Forest Bathing - A Camping Trip

Tree roots exposed by the Deschutes River, Oregon

My husband and I did our first camping trip in over 20 years. We somehow had dogs over the last two decades that were not camping dogs. Even Harvey that we got as a pup did not like spending time in the car.

We went to a small campground about an hour south of Bend on the Deschutes River. It’s dry campground, only a pit toilet and lots of amazing scenery. Sitting in the forest, drinking my morning coffee as the birds woke was pure magic. I find it very easy to stop and relax at camp in the woods. We had plans to paddle board but the river current was super fast at that point, we skipped the paddle boarding. Walked instead, up an old forest service road that ran along the river. Pull outs and decaying picnic tables are still to be found. I hope to get back there with the mountain bikes and ride the entire 6 miles of road.

The video below is my nature journal entry for the two days we were in camp.

I sound like a broken record, (do kids today know what a broken record is?) but get outside, spend some time just being with yourself. You will be surprised at what bubbles up from the creative depths that you have inside you. Forest Bathing is a real thing with scientific evidence to back up the stress reducing benefits of spending time in the forest.