While I was in elementary school, my family lived in Lancaster, California, in the Mojave Desert.

I loved that desert and spent a lot of time on my own exploring and riding horses there all by myself.

In the summer of 1967, once I finished sixth grade,

we moved north to Bishop, California on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. This is

where my father grew up. He had family who lived in nearby lone pine and they still did. Dad made the

decision to move as a result of a deal with his partner wherein they split the business

geographically and dad took over the northern half. In Lancaster we spent a lot of time outdoors

in the desert and this didn't change when we moved to Bishop.

It was an absolutely gorgeous place to live, and my love of nature grew as I was afforded the same freedom to roam and explore with my horse.

As a family, we often traveled via our Willis Jeep to remote spots where dad taught us all about camping and how to fish and shoot rifles.

One weekend, my mom and dad, me, and four of my five siblings went on one of those camping trips to the mountains.

Remote camping is exactly what it sounds like. There was no campground,

no showers, and no playground for kids. It was just us in nature with no one else around for

miles and miles. We set up camp at the end of the long clearing that had a nice fire burning

as night fell. I love camping back

then. There just wasn't anything like sitting around the fire with my family and taking in all

the feelings and sounds of the great outdoors. Eventually, I needed to answer nature's call and I headed

away from the firelight along one side of the clearing. Once I felt, I needed to answer nature's call and I headed away from the firelight along one side of the clearing.

Once I felt I was far enough away from the camp, I squatted down behind a bush to empty my bladder.

Our camp was to my right as I stared straight across the clearing.

Suddenly, I saw a large creature step out of the brush on the

other side of the clearing about my one o'clock. It made no sound as if it were trying to be quiet.

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