything. So our time together is always lively. When he suggested that I fly out to go camping with him at Mount Mitchell, the highest point east of the Mississippi, I didn’t even hesitate. No matter that I have never been camping day in my life, I was going to start and COVID19 be damned, I was going.

I wouldn’t say I’m high maintenance, not unless you consider a 14 step skin care regimen high maintenance... Okay, it’s true. I can be a bit of a princess, but I do love being in the mountains. I love hiking and using every muscle and ounce of endurance to get to the top peak. I love sitting on a rock or a tree stump for as long as I need to, listening to nothing but the sounds of nature. I love breathing in the sharp cold mountain air. I never feel more alive.

A bit backstory… You know when people say 2019 or whatever wasn’t my year… at the risk of sounding like a totally Negative Nancy [poor Nance— I wonder if anyone has ever tried to get her into counseling] I have had a string of bleh years that just felt to melt into one another. All the emotions of one bad year just layering on top of the next. After we lost Jordan in 2018, not much else seemed to matter. I let motherhood and work distract me without properly dealing with all the feelings I had stored up. It was a year before I sought counseling, but as anyone who’s done counseling can tell you, it’s a continuous growth process. 2019 was a year of change and the majority of it was done while parenting solo with The Captain away for training or work. We also lost my dear Nanny (my amazing grandmother) which I had to endure without the support of the hubs. The pressure to be an emotionally supportive mom and a financial earner was heavy. I felt as though I was failing at everything. Okay, enough story telling… You get it, I was ready to spend a trip with no kids and no cell service to just listen to what the mountain was going to tell me.

The trip started like any good adventure with the plane leaving without me. COVID strikes again. Due to capacity issues, even with wide open flights standby travel was not in my favor. But one last minute ticket later and I was on my way to Atlanta. My brother and I drove to Asheville, North Carolina and listened to the music of our childhood. Rocked out to The Supertones, MXPX, and show tunes. We debated politics and current events, eventually agreeing that our world needs a lot more love and a lot less hate.

Arriving in Asheville, the city looked rundown and tired. Boarded up and empty. Luckily, a tried and true vegan staple, Laughing Seed Café was still open for curbside pick up. We had a picnic in our hotel room and watched kid’s movies on HBO. I slept in the middle of a king sized bed with tons of pillows, not too shabby. We started the next dreary day early with a trip to Whole Foods, one immunity juice shot and vegan donut later we were on the Blue Ridge Parkway headed to Mount Mitchell. The weather was not ideal, the clouds were low and dense, but the air was fresh and cold, exactly what I needed.

First time at the top of Mount Mitchell

We reached the peak for the first time around 10am, it was like being in an alternate universe. The world left blurry and fuzzy by the epic clouds. It was so quiet, just the sound of the wind whistling. It was amazing. I rarely experience this type of stillness in my normal daily life. It was exactly what I had been looking for. We decided to go ahead and do one of the loop hikes at the top of the mountain and were met with even more breathtaking views and uninterrupted nature. I mean, for a high maintenance chick, I could get used to living like this…

One of the signs located on the trail talked about why they don’t remove dead trees from the park, the dead trees create ecosystems of their own and feed the forest and help it grow, that sat with me. Death can be apart of growth. Let’s label that #thingsIlearnedfromtheforest, also the title of my memoir. We made it to the top yet again, this time there were a few too many people, so we made our way to the campsite to set up.

I have never ever camped before, so setting up a tent seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. I’ve seen cartoons, I know how this goes. But alas, tent building has been made pretty simple over the decades. It was a fun experience to share with my little brother who, let’s face it, did most of the work. While we set up our tent the sun started to emerge and the temperature shot into the low 60s and we decided to make our way to the top peak from our campsite.

I focused on nothing more than taking in the view, breathing in the fresh air, and willing myself up each new elevation change. It wasn’t a difficult hike, but it felt like everything I had been needing rolled up into one 45 minute hike up. The stress of my life, real or imagined seemed to melt away. No texts. No emails. No Instagram. No worries. My perspective was upwards into the clouds.

Once we hiked back down to the campsite the air was getting chillier and the sky was starting to darken, although it stayed bright far later than I expected. My, ever-prepared, bro had a post-hike feast planned of jalapeño Beyond Burgers that after 15,000 steps and 80 some odd flights of stairs couldn’t be eaten fast enough. He lit a fire and we sat for a while in silence. I stared at the fire and simply sat in the quiet.

I made it!

Now, up to this point camping was the greatest thing I had ever experienced… then came the rain. I get pretty anxious at night, but add in torrential down pours, strong gusts of wind, and a loose rain shield and I am basically a nervous toddler who has to pee a lot. My sleeping set up was very comfy, dry, and warm, but it never escaped my mind that through just 2 thin sheets of “waterproof” material there were less than ideal weather conditions… and bears. The rain and wind placed the temps in the low 30s and my weather app recorded winds of 15 mph… I lived in Florida through tons of tropical storms and a few hurricanes… the wind gusts were WAY higher than 15mph (#dramaticbuttrue). I woke up a number of times that night and finally woke up for the day a touch past 8am. The wind was still howling, the rain continued steadily, and it was freaking freezing. My brother and I managed to review the radar and for all we could tell this was what the remainder of the day would be and that was no fun for anyone. So we made the call to pack up and head out. We ran into a few other campers who were also packing up who made sure to tell me that if I made it through that weather I was now a true camper. I don’t know why, but that was extremely validating.

Not ready to head back to civilization just yet, we drove west to the Smokey Mountains. The poor weather followed us there, but again we were able to climb to the peak (this time surrounded by a plethora of tourists, bleh). Still felt good to stretch my legs and head to the top.

So maybe you are saying LO, Lauren, Boo Boo, this isn’t a guide to anything. And you’re right. I’m not selling you any gear, although my trusty North Face Jacket and my standard pFriem Family Brewers beanie were as useful as ever… My Brooks trail running shoes are still my favorites and now, I have a major obsessions with Buff headwear and Darn Tough socks, but hiking… camping… it’s not shit to buy— although that can be super fun… It’s a mind set. It’s having no expectations in a day other than being in nature and enjoying what is around you. I have NEVER experienced more clarity in my life than when I am hiking. Whether that’s the toasty mountains of Southern California, the unparalleled greenery of Oregon, the amazing fall foliage of Virginia, the serene views of North Georgia, or the epic beauty of North Carolina… There is so much goodness to be found by turning off and simply existing.