Camp Christmas

We'd never visited Camp Alpine during the winter, so we decided to go check it out.

We had the place to our selves. The drained pond was sporting a layer of grass, with frost still remaining in the shade. The salamanders were snug in their beds.

It got cold quickly after the sun went down. Luckily there was plenty of firewood.

It has been an uncharacteristically dry winter, and we had another clear night. We spotted the space station pass by. The Soyuz capsule docked the day before and six humans will be spending Christmas orbiting earth this year. With all the solar panels, it becomes the brightest object in the sky for a few minutes. If you want to try spotting it, I published a how-to at Instructables.

After some hot chocolate and listening to Cinnamon Bear on the radio, we declared "mission complete" and returned home to our warm beds. The caretakers gave us a plate of Christmas treats to take home. I'm sure they were glad to have some company, even if only for a short while.

With stories like this, who need fiction?

I just finished reading an amazing story about a WWII plane crash in a remote valley in New Guinea called Lost in Shangri-La. The rescue of the three survivors takes weeks and involves paratroopers, a film maker, and some creative thinking.

I won't spoil the ending, but if you watch the video, you'll know how it turned out.

This ranks up there with some of my other favorite great adventure tales such as Two Wheels North, The Long Walk, We Die Alone,  and Assault in Norway.