Nature writing students take it
outside in class camping trip
by Amber Fairbanks
Clackamas has a lot of classes that offer a
variety of different things. But a writing class
that has a mandatory camping trip? Yep. Na
ture Writing 268-01 has a mandatory three-
night camping trip at Silver Falls State Park.
At first, I was not very excited. A camping
trip with my instructor and people I barely
knew didn’t sound like my definition of fun,
but instructor Ryan Davis and the other stu
dents in Nature Writing proved me wrong.
The weather was nice when we all arrived
at Silver Falls, the sun peeked through the
tall trees and chipmunks scurried around. I
had never been camping in a government
camping site before, so I was ecstatic when
I found out there were hot showers and mir
rors for me to use to draw my eyebrows in.
We found our cam ping spot and began
setting up. After another student and I got
my overly large tent up, we made dinner.
Burritos were on the menu tonight, traditional
camping food of course. I was just minding my
own business enjoying my food when all of a
sudden I’m getting slapped in the face by a
feathered wing. I screamed and then realized
what had happened. A bird had dove right at
my face, hoping to make off with my burrito.
That bird went after our food all weekend. I
named him Dick.
I was ecstatic when I
found out there were hot
showers and mirrors for
me to use to draw my
eyebrows in.
The weather stayed nice all weekend and
Silver Falls had a lot of things to offer, like
hiking around the the waterfalls it’s named
after. We were so close to the waterfalls we
could feel the spray on us, it was amazing. I
ventured off for a bit on my own and walked
through the forest. It was nice to get away
from all the noise of the city and just listen
to nature.
This being a school camping trip, of course
we had to do some work. It actually wasn’t
that bad, we were given a bunch of different
writing prompts directed towards nature and
how it makes us fee, and I really enjoyed it.
As cheesy as it sounds, it made me think and
find things out about myself.
My outlook from when I first arrived to when
I left was completely different. Going from
“school is stealing my weekend” to “I’m really
happy I did this” was a huge change and I
am so glad I took this trip.
, got to know my other classmates and my
instructor and they got to know me. We were
all different in every aspect, but we all got
along, hiking together, roasting marshmal
lows, sharing our writings: it made the dive
bombing birds and sleeping on a tree root
worth it. You never really get to know you
instructor or your classmates and I’m glad I
did. If you get the chance, take Nature Writ
ing, it’s worth it.