The camping trip hadn’t been what I expected. Before we left, the older scouts had talked about a lake good for swimming. No one ended up swimming. I can’t remember what the weather was like the morning back home, but when we got out of the station wagon in the mountains it was raining.

It rained all weekend. I put on the rain gear my Dad got me and made up three miles of muddy trail. On the way was the lake. No one swam. In camp, I set up my tent and the other boys set up theirs. Then we ate. Already I wanted to go home.

The next morning it was still raining. We ate breakfast, left camp, and headed up the trail. The small summit loomed ahead until we reached it. On the top, I tried to call my parents but there was no reception. Down below was the lake. It was still raining. We didn’t swim. We hiked back to camp. It took hours both ways. Tired and sore and done with it all, we ate and we slept.

We heard rain drops breaking the lake surface as we slept. No one swam that weekend. I wanted to go home.