I will tell you a true story here Ian, which will clearly illustrate how dark our national forests can get when no moon or other lighting is present. And, anyone who camps in the forest will appreciate and know this to be true. It is so dark in the forest when a full moon is not present, nor anyother lighting that you literally cannot see your hand in front of your face or the person walking in front of you.
This is what happened to me. My husband wanted to show our young sons the dump near our camp. When I say near, I mean about one hour driving. His near was not my near. It was already approaching dusk when we entered the closed and empty dump. We started walking through it, heard a water fall but couldn't see it, and we found some stuff to look at, showing the young boys all the waste and saying, " this is why we recycle." This was well before it was the in thing to do. We probably walked about a mile at least and then, as we turned around to head back the darkness hit. Suddenly, it was so dark that it became scary for I knew, the bears eat dinner here and were due. I was walking behind my husband, carrying my younger and lighter son, while holding onto the back of my husband's belt. Yes, it was that dark Ian. I needed to shift my son on my hip and when I did I lost my hold onto his belt. But, I could still hear his steps in front of me, the crunching of the leaves, and twigs. I just stayed in tune with the noise and when it stopped so did I, figuring he was trying to gain his bearing, his direction.
Then, I heard my husband's voice saying, " you still with me?" But, it was coming from another direction. I didn't think he was capable of throwing his voice but, I still reached out in front of me, and grabbed hard what I thought was his belt, and I pulled back a handful of what felt like was hair, and heard him, " growl...."
I was like... following a bear.
I very quietly stepped to the other side and kept stepping sidewards until, I thought I was where I heard his voice coming from. I whispered, " where are you?" He answered, " I am here..." and, I kept tuning into his voice until, I found him.
We found the entrance and exit to the dump. We got into the car, I showed him the hair, the clump of black hair, I had in my hand. When he started laughing, I wanted to shove it up his nose. I have that hair framed and when my kids were small, they loved to show people about the night their mom pulled it from a bear and their dad lived for their mom, to frame it.
This is what happened to me. My husband wanted to show our young sons the dump near our camp. When I say near, I mean about one hour driving. His near was not my near. It was already approaching dusk when we entered the closed and empty dump. We started walking through it, heard a water fall but couldn't see it, and we found some stuff to look at, showing the young boys all the waste and saying, " this is why we recycle." This was well before it was the in thing to do. We probably walked about a mile at least and then, as we turned around to head back the darkness hit. Suddenly, it was so dark that it became scary for I knew, the bears eat dinner here and were due. I was walking behind my husband, carrying my younger and lighter son, while holding onto the back of my husband's belt. Yes, it was that dark Ian. I needed to shift my son on my hip and when I did I lost my hold onto his belt. But, I could still hear his steps in front of me, the crunching of the leaves, and twigs. I just stayed in tune with the noise and when it stopped so did I, figuring he was trying to gain his bearing, his direction.
Then, I heard my husband's voice saying, " you still with me?" But, it was coming from another direction. I didn't think he was capable of throwing his voice but, I still reached out in front of me, and grabbed hard what I thought was his belt, and I pulled back a handful of what felt like was hair, and heard him, " growl...."
I was like... following a bear.
I very quietly stepped to the other side and kept stepping sidewards until, I thought I was where I heard his voice coming from. I whispered, " where are you?" He answered, " I am here..." and, I kept tuning into his voice until, I found him.
We found the entrance and exit to the dump. We got into the car, I showed him the hair, the clump of black hair, I had in my hand. When he started laughing, I wanted to shove it up his nose. I have that hair framed and when my kids were small, they loved to show people about the night their mom pulled it from a bear and their dad lived for their mom, to frame it.
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