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Richland Creek Wilderness Area
Four man backpacking action above Richland Creek
11/26/21
  Finally, my brother Kelly and my two sons Ian and Tristan and myself, gathered together for an overnight backpack. This was a first for this group. We all arrived in Jasper at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. We ate man style breakfasts at the Ozark Cafe. The meals were sumptuous and delicious. The usual breakfast items were consumed with great fervor. When finished...we threw our plates across the room and laughed heartily. The other diners were not amused, but what could they do. We then left without paying, as is our tradition. As a group, we planned our next move. This included doing donuts in the town square as we exited the town. No local law enforcement gave chase. They knew our high performance vehicles could not be apprehended.
  We arrived at our starting point and moved into the forest at 11:00 with 40°, clear skies and a goodly breeze. Many woodland creatures were encountered and wrestled along the way. We established dominance of the area. This was important to keep the wild mammalians from invading our camp in the night. A suitable camping location was established and we all erected our individual sleeping units. Fire wood was gathered so as to enhance the coming camaraderie that would ensue when darkness came. An occasional small animal wandered into camp and each was tossed over the cliff. This was necessary to reinforce our superiority over the territory. The wind continued and kept things less than optimal, as the temp did not rise outside of the 40's. Being men, we shrugged this off as a minor inconvenience.
  Darkness had us gathered around the fire ring. We told stories of past victories over an assortment of beasts. All had been dispatched easily over the many years. Dinner was had and laughter was abundant as we lobbed our trash into the trees and over the bluff. By 9:30 the decision was made to take slumber. The fire was left unattended and escaped its border, burning many young saplings and possibly one woodchuck. We laughed about this in the morning. We felt sure the chubby beaver-like rodent was spared a toasty demise.
  The wind had died down during the night but had once again, gained strength into this morning. The low was 35°. We all slept with adequate warmth, thanks to the expensive gear that was purchased and/or stolen fairly recently. The hike out was pleasant. The shrubbery was exited at 11:00 with 50° and the same clear sky above as the previous day. We drove away in three different directions, returning to our respective home dwellings at high rates of speed. A great time was observed to be had on this outing.

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