The Noxon High School scholarship winner was Dustin Wolfe

I am sure that most people will talk about some hunting trip or big fishing trip where the author bagged the big trophy.  And I give you, this would be a memorable experience, but they are big productions. I think that the best experience the world has to offer are those little things that would normally pass you by as any ordinary day.

My experience happened with my dad. I was staying with him in Noxon while my mom was at her parent’s house. My dad wanted to spend some personal time with me and we were bored so we decided to head up to the Ross Creek Cedars. We talked mostly on the drive, each trying to figure out when we could get the boat going for some fishing. The cruise was nice, especially when we hit Highway 56; there is some very beautiful country up there.

We turned onto a side road then onto a road that went up to the cedars. It was a windy road that could barely fit two good-sized cars. The random small waterfalls that came off the mountains were all over the place. Their magnificence was unmatched, small and simple but still packed a punch.

We arrived at a small parking lot that had one of those forest service toilets that always smelled awful. Except this one did not, which surprised me. Anyways we started to explore the designated trails. It was very cool and misty beneath the massive trees, my dad made a remark about how thankful he was that someone wanted to protect this area instead of just logging it out. Someone chose to keep this piece of forest whole.

We noticed that some of the trail was flooded out with a newborn creek taking advantage of the forest services work. Somehow we both thought that this was the funniest thing in the world. Cracking jokes back and forth; having a good time. Then we both sat down and got really quiet, I was still thinking about future fishing. We got up and decided to be a typical tourist and take a bunch of pictures of the each of us standing inside of a burnt out cedar. We decided to load up and head home after a couple more hours, it was getting a little cold.

We began the drive back to the motel room we were staying in. Mostly silence with brief talks of guess what? More fishing, we are fishing freaks if you have not noticed that yet. Back to the story, we got back and we ate some chili that we cooked in a little microwave in that little motel room. As uncomfortable as it was to live in that hole, it sure did produce some memories.

Why does this story even matter in the end, nothing significant happened besides two guys exploring and wandering around in the woods. It was a father and son bonding experience that we uniquely shared. It was the little things that mattered to me the most. When I read this prompt I had a hundred stories I could have told, but I chose this one because it is now held very close to my heart.

Share this Page

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.