—Long Trip (Dungus Among Us)
Third in the series of posted camp songs, I just arranged this today. I will probably revisit it later and fix it up in some places, but it was exhausting, and I wanted to share right goddamn now.
Long Trip
Day one of the blaze
we were walking in the rain
after conquering the roller coaster
sweat-soaked in body odor
For two miles, we night-hiked
our muscles enflamed
going through torrent, by flashlight
and no one complained.
At Dick’s dome,
we filled up the whole place
left not an inch of un-slumbered on space
and Gus fell asleep
with his head on my face.
Step by step
with blisters on our feet
We conquer the mountain
at blazing speeds.
On the second day
No hesitation
seven miles of mountains
before we found catoctin
they were also walking
so we walked with them
to the Apple House
where we settled in
for a preplanned chance to chill
had a treat or two or
eight free refills
And as amped as we were
as one-camped as we were
slapping hands giving hugs
we diverged just the same
and to each individual
praising, “Good Game.”
That night
in a significantly larger shelter,
we stayed, we ate
looking forward to hiking
uphill for a day
and we managed,
by sheer will power
to make it
up one of Shanendoa’s
steepest mountain faces
Step by step
with blisters on our feet
we conquer the mountain
at blazing speeds so hard
Nick gets a nosebleed.
Our water levels, as always, were low
at every water source
Seth would volunteer to go
fill as much as he could
of the jugs that we used
from the trickles of mud
marked as streams on our maps.
And when liberties were taken with the
campsites we staked claim in
we awoke anew in morning dew
and hiked our way to breakfast.
Day four was hardcore and
we knocked out some miles,
hung out on a hang-gliding drop-off
for a while,
and day five saw another early rise
in the Elkswallow picnic paradise
where we parkored, and sparred
climbed trees, fell down, played cards.
It was our day of rest
Emma came, she’s the best,
with the bus, nice and quick
to transport us to the cliffs.
We set up our camp
at Stony Man
and the campers split off
on their solos overnight
alone but together in soul,
all survived and we met
in the light of the sun on the rocks
for worship in the morning.
Aladdin and Claire
Jossie and Seth
miss all of you Dungi
you guys are the best:
Ethan, and Leah,
Julia and Sam
Deigo, Erin, Sawyer
and Isaac, and Anne.
I miss Kaia, and Laurel,
Gus and Giovanni,
Amanda and Rose,
Levi, Paul, Nick and Zhanna.
Last Day of the blaze
we were walking in the rain
after a five AM exit of beds
to get started on
twenty hard miles of tread
from a drizzle to drenching
it stormed overhead
we were one with the cloud
couldn’t see for the drops,
could hear for their sound,
but the storm turned to fog
and, unphased we blazed on
no problem until we hit the Slaughter
and yeah, even then
still we trudged on ahead
down the hill
down the hill
down the hill
to see the Pines was our elation
just three more miles to our destination
along Conway River, just down the road,
waiting patiently there for us, Shiloh, our home.
