The ultimate country escape for many is camping. I've always loved camping, and this weekend I was able to camp no more than 45 minutes from my house.

I camp to get away from civilization. I want to see trees and most of all mountain creeks and waterfalls. I guess I prefer backpacking where you are really out in the wilderness without any cars driving by. Of course, when you're backpacking you've got to carry it all on your back, and everybody in your group of campers really needs to have a pack.

This weekend we had a very nice trip, even with the cars nearby. That does provide some convenience, after all. But there are some things I don't understand about other campers. Why do people come to the woods and blast music late into the night, leave toilet paper all over the woods and I swear we heard someone vacuuming. 

Of all of that, the toilet paper annoys me the most. You are supposed to pack out whatever you pack in. This includes toilet paper. I know it's gross, but finding someone else's toilet paper all over the woods is really gross. Bring a little Ziploc bag; it's not that hard. It doesn't matter if you bury the toilet paper. Animals dig it up. Sure, it's biodegradable, but it still takes a little while to decompose, and I don't want to walk by your pile of toilet paper. Enjoying the outdoors includes leaving as little impact as possible. And I won't even get started on people just plain littering. I mean really, you have no excuse to throw wrappers and bottles in a beautiful mountain stream.

It certainly was beautiful, though. My group walked up the stream for quite a ways and eventually found a secluded waterfall. It was perfect. The water was freezing, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to swim in such a beautiful and secluded spot. We slid on the rocks and swam in pools in the middle of the falls. It was incredible. And the water was so amazingly clear. That was a true escape.