The Truth Behind the Beauty

I recently wrote an Instagram post that talked a little bit about how social media has influenced today's society. Everyone is willing to share the "beautiful" side of their lives. I used my recent trip to Trillium Lake as an example. I specifically booked this camping trip so I could get some amazing photos of Mt. Hood early in the morning. As you can see by the above picture, I got exactly what I wanted from the trip.

I got a little bit more than I bargained for as well, however.

To start with, while I was prepared for rain for the first day of this trip, I was not prepared for the AMOUNT of rain. Naturally, it had to start a complete downpour just as my friend and I were trying to set up the tent. Unfortunately, the rope used to keep together all of the tent poles had somehow broken, so all of the pieces just fell to the ground when we opened the bag. And since it was a borrowed tent, I had no idea this was the case until we actually went to set it up. (To be fair, my poor friends that I borrowed it from had no idea it was broken either. They had barely used it, so they felt terrible once they heard my story. I just look back now and laugh.)

So there we are, in the pouring rain, trying not to let these poles slip even a little bit while we slowly and painfully lifted the tent into place. It was not the prettiest thing in the world, I must admit, but it kept out the rain and that was all that mattered in the long run. We were cold, muddy, and a little bit tired, but we made it through the night.

The next day, my two friends and I hiked around the lake, and I got the beautiful photos that I wanted for next year's calendar. They're honestly some of my favorites that I've ever taken.

But when we got back to the camp?

We couldn't get a fire started to save our lives, because it was too damp from the previous night's rain. Then, just as they were getting ready to leave, I suddenly realized that my car battery was dead. I had no jumper cables or anything, so I was very thankful that one of the rangers had some we could borrow. I was also grateful that I discovered this before my friends left for the day, or I'm not sure what I would have done. I had to drive around for a while to make sure the battery would stay charged, then I was finally able to relax and read a book for the rest of the evening before heading home the next day.

To quote from my IG post, was it worth it?

Heck, yes.

Was it always fun?

Nope.

Don't worry if you're still dealing with the broken tent and muddy parts of your life. You can't compare that to the finished picture someone else has posted.

I love the photos that I got from this excursion, but I sure hope not all of my future camping are this adventurous.

Happy hiking!