Under The Stars

 A long, hard day had passed behind me as I had canoed about eighteen miles traveling from near the upper end of Barren River Lake toward the lower end. I was pretty tired and as I contemplated setting up camp for day two, the idea of stretching out my tarp  and arranging all my night gear grew less appealing as the day progressed toward evening. The weather was fine with no rain in the forecast and the air was dry. Daytime temps hovered in the mid to upper 80's but the nighttime temps would fall toward the lower 70's maybe even as low as the upper 60's. My planned location for my second day camp was probably the lesser of three places on the lake I often stealth camped, yet it did provide for an isolated and scenic view toward the west and best of all, this location offered a nice gravel beach perfect for sleeping out under the stars. 

It took all of about three minutes to set up my sleeping arrangements to do so; a ground cloth, sleeping pad, and bedroll, and I was ready to go. I spent the late afternoon watching the sun lower itself behind a distant ridge and shortly after it disappeared, stars came to life, slowly at first until the sky grew darker. Upon doing so, the clear night air revealed thousands of stars dancing across the heavens. Just above the western horizon, a sliver of moon hovered casting barely enough glow to silhouette the far ridge line against the slightly brighter sky.

I stretched out on top of my bedoll, a simple heavy flannel blanket stitched together to form a long tube which was more than adequate for this time of year, late summer, and propped my arms behind my head along with a rolled up hoodie for a pillow. For the longest time, I just quietly lay there watching the sky slowly arch across the heavens. That sliver of moon eventually dropped behind the far ridgeline and the night became even darker and the stars grew ever more brighter. The milkyway haze arched about me, its dim but well defined nature casting an eerie glow across the night.

As the evening progressed, a bright light suddenly appeared in the sky rapidly moving from the southeast. It grew brighter for a few moments before just as suddenly it disappeared. Later investigation revealed what I had seen was the International Space Station as it passed over this part of the world.

Well into the evening, my tiredness caught up with me and I, without even knowing it, closed my eyes and began to drift off to sleep still laying on top of the bedroll.  It must have been deep into the night before the chill began to infiltrate and I slid inside of the bedroll. When I awoke, a light fog drifted across a somber lake and the sky barely revealed the approaching dawn. A few birds were greeting the morning along with a few fish as they jumped just off shore. 

Fully awake by then, I simply watched the morning unfold around me. A few clouds drifted across the sky and what few remaining visible stars blinked a final farewell to the night.  Eventually, I climbed out of my bedroll and paddled my canoe a short distance away from the bank to watch the sun rise above the eastern treeline. When it did, that fog began to glow with a golden hue. It was a good morning.

I fixed a quick breakfast, reloaded my canoe, and shoved off to finish my three day end-to-end canoe adventure of Barren River Lake.

Sleeping out under the stars is possibly one of the greatest joys of canoe camping, or any camping as far as that goes. This particular attempt proved itself one of the finest and rewarding. Too quickly do we often believe we must cocoon ourselves inside a tent or even under a tarp often preventing us from witnessing one of the natural worlds greatest nightly events; a dark night sky filled with stars. On this particular evening, I chose wisely and allowed nature at her finest to reveal a part of herself I too have missed so often.