Checking out our traditional Christmas Tree Backpacking Camp site …
Yesterday on my return from North Arkansas, I drove the northern entry to Richland Creek … all fifteen miles of it … on curvy and steep gravel roads. At over 2000 feet elevation, the mountains were shrouded in a foggy mist and I was alone … well sort of alone. It was deer hunting season … the annual ritual which converts city folk and country folk alike into tribal hunters complete with powerful weapons, camouflage clothing, so they can’t be seen and iridescent orange vests and hats, so they can be seen.
My goal was to hike to and check out a favorite camping spot on Richland Creek … a place where, for the fourth year, a small group of friends will again hike to, set up camp and decorate our own version of the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. Fully aware of the hunters in the woods, I donned my own iridescent orange vest, grabbed my camera and trekking poles and made the short hike downstream to my magical world of Charles Shultz and his beloved Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. Since this is about friendship, traditions and the Spirit of Christmas, here’s a quote from Charlie Brown that sums it up: “Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.”
What I found upon arrival at the old campsite was perfect … it was just as we left it 12 months ago. The fire ring was there, some left over firewood was stacked nearby, the scraggly Charlie Brown tree was the same scraggly cedar tree but the magic that made me smile and take the picture below was the single still shiny round glass ornament hanging from this random spot in the Richland Creek Wilderness area. Wow!!!
Jim Dailey 