Me, Pops and a few fish.

A year or two ago me and my Pops came up with this brilliant idea. A yearly camping trip. I love to camp, I love to fish, and I love the outdoors so this to me was a no brainer. I’m in. We came up with this idea a few years ago, but this was our first time actually doing it. The first year we skipped due to prior obligations and the next year we skipped due to a family situation. In short, something kept coming up. This year however was different.

When I was a kid, me and my father spent a week out in the boonies, a place called Eagles Nest located in Northern New Mexico. Alot of great memories were formed, and going back to the old campsite of my youth was rather nostalgic. It was the first trip we went on in which we actually caught quite a bit of fish, it was my first experience seeing a humming bird first hand, It was my first encounter with dumpsters that were bear proof, and to top it all off. It was my first experience going #1 and #2 in the woods. For an eight year old, that’s quite a bit to absorb in a weeks time.

This trip was no different. I headed out early in the morning, met up with my pops, and we headed to the campsite. I got there a little late, so there was only a brief moment for pleasantries, and luckily for me, my new tent was a breeze to setup. Nothing is worse then setting up camp in the dark, even with a million candle watt power atop Dolly. My tent(or hammock rather) was a breeze to setup. I was sporting a Hennessey Hammock this time around. Being late September, early October, it would be cool, but not freezing. I brought my backup just in case, but luckily the weather was as advertised(who would have thought?).

Me and my pops schedule was pretty straightforward. Sleep, eat breakfast, fish, eat lunch, fish, eat dinner, night fish, and then setup a fire, talk until one of us fell asleep. Rinse and Repeat. We did that for the entire trip(5 days).

We fished and we fished and we fished, and needless to say, we caught quite a bit of fish. I’m sure we even went over our limit on somedays. The NM trout really had the taste for big juicy night crawlers! We caught rainbow trout, speckled trout, brook trout all in a days catch. Pops did a great job with the food. Although between you and I, it wasn’t enough for me to rent the boat for the day. Our original intent was to fish the 4 days, and on the 5th we would rent a boat. Pops would pay for 5 days worth of meals for me, and I’d buy the boat. Remind me to never get suckered into that one. I think I ate 10$ worth of food, and half of that was mine. I suppose that isn’t the entire truth. My sister and mom were baking up a storm and cooked up some delicious dessert for me and pops. No bake oatmeal cookies always make a great ending to a great meal.

For a night, pops was a bit under the weather going into the next day. So much so, he didn’t want to rent a boat, but sleep, and stay close the river. I was ok with that, given Cimmaron river produced so much fish, I was having a blast with or without the boat. That night I decided to try and setup the campfire using good ole flint. It took me a while, but I got it. I did have a scare though. I was kneeled over, striking the flint, head deeply immersed into the fire ring, when out of the corner of my eye I saw something move. I didn’t think much of it. Your probably thinking, why? Well, the past few days there was a stray cat that would come around our camp, and another night I mistakenly took a dear and her baby for my dad moving around in the trees. Ever run up to your father only to find out it’s a dear and her baby? I went back to work setting up the campfire and then I looked up. About 4 feet away from me, there was a skunk licking our pots and pans! I slowly got up, and slowly backed away. It would have been a stinky situation had I spooked it. Especially given there wasn’t a shower I could use within 20 miles. A few moments later it was off, and I don’t think my dad quite believed me at first when I told him, but the next night, the stupid thing practically snuck up under my chair. I don’t mind the creepy crawlies, but what I do mind are things that can either

• Eat Me.
• Crawl on me, or in my mouth for that matter.
• Snakes.
• And anything that could leave me smelling like I hadn’t showered in 10 years after swimming in a septic tank. I don’t need help with that, I can do it on my own thank you very much.

www.flickr.com kcmerrill’s ’08 Fishing Trip(Eagles Nest New Mexico) photoset