Brothers Campfire Adventure 6/30/2020

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Coffee. Dark and bitter.

The man made oasis in the high mountain desert was a retreat from the nearby elements.

The problem is, we don’t retreat much. We hopped in the car seeking new challenges and sights. We travelled to mountain country.

We stopped about 4 miles away from Idaho Springs and made camp at 9600 feet above sea level.

We opted for a reserved location to ensure amenities were available. I prefer more seclusion, but this was an advantageous base camp.

We had one challenge here.

We brought the wrong fuel.

Propane does not work well at 10,000 feet and we were very close to the limits of our camp stove. Coffee would now be an unattainable treasured commodity. Imagine my sorrow.

All this coffee and limited ways of drinking it.

I was not about to camp at 9600 feet and not go 400 feet higher for an even 10,000. I brought an 11 year veteran of outdoor activities and we climbed. If you look at the picture below, you can see where the mountains turn grey.

This is tree line. There is not enough oxygen for trees to grow at this elevation. Tree line at this latitude is around 12,000 feet.

A picture of my left shoe dangling from 10,000 feet. I have counseled my shoe for unsafe behavior. My camp was in the middle of this photo.

Upon descent, I continued exploration. Strolling through a meadow, I saw a she vixen reading. In my oxygen deprived delirium, she spoke enchanting words that I do not remember. She led me deep into the forest.

The details are sketchy, but strange runes appeared on a tree and wildflowers affixed themselves to my Gatorade bottle.

Anyways…

It is known around the world that our little tribe likes campfires. After all, it is the title of my blog. It is so well known that artwork has been drawn by fans from the far reaches of the world.

Initially, we did not want a campfire due to breathing concerns in our group. Practical avoidance of smoke was important to avoid nebulizer treatments, inhalers and hospital stays.

Then,

From nowhere, a man in a blue shirt introduced himself simply as Brother. He outlined the rules and legality of a campfire under a fire ban. This law abiding, no shades of grey curmudgeon agreed with us for totally unrelated reasons. He left briefly, and we sighed in relief; he was quite overbearing and was obsessed with rules.

Brother returned with excitement in his voice.

“I checked with the authorities. It is perfectly legal to have a fire. We must light one with haste.”

I informed Brother that some in our group had breathing concerns and that the firewood for sale was expensive.

Flatly, he stated, “The wind is favorable and the pine for sale is wet and uncured. There is dry aspen in the woods and all will be well. ”

With speed and efficiency, Brother went to the woods we built a sizable, nearly smokeless fire. I wondered at the man who came to the camp. Who was he?

He said nothing and stared intently at the fire. My efforts to speak with him were in vain.

The Brother guy eventually left. He said something about a longing for the north. I tried to be polite, but I did not understand.

It must have been the day for visitors. A man with a strange looking instrument approached the fire and encouraged people to sing. Shyness disappeared on his arrival, and even the introverted sang along.

The singing stranger asked for donations. I informed the stranger that while I appreciated him stopping by, he only encouraged others to sing, but he did not perform.

He replied, “To save face, cannot, amazing grace diminish not.”

I am not sure what he meant, but he went on his way. Silly poet. He reminded me of a bard from folklore.

Night fell and we went to bed. At around 2 AM I heard wailing. It was as if a woman was screaming bloody murder. Following up the screams were the loneliness sounds I have ever heard.

I remembered that big cats make similar vocalizations.

It was likely a mountain lion. You can listen to an example of what I heard here. Mountain Lion Sounds

The sounds were also remarkably similar to those attributed to a beast called sasquatch. There have been plenty of sightings in the surrounding mountains for several decades.

I am pretty sure it wasn’t the famed elusive creature….. Or was it?

I will never know.

Author: Benjamin

Benjamin Thiel is a community leader, urban farmer, and author of The Ongoing Tale at Brothers Campfire. He might know a guy...

43 thoughts on “Brothers Campfire Adventure 6/30/2020”

          2. Benjamin says:

            It depends on a person’s schedule. I get up around 0600 every day.

  4. Carax&VanNuys says:

    I like my coffee sweet and with lots of milk, still I understand your sorrow- 😅

    The whole adventure itself sounded great, though! VVN

    1. Benjamin says:

      Our adventure was a blast! It provided the climate for a tale tale!

    1. Benjamin says:

      Not this time. We packed light as the car was small. That sounds like a great tradition!

    1. Benjamin says:

      Thank you Cooking Flip! That means a lot to me!🤠🔥🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲

  7. herbthiel says:

    Very cool. Now you will have to go back and find your tree each year.There are plenty of stories about Sasquatch in the Rockies.

  8. rue202 says:

    No coffee? Yikes!
    Oooh, Sasquatch! I wonder if it was Sasquatch?

      1. rue202 says:

        Yeah! There have been quite a few reported sightings of them over in Australia. In fact, there’s a whole website devoted purely to bigfoot sightings in Australia. You can look at it here:
        https://www.yowiehunters.com.au/

          1. rue202 says:

            Nah, I’ve only ever heard of Bigfoot referred to as Yowie, Sasquatch and Bigfoot. Never heard it called Yowie Man before.

          2. Benjamin says:

            I have read extensively on North American sightings. At this point, I swe them as folklore.

          3. rue202 says:

            Well, there are reported sightings of them in Australia and several other places around the world, so I don’t think that they are folklore. But that’s just me.

          6. Benjamin says:

            Iam not beneath knocking on trees for a calland response. I haven’t got a response yet.

  11. Judy Kim says:

    Mysterious and interesting post 🙂, cool tree with the eye!

    1. Benjamin says:

      Thank you friend. You are amazing as well. I appreciate you taking the time to visit and encourage me. Have a beautiful day!

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