You Can't Camp Here

It was a spur of the moment thing. We tossed around the idea all afternoon seemingly as a joke, and then around 9pm we made an executive decision. Let's go camping. Braydon had this goal of sleeping so many nights on the ground in 2016 so he needed to get in a tent. I forget what all my other friends were doing, but this definitely had more appeal. Kyle was along for the ride. Or more correctly, Kyle drove us.

"What's the plan?" Kyle + Braydon navigated us toward Tennessee Beach to pitch a tent on this cliff that they've visited once or twice before. "Do we need we need permits?" Nah. And here's where I will become somewhat vague because the deal is... you can't camp here.

Thanks to Google Maps and thanks to headlamps, we reached the beach about an hour later. It was deserted, which is good because we started to climb. Real path? Who's to say at this time of night. The recent rains had definitely picked this route for run-off, but also made the terrain a bit questionable at points. We collectively huffed + puffed as we maintained a decently fast pace and gained in elevation. Soon, Kyle took the lead and took us out along a cliff.

We set up this massive family tent that could easily fit four or five. Not inconspicuous in the slightest... but we're not supposed to be here, right? We counted and then estimated to the footsteps from each side of our tent to each side of the cliff. Right... it's still a good spot. Then we popped open some beers, kind of tuckered in and drifted off to sleep.

We woke with the sunrise and the view was something special. The ukulele came out along with the Clif Bars and we sat their simply. Until I pulled out my camera and entered obnoxious photog mode. We took a little morning hike to watch the sun continue to rise and the fog continue to roll in and to claim everything that the light touched. Pretty soon after, it was over. We packed up and trekked out of there, less than 12 hours after arrival. Not a bad night of sleeping on the ground.