My extended family is scattered clear across the Wild West. That's why I don't get to see my Uncle Kevin nearly enough -- he's way down in Boise, Idaho -- but luckily our "meet me halfway" camping trip has become an annual event.

 

This year we met at a little camp ground down in Oregon, situated on a little stream. It wasn't as removed from civilization as we would have liked, but luckily there was plenty of nearby high country for us to hike around in to get off the beaten path. And hike we did: we climbed an eastern ridge on Saturday, and then hiked again on Sunday to reach an interesting-looking western ridge that we had spotted from across the valley.

 

Much of the wildlife was holed up and hidden during the 80-degree days, but we did see a couple of deer and a hawk, and Kevin introduced me to "ant lions" which I thought were pretty cool. Frankly, though, the most interesting wildlife we spotted was long dead: a badger skeleton was the highlight of Sunday's biology lesson until we ran across an elk skeleton on the return trip. We also saw a fair amount of bear sign, which guaranteed we were alert and observant until we got out of the dense green valley and up onto the barren ridge.

 

The best part of these trips, though, is just hanging around the campfire, eating and chatting and nursing the coals beneath abundant stars. I'm always surprised at how much my uncle and I have in common -- the fact that we share even some atypical interests such as human factors engineering, proves that we come from the same DNA and guarantees the conversations never stall out.

 

As usual, it was a great time -- thanks Uncle Um!

 

- Jas