Living in the Poconos, you’d think it would be pretty easy to try a one night backpack trip in the nearby woods, something I keep wanting to try. So when my neighbor Eric invited me to camp in his backyard for a night (aka “glamping”), of course I said yes!
He got a couple of steaks, I roasted some veggies, and he cooked the steaks over a campfire. After a delicious dinner, he doused that fire, and we started a second one close to our tents, where we drank a little wine, meditated, drummed and relaxed.
So, before sleep, we each went to our houses for a bathroom break. I returned to the backyard first, sitting next to the fire. Eric came outside and saw a bear. The bear was headed to the backyard where I was sitting! 😵💫
I was quite unaware, and he called my cell, so he could warn me – after hearing his warning, I looked up and said “OH, it’s a BEAR!” About 70’ away! So I said, “hey bear” and with that the bear decided humans are going to be annoying, he turned around and left. Hard to believe I still went to sleep shortly after. 🤷🏽♀️
Trying to fall asleep was a challenge, because Chuckie (a neighborhood cat) was SO happy we were outside with him. He kept trying to climb into each of our tents. (In the morning , he did end up jumping onto Eric’s head THROUGH the tent. Quite a feat!)
At one point, we heard something, looked out toward the woods across the road, and saw LOTS of eyes reflected in the light! It was thankfully, only a bunch of deer laying down. Later, we also heard a couple times, a very low growl. I know it wasn’t Chuckie, he fell asleep laying on my tent, and purred loudly for most of the night. (slightly smelling of skunk due to him probably rolling in skunk-scented grass earlier). Wonder what the growl was from? That will remain a mystery. At least it didn’t keep me awake for long. 😴
And there you have it – one night of outdoor sleeping in the Poconos. No need to go to the woods, nature is everywhere, even across the street!
Yikes
Cool experience!
Brave people
Hi Carol,
Yes, it was definitely an eye opening experience! Would do again for sure! 😃
I love this story. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Lois! It was certainly a fun and interesting night!