Six days without a shower…
Camping with night-time temps in the mid-to-high 30’s…
These are things that make me feel ALIVE.
I spend seven days sleeping in a tent in the Cataloochee Valley which located on the east side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. My hubs and I were there for the annual elk rut – the season of breeding.
We got up each morning between 6 and 6:30 am, made coffee and headed into the valley in the darkness. As the sun finally started rising, we’d spot the elk bedded down in the grasses, their warm breath rising in the cold air, quickly giving away their location.
As the morning sun rose higher, the elk got more active: cows began grazing, calves started nursing, and the bulls got busy defending their herd of ladies.
For several hours each morning, and again in the late afternoons, we watched this ritual of activity.
And it was fully fascinating. And at times really exciting. These are BIG animals and when the males start defending territory, things happen fast, and sometimes violently. Clashing of antlers, fast charges, LOUD and expressive bugling. It was EXCITING!
My time in the valley also ended up being a different kind of forest bathing practice for me – one that involved animals in action. My five senses were alive – watching, smelling, listening, feeling (mostly temperature changes and the plant-life…NOT the elk), and then intuiting what the herd might do next.
The valley also (blessedly) had ZERO cell service (and definitely NO wifi). To be almost completely unplugged for a week was a gift to my brain and nervous system.
We were very present to what was happening around us. We slept well in the darkness of the valley. We ate simply. We moved A LOT.
Those things feel like solid instructions for living, honestly.
We’ll be back again next year. And I’m pondering how I can create a retreat for clients that mimics this deep flow and focus, uninterrupted by any kind of technology.
But for now, I’m reveling in the simplicity and beauty of this vacation. Enjoy a small sampling of the photos I took.
Warmly,
Angie
