What’s your most impressive experience when hiking/camping?

[XTAR Light]

The hiking/camping experience is unique, standing around the campfire, beer in hand, talking about nothing with friends... What's the most impressive experience that will forever stick in your mind?

One outdoor enthusiast friend shared his most impressive experience was the night sky on his first hiking trip. Nothing beats seeing the band of the Milky Way and so many stars that you can't count them. There is AB Camping in the rain with tent and his dog Bruce, featured flashlight: xtar RC2-200.

 

[DaveTheDude]

Several years ago while hiking the northern California coast in the late afternoon, I encountered a wolf and her pup playing along the abandoned logging trail I was exploring. The wolf didn't see me or smell me (I was downwind). I watched them play for several minutes. The pup then dashed down the trail toward me, happily yipping. The pup didn't see me until it rounded a corner in the trail, and then it came to a complete stop. The pup had obviously never seen a human before and didn't know what to make of me. A few moments later the mother trotted along after the pup and also stopped in her tracks, apparently trying to decide what to do about the presence of a human not more than 50 feet from her pup. I decided to try and minimize any fear the wolf might have, and sat down, reducing my visual size in the hope of lowering her perceived threat level. It's probably anthropomorphic of me, but the wolf appeared to relax a bit after I sat down, then nudged junior back the other way along the trail. When they reached about 100 feet distance they disappeared into the brush.

 

[knucklegary]

Dave, were you in, or near, Lassen National Forrest?

Earliest known mankind were found in burial sites along with their wolf k9

 

[DaveTheDude]

I was just a bit inland from Smith River, a tribal settlement just south of the Oregon state line. Lots of redwoods in the area along with a healthy population of deer, and a small herd of elk.