“Finally” I murmur as my father pulls onto the dusty road. The sign in front of the entrance reads “Hither Hills State Park” , and under that, “Campers welcome!” I get out of the car and stretch my legs. The three hour drive had not been good to me, and i desperately needed to get the blood flowing in my legs. “ You got everything you need?” My dad asked, “Water, tent, food?” “Yes, yes, yes, you double checked before we left, remember?” I replied, “Then after that you checked again”. My dad only grunted. He had been onboard at first when I suggested to camp out on my own in the wilderness. However, as time had worn on, he seemed to get more and more worried about me. Which, although touching, is extremely irritating. “ Dad i'm going to be fine, it's literally one night.” I say. My dad replies “ I know, I know. Here,” he says as he hands me a couple slips of paper “ This is the reservation for the camp ground. Hand this to the ranger in the main building and you're all set”. “ Ok” I say. “And PLEASE” He adds  “Don't lose it”. He drives away, down the driveway. I turn my back and officially start my solitary camping trip.

After handing the various papers to the grizzly ranger, I follow the directions he gave me. After getting lost two times and beginning to suspect he wants me get lose my faculties, I finally come across a designated landmark on the map, a rock that looks a lot like an alligator’s snout. Shortly after, I come across my site, a clearing in the middle of the forest. Looking up, I could see that the sun is already directly overhead. Noon already. I had lost a lot of time tromping around through the forest, so I wasted no time in getting to work. Brushing away the debris of sticks and rocks, I began the task of setting up my large tent in the center of the clearing. It was almost nightfall by the time it was complete. Grunting, I heaved my heavy pack into the tent and started to set up my sleeping bag. I would start work on the rest of the campsite tomorrow. The night passed without incident, although I could swear that I heard the rustling of a large shape lumbering around outside the tent.

In the morning, I woke up to find that the area around the tent seemed to be disturbed, as if some animal had passed through. “Probably a family of deer passing by” I thought. Shrugging, I proceeded with the rest of my preparations. My first task was setting up a circle of stones. Inside, I would make a small teepee with sticks and twigs. This would serve as the guts for the campfire. Wasting no time, I set off into the woods. As i collected firewood in my arms, I took the time to look at my surrounding and take it all in. “It really is beautiful out here” I thought, as I looked through the trees to see the grassy hills, and the crisp, blue sky. Sighing with serenity, I proceeded with the wood collection. When I had finished, I judged that it was nearly 9:00 in  the morning. This would have been the time that I usually got up in the morning. “ Funny” I thought “ Everything here is different than the world outside”. Carrying on, I search around the campsite for a couple minutes, until I find a suitable amount of rocks. In the center of the clearing, I set up a ring of stones, and inside I begin to set up the little twig teepee. After the first two attempts failing miserably, I finally succeeded in making a decent pile of twigs. Looking up to gauge the time, I saw that the sun was already near to setting. “Jeez,” I thought “I guess time flies when you're having fun” Deciding that it was about time to turn in, I walked back into my tent. “I can light the fire tomorrow” I thought as i settled into a peaceful slumber.

I awoke to the sound of crashing. Blearily opening my eyes, I stumbled out of my sleeping back, tripping as I went. Getting up, I groaned. I had landed squarely on my ankle when I fell. Opening the tent flap, I stared into the darkness. It was silent, nothing moved. Then suddenly out of the darkness, a shadow detached itself from the forest. I couldn't make out much, but from what I could see I saw that the shape was massive in stature. It had a lumbering gait that suggested its great weight. Before I even knew what was happening, the shape was directly in front of me. In the darkness, in front of me, two great red eyes opened in front of me. I stared into those eyes and saw the wild ferocity contained within them. Fidgeting, I grabbed the flashlight at my belt and hit the switch. Directly in front of me was the massive frame of a grizzly bear. The claws on its paws were sharper than any knife, and its teeth were as bright and sharp as razors.Its fur was matted, and scruffy, and it had a hungry gaze. And this gaze was set directly on me! With infinite care, I slowly backed away, back towards the tent. Now that I had the flashlight on I could see that the tremendous crashing that i heard was a log cracking in half as the great beast strode across it. This only made me go faster. The bear was still staring at me, watching me as I went. Then is opened its mouth and a great rumbling snarl escaped its lips. Immediately I stopped and looked back. The creature was walking towards me, its great shoulders moving back and forth, in time with its strides. I hurried my pace, desperate to get back to the tent, to get some illusion of safety. I dive back in, closing the tent’s flap behind me.  I looked up fearfully. Through the thin canvas I could see the massive silhouette of the creature. I heard a low grunt escape its mouth, then all was silent. Sitting, frozen I watched the shadows outside of the tent. Nothing moved. I barely dared to breathe. I sat that way for a full five minutes, listening for any sign that the creature was still lurking around. Tentatively, I opened the flap by a centimeter. Seeing nothing, I opened it again, wider this time. I had much clearer vision of what the bear was doing. I could see it now, its form distorted in the shadows. It was next to my pack, its claws tearing the fabric. “The food!” I thought with dread. Once the bear had found the food, there would be no making it go away. It would patrol the area relentlessly until it found more food, which at the moment, was me! I had to think of something, quick! I withdrew back into the tent.

“There must be something I can do! Think!” I thought to myself. Then suddenly, an idea struck me. “The fire!” If I managed to light the small pit, then maybe it would be frightened away. I didn't have much of a choice, so, working fast, I took out the small lighter that I had the foresight to bring with me, but something was missing. “The firestarters!” I thought. Without them, it would take a good minute to light the fire, a minute which I did not have. It was in the pack that was currently being mauled by a 700 pound mass of fur and muscle. I had to distract it somehow. Tentatively sticking my hand outside the tent, I reached around until I found a good sized stick. Sticking more of my body out, I chucked it into the forest, resulting in a loud crack. Snapping its head up, the bear gazed out, into the dark forest, alert for movement. Its great legs started to lumber towards the sound, and soon it was gone from sight. Wasting no time, I dashed to the remains of the pack. On my knees, I searched through every pocket on the bag, but the firestarter was nowhere to be found. Panicking, I searched even more frantically. I could almost feel the beast’s warm breath on the nape of my neck. At last, I saw it! It was lying on the ground, next to the pack. It must have fallen out through one of the great gashes in the pack. My finger trembled as I picked up the small plastic pack. I swiftly jogged over to the pit. Carefully placing the pack in the center, I took out the lighter. Suddenly, I heard a fierce snarl behind me. Jumping, I turned, and saw that the creature was a mere two feet away from me. How something so large could possibly move so stealthily was beyond my comprehension. Every muscle in its body was tense with energy. I had to act fast. I threw the plastic pack onto the fire and took out the lighter. Never taking my eyes off the creature, I brought the lighter out from my pocket. Suddenly, the bear leaped into the air. It was lunging straight for my throat! Yelping, I dashed to the side. The bear falls to the ground beside me. Struggling to regain my balance, I aggravate my now swollen and twisted ankle. My leg gives way, and I find myself looking up into the great red eyes of the grizzly. Fumbling, I light the small metal lighter. Even as i do this, the bear opens its maw, exposing its razor sharp teeth. I realize i'm directly next to the firepit. I bring my arm to the small teepee and light the fire starter. The flames burst to life, hungrily devouring the logs and twigs. Looking into the beasts eyes i can see them dilate with fear. Almost immediately the creature turns tail and bolts away into the trees. I stare solemnly back at the spot where the beast disappeared. “ I must be in what it considers it’s territory” I think “  I'm the intruder, the one who doesn't belong. He just wanted to protect his home”,

And so ends my disatrous solitary camping trip. After wandering my way through the forest for hours ( the map had been lost along with most of my pack), I finally locate the travel lodge I had originally seen on entering the complex. The ranger immediately calls an ambulance and the animal control unit. I ask him to not call animal control, just let the creature enjoy its solitude. After a long time of arguing, I finally convince him not to call the animal control unit. The ambulance soon arives and I am rushed to to the hospital, even though I my ankle had long since healed, and I barely had a scratch on me. My father soon arrives. He has a cynical look on his face, like hes saying “ What did you do now?” I simply shrug at him. Soon everything returns to normal. Im back home, doing boring schoolwork. But I never quite forgot about that bear and what it signified. Nature is not the property of man, at least not yet. For now, nature is its own being, independent from the world of people. But for how long?