8:00 a.m. I wake up and start to rummage around. I take my caffeine in my vitamin C. I really have no plans for the day. I do a video once again declaring my support of the Free Karen Read movement.
8:45 a.m. I head out of the woods where I’m staying. I really don’t have anything to do, and I don’t really feel like talking to people. To stay in routine I drive over to the library to charge my phones and storage battery. I have thought that since it was so simple to build such an effective camp quickly, that I could find some area to build an even bigger more accommodating camp with more amenities like a fire pit, bigger tent, seating, and build it out to be like a home where I could stay for extended periods or visit periodically. I want to be near a water supply. I identify a place on the map that seems like a good place to look.
11:00 a.m. I leave the library and I drive over to a lake that has a large wooded area next to it. The wooded area is uninhabited. I realize once I get there why the large wooded area is uninhabited, there’s a steep incline that is mainly granite. Regardless, I follow the path to see if there would be a good campsite nearby. The path travels up the incline. I come to a spot where I can follow off the trail and I reach a flat plateau where I find the remnants of an old camp. This seems to always happen, I find ideal camping spots and either somebody’s camping there or has already camped there in the past. It is in our genes to seek out ideal camping spots. Without fail, every time I have scouted for a campsite, I have come across other campsites.
12:30 p.m. I decided this spot is not for me. I can see houses across the lake, there’s a sign that says no trespassing, I just don’t feel isolated enough in the spot. I have an idea of a spot that I came across while hiking in the past. An isolated island surrounded by swamp. I drive over to the spot, and I take the long hike into the woods to get to the spot that bridges between the swamp and the island. The first thing I noticed and I don’t like is a hunter’s perch in a tree. There’s no hunter there, but if I were to use this island and I travel at night I would be in danger of getting shot unless I announce myself. I decide that I’ll give it a go and see if I can travel through the swamp to get to the island. Take my boots off and put on my water shoes, I pull my pants up. It’s a warm day so I know I’m not in danger of exposure. I take a video and I begin to walk across the log there’s reeds, some water that seems shallow, what I find is the mud goes way deeper than I expected. I end up stepping in way above my knee and I have to pull my foot out of the mud. I try to keep traveling but I keep losing balance. I fall in the water. I have my backpack and gear on me. After about traveling 30 ft I realize it’s not going to work. I have to trek back and now I’m soaked all the way to my waist and covered in mud. My curiosity definitely got the best of me today. If I want to explore that island I have to wait till the swamp is completely iced over.2:00 p.m. wet and muddy I travel out of the woods. I have my boots in a bag and I hike out in my water shoes. When I get to my car I change into shorts and I take off all my wet clothes in the parking lot. I drive over to my friend’s house where I wash my clothes and take a shower. I learned a valuable lesson I will not expose myself to getting wet and dirty unnecessarily.
4:45 p.m. I’ve cleaned up, and it’s almost dinner time at lifebridge in Salem. I grabbed my gear and I headed out of my friend’s house towards Salem for dinner. When I get to the dining hall at the shelter, they’re doing takeouts. It’s raining outside. I grab a tray and then I sit over at a picnic table next to Lifebridge and eat my dinner quickly. I decide to drive back to the library to charge my devices a little bit before I head to my camp.
7:00 p.m. I start driving back to my campsite. At an intersection a police officer pulls up in the middle of the road to direct other emergency vehicles down the road to my left. The woman in front of me pulls over and stops a little bit past the police officer. My car is right behind this woman’s vehicle. The officer begins waving cars by. I’m beeping my horn at the woman to go and she won’t move. I finally get so frustrated that I open my window and yell at the officer, “hey officer can you tell this lady that she can go.” The officer yells at the lady you can go ma’am. I couldn’t see who was in the driver’s seat but I was pretty sure it was a woman because there was a bumper sticker that said b**** on the back of her car.
7:20 p.m. I trek through the darkness to my camp. It’s been another adventure living homeless. One good thing that came out of today is in my mind’s eye I decided the spot that I would create for my mega camp. The Mega Camp will exist in a private place that I know of. A paradise close to civilization, but far enough away where I can be comfortable with nature and exist free from the ugliness that is the modern economic machine.