Rush Camping Trip-11/2007

I arrived at Rush late Friday afternoon, just me and Dutch. Dad and Keith were meeting me on Saturday. I pulled into the campground and found a decent spot that wasn't too far from the truck as I had a ton of stuff with me, overkill as usual. So, I get to work unloading, string the tarps up, set up the tent, etc. Dutch is off the line just running around. No one else was there, except an empty mini-van with Alaska tags. Just as dusk starts to settle (I've got a raging fire going) Dutch breaks across the campground at high speed. I didn't think anything of it until I focus my eyes in the dusk and I see a man walking out of the woods in black hunting gear. Vest, rifle with scope, side arm, the whole deal, looking like an extra out of Predator. So, I whistled Dutch back and he must have sensed the guy was dangerous because he broke off immediately and came back to within 20 feet of the campsite and just turned and watched. I wave at the guy just to try to seem friendly and I get no reaction whatsoever. The guy casually walks across the field, I'm more than a little freaked at this point. I've got a camp axe and at least two good knives but fat lot of good that would do against a guy with a deer rifle and a pistol. At this point, I'm not really sure what's gonna happen but I know I've caught a poacher on Federal land and it's just me and him for miles. So, the guy walks to his van takes all his gear off kind of looks me over then leaves. I stayed awake a little later than usual that night.



The photo above is a picture of my dog (kind of hard to see but he's there) kickin' it in the Buffalo last November. We were at Rush campground and along with my Dad and Keith were the only campers with the exception of one other family. I'd have to say that the weather was fantastic, at least if you love cold weather camping like I do. I took this picture to try to capture the incredible expanse of
river, landscape, and
sky that I was witnessing. Unfortunately, the lighting wasn't too great.
I have never camped this far downstream on the Buffalo and
I am used to the tighter confines of the bluffs and valleys of the Upper Buffalo.

Alrighty, here's a picture of tent with a tarp over it. People sleep in a "tent" when "camping." The tarp keeps the wood stacked next to the tent dry when it drizzles in November and makes people without dry wood miserable. Luckily, I'm a camping champion and don't fall for Mother Nature's little pranks (most of the time).



So, being that it was November swimming was an absolute priority. Even though I am a champion camper, I forgot my damn trunks. I called Keith and asked him to bring some extras. This is what I got, they reminded me of my seventh grade basketball shorts. Unfortunately, my junk has grown quite a bit since then so the nostalgia was short-lived. I'll leave the details to your imagination.

The water was breathtakingly cold, crystal clear, and completely rejuvenating. The Buffalo definitely holds some sort of mystical power, or maybe that was the warning signs of hypothermia. I don't know for sure but it was tingly and I liked it.



This picture rules, but only because of the T-shirt Keith is wearing. Yes, I'd rather be fighting the man as well.



One last Rush picture. I didn't take as many pictures as I originally thought I did, mostly because I was too busy enjoying myself. Good company, good food, great weather, and the whole campground to ourselves. Phenomenal. I'm going back in November again.