The Campfire That Inspired a Scene

Childhood memories make their way into JOC

Behind the Adventure: Somebody Said "Yes"

Some of the best adventures don't begin with a trailhead.

They begin with two kids asking a simple question.

"Can we go camping?"

I don't remember exactly how old I was. My younger brother and I spent a lot of time exploring the woods around our neighborhood. To us, those woods felt enormous. We knew where a few trails went, but around every bend there always seemed to be another place worth discovering.

Eventually, we decided exploring during the day wasn't enough.

We wanted to spend the night.

Looking back, I'm sure our parents had every reason to say no. We were young. We had no camping experience. We had more excitement than knowledge.

Instead, they did something that changed my life.

They said yes.

Not an unconditional yes.

A guided yes.

They gathered a tent, sleeping bags, food, water, and the other things we'd need for one night outdoors. Then they walked with us to the place we had picked out.

At least... I think it was the place we had picked out.

Memory has a funny way of working.

I clearly remember my brother and me choosing what we thought was the perfect campsite. I don't actually remember if that's where we ended up sleeping. Looking back now, I'd guess my parents quietly steered us toward a better location.

At the time, though, it felt like our adventure.

Today, I realize that was probably the point.

They didn't take the adventure away.

They simply helped make it a good one.

That evening became my first real camping trip.

I don't remember every detail. I couldn't tell you what we ate or exactly where the tent stood. But I do remember how everything felt. The woods seemed bigger after the sun went down. Every sound was more noticeable. Crawling into a sleeping bag inside a tent felt like sleeping in another world, even though home wasn't all that far away.

Then came the lesson that has stayed with me for decades.

The campfire had burned down to glowing coals before bedtime. I assumed the fire was finished.

The next morning my stepdad walked over to what looked like nothing more than a large log resting on cold ashes. He nudged the log aside.

Underneath, bright orange coals were still glowing.

I remember staring in disbelief.

How could a fire still be alive after an entire night?

He explained that placing a large log over the coals helped protect them and slowed the fire's burn. Those hidden coals made it much easier to bring the fire back to life the next morning.

To a kid, it felt almost like magic.

Years later I learned there was nothing magical about it at all.

It was simply experience.

That lesson never left me.

That same lesson eventually found its way into The Adventure Begins. It wasn't something I invented for the story.

It was something I remembered.

That's true of many moments throughout Journeys Of The Crew and the journal entries that will fill A Wild Guide. While the stories themselves are fiction, many of the experiences, observations, and outdoor lessons were inspired by real moments from my own life. Sometimes the details have changed. Sometimes several memories have blended into one scene. But the feeling behind them is real.

Looking back now, I don't think that first camping trip turned me into an outdoorsman.

It made me curious.

Curious enough to keep exploring.

Curious enough to keep asking questions.

Curious enough to spend a lifetime wandering trails with a camera in one hand and a notebook in the other.

And curious enough that, decades later, those memories would quietly find their way into the pages of a children's adventure series.

Sometimes the greatest gift you can give a child isn't an answer.

Sometimes it's simply saying,

"Let's go."

Continue the Journey

For more about allowing outdoor lessons to emerge naturally from experience, read The Best Outdoor Lessons Aren’t Taught.

For a short example from Rusty’s field journal, read Three Wet Matches and a Bad Decision.