In the late August of this year, I embarked on my first-ever backpacking/multi-day trip to Manning Park. Alongside me were my great friends Renzo and Mansur. What truly made this so special in the first place was the fact that up until this point, I had no prior experience with anything like this. It had been a goal of mine to one day backpack and learn the ropes, but there was no part of me that thought it would or could happen this soon. I did a fair amount of preparation by training on shorter trails and ultimately gearing myself up properly. As much as you can "prepare" for a trip, you really don't know what the destination has in store for you until you get there.
It was a 2-and-a-half-hour drive until we reached the beginning of the trailhead which would lead to Three Brothers Mountain. We arrived around 2 AM and decided to hike to our camp spot. Emotions were running, sweat was dripping, and our breathing was visible. Headlamps on and a trail to conquer. When we arrived, we had set up and slept at our campsite so that we could be prepared for the day to come. When the sun rose, so did we. The contrast between the sun and the moon was apparent in how warm we would feel on our trek. I saw sights I never thought I'd see. Things you can't make up in the movies. Maybe objectively, there are a ton of things like this out there, but feeling it for the first time is something words could never describe. We hiked through the whole day from the top of the morning to the tail end of the night. We trekked the 1st brother before deciding we wanted to take it in and stop there for a good bit. During that time, we had our dehydrated meals and shared conversation all while embracing everything in front of us. We slept on the mountain. When the sun began to fall, we packed up and went back to camp.
Why am I sharing all this? Well because I feel inclined to. Not like it's my duty, but more so because I want people to feel what I felt. Going back to our roots is something that's not only beautiful in its own right, but objectively fundamental. To me, living amongst the trees even for two nights was enough for me to understand that some things are more delicate and profound than they may seem. All I'm saying is, you should try it.
