Primordial: Camping in the Wilds [IC]

[Hearthridge]

In the Beginning

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

March 14, 2018 | Ft. Collins, Co
OOC | IC

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

You have had irksome years before, troublesome semesters in your Freshman years and overly-emotional High School years due to either your family or your own social constructs; but, this year, it was different. There was a pressure you hadn't felt before and, damn, it wore you down. It wasn't until you overheard one of your friends talking about what they were going to do for Spring Break this year, that you realized you should do something to vent your pent-up stress.

The decision was made to go camping! Someone joked about it turning into something like Cabin in the Woods. but you were confident that fact and fiction are very much far away from one another. The statistical probability of stumbling upon an esoteric site, designed to kill you was so impossibly small that it was laughable.

In someone's stroke of genius, the location was some couple miles off of the beaten path past Walden, on the approach to Mt. Ethel. A small lake cluster in the valley's ridge between two mountains. Someone argued that being close to civilization wasn't really camping, and the hike would help with on the psychological level. Sometimes, Psychologists were a pain like that.

The safest way to get to the area was to follow Norris Creek up from the Rainbow Lakes Trailhead to the site by the Rainbow Lake trio. Hiking up to the site would take a few hours, but it promised to be well worth it.

You packed for cold weather, as the mountains in Colorado in March were still capped with snow and the lake area was certainly within the snow-line on elevation.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

March 18, 2018 | Walden, Co

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The final pit-stop of the excursion. It is here, at a small general store, where the fated four will say goodbye to civilization for, what was presumably, a week in the wilds. Unbeknownst to them, that fate had a different plan in store for them. It is here, where our story truly unfolds.

((OOC: For the sake of all good 'camping gone wrong' stories, we will start this adventure off in the last vestiges of civilization. You are all at the general store, finishing up your last-shop shopping. I will wait until everyone 'readies' up for the drive up to the mountain, allowing for a couple of posts to go beforehand to get some food or drinks, fishing tackle or ammunition if you aim to hunt. Think like your character, what they would bring based on their dated views of camping, and the influence of pop culture. From there, we will have a single post wave up to the mountain to represent the car ride. After that, post freedom opens up much more.))

​

 

[lepidoptera]

She'd left 'old shatterhand' - the battered pontiac firebird she'd been working on - in the care of its new owner.
The entire drive in, she'd been listening to some greatest hits, nothing too snappy. Just something you could zone out to and drive.
And, to be honest, she'd kind of thought - now's the time, just leave. Go somewhere, get out of here.
But - the allure of actually feeling good about something? Yeah, that was strong as anything.

Gretchen stared at a dark reflection in the rows of sunglasses, staring back at her.
She smiled, a bit crookedly.

Yeah, this'd been the right choice.

"Uh, any energy drinks - do we need any energy drinks? I'm kinda jonesing for something with ginger in it. S'posed to help with health."

The words were directed casually, over shoulder. She thought she'd seen Woodie passing by, but she was still too lost in thought to be certain. He'd seemed pretty - thoughtful, too, so...

She'd brought a gift for him actually, that wacky mushroom finding guide. The one with the guy and the musical instrument on it. Pretty sure he'd already read it, so - probably was a mistake.
Still.

One heavy backpack, navy blue. Bedroll, lighter, she'd ditched the smokes. Wax-coated pinecones, like Swana'd taught her to make. Water, lots of water. Some of the tools she'd forgotten to leave at the shop.Check.

Swana had, Swan...

Quietly, Gretchen added some gummy gelatins and assorted chocolate-coated fruits to her stash.
'Cause you never know when a friend might need something sweet, right?

Flares and flaregun, three oughta do it. Would they be hunting? Probably not, she'd brought some vacuum-sealed sandwiches, so... Maybe some noodle cups, dried vegetables, dried fruit...

At least Braeden seemed in good spirits, but - yeah. It was Braeden.
What'd be something cool to surprise him with, huh... Something funny, like, did he still enjoy madlibs - had he ever enjoyed madlibs, was she just projecting or something...

She glanced at the sort of cheap travel stuff you could find in a flat little town like Walden. Madlibs, based on a popular (she thought) game series... Her fingers itched. Was it popular? He'd make fun of her the entire trip if she was wrong -
Courage failed her. She settled on the dried tea; it was boring, but it was safe, and she didn't want to - snap. Let anyone down.
...

Right now, though? Things felt good. The sky was a chequered blue-white maze, and it felt like you could just - go, anywhere...

Gretchen stretched and stared up at the ceiling fan, lazily spinning above them.

"This is gonna be good, for all of us. I can feel it."

(Mentioning @irregular-neptune @Lil Devil @Brea ; but feel free to do your own things.)

 

[Lil Devil]

Leaning against one of the stores selves Swana chewed on her pen top hating that she couldn't make up her mind on what snacks to grab. Being she adored all and any type she tended to over buy alot of them, if not everything in the store if she could. Having decided to go on this trip as a way to get away from her mother who was so bent on changing her closet Swan figured it be interesting experience.

*peeking over at Gretchen trying to see what she was doing Swan thought back to meeting the female* In one word Swan though of her as wild. Like a wild card unknowing what they would do next but Swan enjoyed that. She knew the girl looked up to her mother she just didn't know why, but it allowed her and the girl to spend a amount of time together so she did enjoy the females company well enough.

Thinking about the two males joining she tried to place where she knew them from Swan memory always was bad. She-

"Shit!" hitting her toe on the side of the shelf she cursed out loud and grumbled this store was to small for her taste and the looks she kept getting started to annoy her. She knew the bright purple highlights in her hair would draw attention but she was to lazy to put a different color in. Or maybe it was the outfit she wore or there lack of. Having grown hot while during the ride up to the store she had taken off her coat leaving her in only the hoodie that hung half off her shoulder, the ripped jeans, black combat boots, and her black kitten backpack on. The back looked overly big she her size but it was her art bag and there for her life not to mention held a few extra things that came in handy during camping.

Her father had taken her on a bunch of hiking trips as a child believing it was good for his princesses to know how to survive in case of a power outage in town. Thinking as she went walked past the battery aisle she wondered* there are 6 packs of AA batteries in her art bag and 10 DD batteries in her camping bag I wonder if I should buy more incase*

Thinking of her list of things she brought for the trip she quietly repeated them to her self: 3 10in long ropes, 2 cutting blades with 3 packs of extra blades, 4 lighters and 3 bottles of lighter fluid, a pot, 4 flashlights, 2 camping lamps, 3 first aid kits, 2 heating blankets, 4 pairs of extra gloves, 2 boxes of matches, 2 cans of bug spray, 6 pairs of portable glove and foot heating packets, a book on good and bad plants to look out for, a book on types of animals to look for, and of course a herbal remedy book. Her fathers words echoed in her head as she wondered if she had brought to much. "one can never be to prepared my little Swan. Danger is in every corner*

Just about to grab the extra batteries Swan noticed they had the limit edition gummy bears with the gushing filling and grabbed 7 bags of them along with a dozen more different snacks and junk food. Making sure to grab some cans of different soups and noodles she headed to check out.
With a smirk on her face she couldn't wait to draw the mountains and breathe the fresh air.

 

[Brea]

Character Sheet: HERE
Color Ref: ed4b15
Major: Zoology
Mentioned: N/A
Interactions: Ginger ( @lepidoptera )

"Waaayyy ahead of you, there," Braeden replied as Ginger asked about energy drinks, lifting up his basket where he had loaded one of every kind of energy drunk this small store had to offer to show her. Before college, Braden never felt the need to consume something meant to give him an energy boost. He used to have all the energy he'd ever need, and then some. But, at this point he was pretty much addicted to energy drinks, especially since he couldn't ever bring himself to force down a cup of coffee. He never understood the appeal of such a bitter drink.

Along with the energy drinks were bags of chips, a handful of Payday candy bars and some chewy candy bags. Braeden mostly planned on stocking up on snacks while he was here. Everything else he thought he could possibly need was brought from home.

A heavy duty sleeping bag for the cold Colorado nights, two extra sturdy and warm jackets, two pots for cooking food and boiling water, and some coffee filters he planned to use when brewing his tea. Enough socks to change them four times a day, sweaters galore, 3 pairs of gloves, 3 emergency blankets that his roommate insisted he bring and four headlights. A tarp he planned to string up at the first sign of rain, an easy pop-up tent that took little assembly but was not very sturdy.

Walking past the small area of electronics the store had, Braeden stopped and grabbed three portable chargers. He also brought his Nintendo switch, for when there was nothing to do. He left all of his books at home, figuring he was already doing enough reading for school. The point of this trip was to get away from all that.

The young man also brought his fold-able shovel, a pocket knife, a very small first aid kit, water purifying tablets, sunglasses, a lighter and his collapsible fishing pole. He hadn't ever really liked fishing, but growing up a fishing pole was always just something his family brought camping. Some plastic baggies, 10 cans of various types of soup, his favorite beanie, four thermal mugs and his box of tea. Some containers held tea bags, others held loose leaf tea. Energy drinks and tea, that's all he needed. And, the sturdy backpack he brought to carry it all.

Wandering through the store, Braeden added two cans of bug spray and sunscreen, spf 50. He was not about to fuck up his skin and ruin the whole trip.

Braeden had never really been an outdoors man, but he was confident with all of the supplies he brought. Surly, that was all they would need for a week in the woods, right? On his way to checkout his attention was caught by a small hatchet, which he grabbed after some consideration. It wouldn't hurt to have it, anyways. Humming to himself, Braeden placed his basket of drinks and goodies on the checkout counter, along with the hatchet.

He paid for his items, waiting for his friends at the front door. Even after having got all the things he thought he needed Braeden still touched everything to look at it while he waited.​

 

[irregular-neptune]

Woodie never knew what to take camping. I mean – he understood nature, he loved being in it, but he never knew when he had too much. Or… too little? He thought, as he looked at what the others brought. He had mostly food from home – after all, as a vegetarian, he had to make sure he had enough food for himself for the trip. Food that he would willingly share but – alternatives. Mostly, it was all dehydrated foods, nothing too different from what his friends would have. Instead of the candy that Swana or Gretchen would stock up on, he had several packages of dried fruits and nut mixes, but he'd never turn it down if one of the girls offered him a gummy bear. He wasn't a health nut or anything.

He smiled as Gretchen commented optimistically on their trip. She wasn't always the most optimistic person, he knew, but he was glad that she was excited for the trip. He was excited to hang out with her more seriously – it had been a while since they had really hung out, especially since he'd come to college. It was easy for friends to fall by the wayside when you are so busy. Also… Woodie had let a lot of his relationships fall to the wayside since Leo had broken up with him at the beginning of the semester.

But it was okay! He was going on this camping trip with his friends, and he was going to get closer with them and he was going to do a lot of healing, or so he'd hoped. He took a lighter, some teas, sunscreen (he'd forgotten his at home) and energy drinks up to the counter to buy to add on to the things he'd already brought. He stood behind Gretchen in line and poked her gently, teasingly in the side. "You ready for our grand adventure?"