Chapter 9

We woke about seven with sunlight sneaking in around the closed curtains. We had a couple of hundred miles to go to the area where we planned on camping but we weren't going to start hiking until Saturday. This was Friday and we would just camp at some campground near the road and exactly where didn't matter. Altogether this meant that we didn't have to rush. We ended up staying in bed for another two and a half hours as we managed another two times. At last, after a quick shower, we took our things out to the car and went over to check out and grab a quick breakfast. By eleven we were headed out of the park and going towards Idaho.

We drove for a couple of hours and stopped for hamburgers for lunch before leaving the main roads for much smaller ones leading us deeper into the back country. Late in the afternoon we stopped at a National Forest campground some twenty miles from our eventual trailhead. This was not a heavily frequented area and other than the resident manger in his RV we were the only ones to camp there. We cooked a couple of chicken breasts and some flavored rice for dinner and crawled into our tent early, even if it was another hour or more before we settled down to sleep.

In the morning we left early for the short drive to where we parked for the trailhead. Twenty minutes to get our packs ready and don our boots and we headed out. We were already fairly high up into the foothills and the map showed the trail climbing higher from the parking area. We spent the next eight hours following the trail which was so lightly used as to be nearly undetectable at many times. Just after four in the afternoon we crossed a ridge and started down a series of switchbacks into a large bowl. An alpine lake filled the lowest part with meadowland on one side and forest which came nearly down to the lake on the other. High peaks surrounded the entire bowl to one extent or another. This looked like a perfect camping spot.

We found a clearing in the forested area above the lake and set up the tent. We had brought a steak for the first night along with a couple of potatoes to bake. Instead of a salad we had a bunch of small carrots. We cleared a space and made a fire ring from stones. As the fire danger was low, we were permitted a campfire and now we gathered enough downed wood to last us for a couple of days. We put the potatoes in to cook and walked along the shore of the small lake, just casually exploring our surroundings. The lake looked crystal clear and, while quite cool, surprisingly wasn't extremely cold. I guess it was shallow enough for the water to have warmed somewhat by mid August.

By the time we went back to the fire the sun was just going down behind the western peaks but it would still be a while before it actually became dark. We raked some coals to one side and started to grill the steak.

Everything came out perfectly: potatoes not overdone but soft inside, steak medium rare without being charred on the outer parts. We ate sitting side by side, leaning against each other, both very, very happy to be here.

It might seem that now that we were really alone and the way we had been after each other like two hot minks that we would have immediately started pulling each other's clothes off as soon as we finished eating. However, that isn't what happened. Instead we cleaned up things and hung the food up away from any animals just like any other night camping. Then we went down by the lake shore and found a nice place to sit, our backs to a big rock, where we could watch the sky become fully dark and the stars start to emerge.

The moon was just a day past new so it dropped below the western horizon before dusk had completely turned to night. But over the next hour the stars came out even more brightly than they had when we were up on the Crest Trail in the Tetons. Here there were no nearby towns, no artificial lights to interfere, and the celestial display shone more vividly that I could have imagined.

We were sitting side by side, but after an hour or so Matt pulled me onto his lap and I went very willingly, snuggling into the curve of his neck, my hand wrapped around his side. I could feel his breath in my hair and the slight pressure as his arm encircled my shoulders. Who needed the loaf of bread and the jug of wine? This was certainly enough.

We remained together like this until well after midnight. Not silently, though. We talked. About what we planned to do in the future, about school, about what high school had been like for each of us, and about a thousand other things. Nothing earth shattering but all of deep interest to us. All the while the heavens rotated overhead, the dipper silently swinging around the North Star with the huge "W" of Cassiopeia keeping her distance directly across from it. The Milky Way was clearly visible as it painted the shining road across the sky. Twice we saw meteors as they left their flaming trails across the heavens. I guess these were a few stragglers of the Perseid Meteor Shower. That had been last Wednesday night and we had gone to a talk by one of the park rangers in which he described this annual event.

Finally we began to become a little more aroused and soon became involved in some comfortable petting. Even with our excitement the air was a little too cool to remain outside so we made our way back to the tent and sealed ourselves inside.

I had become quite used to being naked with Matt, especially at night, so there was no hesitation as we stripped down and moved together on top of the sleeping bags. This time it was long, slow love making and it was another two hours before, finally sated, we moved inside the bags and I fell asleep snuggled spoon fashion against Matt's firm body.

When I opened my eyes it was to warm air, the sound of birdsong, and the feel of Matt's firm body still pressed tightly against mine. A wonderful way to awaken.

It was after ten, but that wasn't too surprising as it was probably sometime after three before we went to sleep. The sun was high and we could see it leaking through the evergreen branches when we peaked outside. Nature's call forced us to leave the tent but the air was warm. Perhaps just for speed or more likely for the thrill of it, we went completely naked.

Two weeks. Just two weeks since I was a virgin and now here I was making a bathroom trip, completely bare, with an equally nude male. I would never have dreamed I could change so quickly, but I had and I loved the change.

We returned to the tent but it was another forty minutes before we dressed. Somehow we found something to occupy the time.

We just grabbed a granola bar to hold us until lunch which I was sure wouldn't be too far off. As we ate these we talked about what to do with the rest of the day. Matt had the topo map which showed a number of trails in the area but since it was already so late we decided not to try any long treks that day.

Instead we chose to make a shorter hike to the ridge at the western edge of the alpine bowl. We shoved a couple of things into a small daypack and by eleven thirty we were on our way. We climbed another trail which switched back and forth up the side of the western ridge. The temperature had climbed rapidly right along with us and was now well into the mid or upper eighties. Matt and I were both wearing cutoffs and tee shirts but by the time we reached the crest we were both soaked with sweat.

The ridge was just bare rock with only a little low vegetation but we found a place to sit and take off the small packs. Even with the heat the slight breeze sent chills down our backs as the sweat began to dry. However, this didn't last long and soon we were quite comfortable. We pulled out the cheese, crackers, and dried fruit we had brought for lunch and spent a half hour nibbling at this fare and looking all around at the fantastic sights visible from our high vantage point.

The trail went along the top of this ridge, partly encircling the bowl below us before starting down the backside of another ridge, perpendicular to the one we were on. We decided not to start down this one today and turned to retrace our steps back to the trail we had originally ascended. Going down the steep slope was actually harder than climbing it had been and by two thirty when we reached our camp area we were both drenched from the exertion.

Dropping my pack I turned to Matt and commented, "I love being out here in the wilderness but a good, long shower would feel nice about now."

"No kidding," he agreed. Then he looked around and said, "We don't have a shower but how about a swim? That should work almost as well."

Involuntarily I glanced around. I knew I hadn't brought a bathing suit and I didn't think Matt had either. "You mean skinny dipping?" I asked.

"Sure. Haven't you ever done that? Or is it you are afraid to look at my magnificent body?" Then, clowning, he struck a muscle man pose, right arm raised and bent to make a muscle.

I laughed. "No, I don't mind that at all. That is if you don't mind that I might rape you," I teased. Then shyly looking down I added, "Actually I haven't done anything like that since I was a little kid."

"Well, I'm not afraid of you raping me - as if you'd get the chance before I did it to you. But I guess it can't be rape if we both want it, can it?" He looked around and said, "Look, Lauren, there's no one else around here, probably not for many miles at the least. Let's do it." With that he pulled his tee shirt over his head and dropped it on a rock before sitting down and starting to remove his boots.

I thought to myself, why not? I bent over and unfastened my own boot laces and pulled them off followed by the thick socks. With only a quick glance around I determinedly pulled off my shirt also. I had forgone even a sports bra that morning so this left me completely bare to the waist. By this time Matt had stripped off his cutoffs and underwear and was standing there, maybe not completely like an Adonis, but close enough for me. I pulled off my own lower garments and Matt's intense look of appreciation sent a thrill throughout my bare body. Then hand in hand we walked the few short yards over to the lake shore and stepped into the water.

It was cold! Actually I later discovered it was only cool but the difference of that and the hot air made it seem icy when it first touched me. Matt didn't let me climb back out though and pulled me in deeper. Then he splashed me all over eliciting a loud squeal which was, I'm sure, his main idea. I splashed him back and soon we had both ducked completely under and begun to swim around.

We spent probably a half hour in the water, stopping now and then to embrace and kiss, before we decided we had had enough for just then. We emerged and used our hands to wipe the excess liquid from our bodies and then Matt led me over to a large flat rock where we lay in the sun as the warm breeze and the low humidity of the high mountains rapidly dried our skin.

Actually it felt quite nice to just lie there, letting the sun and breeze caress me. In a couple of minutes it felt even better when Matt's large hand began to rub my back. And then my legs. And then my bottom. The sun wasn't the only thing warming me up.

The rock was smooth and comfortable enough to just lie on but I wasn't sure about having Matt pressed down on top of me on the rigid stone. I soon found that he had a better idea. He moved to the edge of the rock and sat with his legs dangling over the side. He then moved me around to sit facing him, my legs spread outside of his. As he lowered me down to his lap and his now hard organ penetrated me I let out a sigh at the exquisite sensation of his firm flesh sliding into my well lubricated opening.

Our arms went around each other, pulling my breasts against his hard chest, and we began to slowly rock back and forth. We managed to make this coupling last for a long, long time. I wasn't timing it but I think it was well over a half hour, maybe even twice that long, before we began to move more quickly and with more force until both Matt and I exploded into the fabulous place I had only imagined until two weeks ago.