Lost in the wilderness

Not quite guitar-related, but I can't not blog about this.  Last night, I got lost in a forest past sundown.  I almost don't want to post this, but for your entertainment...

The first thing you should know about me is that my life is pretty much a series of bad ideas and silly events.  I've thought about introducing myself to others that way, since those around me tend to get drawn into the goofiness as well.  It sounds like it might be fun, but it really isn't.
Anywho, I've been learning photography this summer.  My friend Ryan brought up the idea of going on a little hiking/photo adventure yesterday.

7:15PM
First mistake made.  We arrived at the state park a bit late and head onto the trail. 

8:00
We found some really cool logs with spiral patterns and stop for a few pictures.  I'm still a novice, so don't expect much of the photos on this blog!

failed to capture said spirals. apologies for increasing world suck

We went deeper.

8:05ish

I spotted a really freaking adorable white-tailed fawn.  Like one of these:

credit Chris Kayler Photography

It watched me for a few seconds, and then turned around and trotted off.  I followed it.

I mean, come on.  Put yourself in my shoes for a second.  One of the cutest animals you've ever seen stares you in the eye and then slowly walks away.  You have a camera strapped around your neck.  What would you have done? (probably stay on the trail, huh..)

The damn fawn was weaving in between trees, as if it were trying to screw with us.  I'm pretty sure it was having a jolly good time.  Neither of us had brought a compass, so I passed Ryan a bag of crackers and told him to mark our trail somehow.  Thinking that we were going in a relatively straight line, my friend decided to take photos of trees instead.  We were, after all, in an old-growth forest with some amazing trees. 

8:15

"Jon, screw it.  It's not going to stop."  

"Wait...do you hear water?"

"...OOH!"

In a supreme demonstration of ADD and stupidity, we promptly changed direction and headed for the sound of water.  A few minutes later, we found the source. 

A small waterfall!

We knew we should have started to head back while there was still daylight, but it was too beautiful a scene to pass up.

It was getting pretty dark.  This was all I could see of Ryan

.6 second exposure, f/5.6, ISO 3200. If that doesn't work, you know there's not enough light

We decided to pack up and head back to the trail. 

8:40

"Jon, where the hell are we?"

 We had nooo idea where we were.  At this point we were walking back in the general direction of where we came from in near total darkness.  There was no cell service, so I couldn't get a lock on GPS.  For some reason, my phone can't get GPS without a 3G signal.  Even if it could, I wouldn't have the data connection to get maps.  We decided to start leaving behind crackers to make sure we didn't go in circles.  Knowing my luck, that would probably happen!

9:10

I found a spot next to a fern that got me one bar of connection.  Still, my phone couldn't get GPS.  The connection kept disappearing.  I gave up and moved on. 

9:45

Ryan saw a cracker and sat down.  "Fuck it, I give up."  

"No, that was definitely one you put down when we were looking for the fawn."

It was getting pretty chilly.  Good thing we bought flashlights for night photography!

10:51

Something completely awesome happened.  My phone beeped!!

A friend texted me at 10:30, but it didn't get to my phone.  Her text went through at 10:51 when I got to a clearing with service.  I wouldn't have noticed the spot otherwise!  A whopping two bars of data!  Joy!  I finally got a lock on GPS, loaded up a map, and off we went. 

11:15

Half an hour of giddy running and tripping later, we finally got to the car and sped home. 

[12:31:34 AM] Kyle S: holy crap jon how can your life be so consistently like a movie
Kyle would know.  He's been my dorm mate for the past three years.

I don't know, Kyle.  I don't like it :(
 

Now that I've written this... my god, was I really that stupid?  This could be a manual detailing what not to do when going on a photo adventure in a forest. 

Thank god she texted me.  Just thinking about spending another hour in there makes me shiver.  It was definitely the chilliest night of the summer.  I owe her a lot.  Go follow Amelia's blog at nosheepsherlock.blogspot.com.  She's awesome. 

I've gotten some good questions on YouTube that I'll blog about in the future.  In the meantime, please try not to think less of me! Haha