Andrew & Esther - Through Our Eyes Archive
Our Thoughts

October 22, 2007
A Freezing Wilderness Retreat
We were married one month ago - on the one hand it's hard to believe, but on the other referring to "my wife" is more and more natural!

After a great honeymoon followed by a little bout with sickness in the new Brumme household, we headed off for an overnight backpacking/camping trip in the shadow of Chamonix and the stunning Mont Blanc.

Residents of the mountain town we began our hike gave us a few strange looks as we hiked past their homes into the wilderness, questioning with their eyebrows why we would want to camp with temperatures dropping to -7C/19F. I don't really have a good answer to the question, except for the fact that we have been wanting to camp for sometime but with the wedding etc., we haven't had time until now!

After hiking in (or rather, hiking straight up) for a couple hours, we found the ideal campsite and quickly set to work making camp. The sun was rapidly setting and it wasn't getting any warmer.

It's been well over a year since I last camped in the wilderness, but I was quickly reminded why I loved it so much. In a word: fire.

Okay, that might be slightly dramatic, but there are few things that bring such satisfaction like building a fire in a moment of dire need (ie when my wife and I are freezing). I find fire to be an amazing, mesmerizing thing (quite warm too!).

After a perfect feast in the freezing wilderness (warmed brilliantly by my MSR PocketRocket stove – one of my amazing camping toys), we headed to bed. It was then I was reminded of one of my least favorite parts of wilderness camping...attempting to sleep. This is especially difficult during the cold, and it was certainly a long night of interrupted sleep thanks to the cold and the various creatures who decided to disturb our sleep.

But dawn broke at last, and I quickly engaged in my rekindled passion of fire building. When the flames were roaring and the hot water boiling, I was able to coerce my wife out of the tent and our day began. We were high above the cloud layer in the valley below, letting us see it was indeed going to be a beautiful day.

We packed up camp and headed back down the mountain. (Given the fires raging near/on my former university campus in Malibu, those of you in Southern California will be pleased to know that I took every precaution when putting out our campfire.)

The escape into the midst of God’s stunning creation was just what we needed: a place of stillness, beauty and reflection. We probably won’t be venturing into the frozen wilderness again soon, but I think when the weather gets a bit warmer, we’ll make these wilderness escapes a regular part of our life together.

Until then, we’ll retreat to chalets in the Alps or Parisian cafés where it’s a bit warmer. (teasers of things to come…)