From Wednesday May 27th to Thursday May 28th I did a solo in the woods behind my house. I went out there at 8:30 am and hiked into a clearing towards the back of our 2 acres of woods, and set up my camp. After I finished setting up my tent I unpacked my sleeping bag, my food, and my journal. I spent the first few minutes in my tent listening to the birds chirping in the cool morning air as the sun began to rise. I thought about what I was going to do the rest of the day, and began to plan out what I could do. After I was done planning, I began collecting firewood for my fire that night, twigs, and kindling. After about forty five minutes to one hour of collecting wood, I relaxed in my tent for a while and wrote in my journal, it is now 11:30 am. “It has been three hours in the tent. It is starting to get very hot outside and in the tent. I might have to take the rain cover off and try to cool off. I have eaten some food but not a ton. The feeling is surreal. It reminds me of my time in colorado in the Rocky Mountains listening to nature and being outside”. After I finished writing in my journal I decided to walk through my woods and go to places I have not seen in a while. I walked back to a marshland area near a pond with a creek, I walked around my sector, and I walked towards my neighbors house where the brush gets very thick and looked around there. When I arrived back at camp I grabbed my hatchet and went looking for some larger pieces of wood for my fire. When I returned I thought if I could throw my hatchet at a tree and see if it would stick. I spent the next forty five minutes throwing my hatchet at a tree and it began to stick more and more to the tree. Then I went back into my tent and wrote some more in my journal. “It has been two hours since I last wrote in my journal. I have gathered more wood for my fire tonight. I have also done some walking to new areas of my woods that I have not seen before. It is really cool to think that even though I have lived here for a long time, there are still places I have not been too. I also learned how to throw a hatchet and make it stick to a tree. That was super fun to do and a good workout out here in the hot sun”. Then I put my journal away and took a four hour nap. After I woke up from my nap I wrote in my journal some more. “I have just woken up from a nap. I was asleep for four hours and I feel refreshed. It is now in the evening and I am going to get a fire going to make some food”. I gathered all of my sticks, kindling, and wood and constructed my fire. After I got the fire going I made myself some food and ate. I also took this time to reflect about what I have done during the day so far. Then shortly after I finished eating and cleaning up I had an allergic reaction. I have a very bad pollen allergy and it began to act up. My eyes and throat began to swell up and my throat also became very itchy. I soon had to pack up my things and head inside to take some medication and wait for the swelling to go away. This was a pretty successful solo and it cemented my love for camping and the outdoors.
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