"What should we do? Should we call it and leave?"
"No we should stay and make our shelter better. Looking up the beach towards the North East I don't see any storms coming."
Upon deciding to tough it out, we decided to move camp to a different location with more tree cover. From there we could set up ridge lines to make a tarp shelter. Cold but wanting to get out of the wind, we moved to the new location so we could set up camp.
Through the strong North wind we built our shelter. We finally were protected from the elements and best of all we could relax. Even though it was windy, the sun had come out and brightened our surroundings. Taking a brief walk to look around revealed the surrounding landscape; a long spit of sand as far as the eye could see with large lava plateau mountains behind us. To the North East you could see the storms wrapping around the island a quarter mile offshore and headed back out to sea. They were volatile dark rain clouds rolling, spinning as if sent through a storm drain just offshore. It seemed as if the storms were divided by a window. They seemed close enough to touch.
Heading over the sand dune back to camp, I sat down and relaxed the rest of the day. Gio determined to make the campsite better spent the day planning out the garden he was going to put in.
"Text Josh to bring tomato plants and other starts. Also tell him to bring another rake and shovel. Let's go get river stone to build rock walls too."
Until sunset it was a mellow day as we hid behind our tarp. However, things began to change quickly. Peering out from behind the tarp we could see the storms beginning to hit the mountain side from the North East. It was going to be another wet night.
Not wanting to set up my hammock, I decided to sleep under the tarp shelter on the ground. I layered myself in all of my clothes - jeans, shirt, flannel, and a windbreaker. Soon it was raining hard enough that the tarp roof needed a gutter.
Sensing that the rain water was coming in, I placed a plastic table over my makeshift bed to act as another roof. Feeling like I was adequately prepared for the storms that night I fell asleep.
Like the previous morning. We all woke up early due to an uncomfortable night in the rain and wind. We felt defeated. Our tarps were leaking and beginning to tear. Thinking that we couldn't feel any lower, the truck got stuck in the sand. As our clothes soaked in rain like a sponge and the wind tore into us, we laboriously dug the truck out.
Soaked and cold, Robo said, "I think I'm going to bail. The weather report doesn't look good and they have flash flood warnings for the area. What's the point of being out here if we are cold and sitting behind a tarp."
"You know... Young people nowadays think an adventure is going to be this romantic, easy thing," Gio said. "Well it's not. Adventures are often like this. Sometimes you get uncomfortable but that's what makes it an adventure."
The thought sunk into my chest as I too started to pack up and leave with Robo. I thought to myself "Maybe I'm not as adventurous as I thought."
As we loaded the truck, the last thing I saw was Gio digging his garden fervently in the pouring rain. Robo and I left with our tails between our legs as Gio stood his ground like a brave soldier in the rain.
Five miles later, we exited the washboard road that we were so excited to be heading down the day before. Turning back one last time I saw a dark menacing cloud enveloping everything around it. Ground, mountains, sky, and the camp where Gio sat.
No comments:
Post a Comment