Big Jim lived in the mountains of western Washington, where the rocky peaks were snow covered in the winter, with a lush evergreen forest covering their bases. In the summer he would throw his sleeping bag, cooler full of food, and fishing tackle, into his Bronco and explore the back country near his home. He did this alone, because he had never met a lady that enjoyed the solitude, beauty, and the rugged purity of this country. If the truth was told, he couldn't find anyone that could put up with him. In his 62 years, his experiences in life had helped to create his philosophies of life, which were the cornerstone that his world was built on. Some might say that because of this, he was a narrow minded, or set in his ways, but just the opposite was the truth.
That was why he loved the back country so much. When he was out there with the scent of the forest mixed in with the fresh air, his mind was free to fantasies about life.
On one of his trips last summer, he was driving on a Forest Service road, when a flash of light caught his eye. As he let the Bronco roll back down the hill slowly, he searched for it again. Suddenly he stopped, ah yes, he thought, there it is. By using his binoculars he could see that there was a body of water down there reflecting the sun. When he checked his map, he couldn't find anything like a lake or any roads that went near the lake.
After driving around the area for a while, he found an old logging road that seemed to go in that direction. The road was grown over with brush and narrow, and had been cut out of the side of the mountain. Thirty minutes of moving very slowly down the side of the mountain, he spotted the small lake with its crystal clear water. It was very easy to see the fallen trees lying like jack straws on the bottom. The lake was nestled between the tall trees and several very large rock formations. The road ended at a fast moving little creek that splashed its way down the mountain through rocks the size of car tires. It ended up falling about thirty feet from a rock ledge into the lake. Jim gathered up his gear and began making his way down to the lake. He made his way down to a large rock overlooking the entire lake.
After dinner, Jim collected a small pile of wood for a camp fire and then settled down to enjoy the view. It was only about 100 yards to the far side of the lake and he guessed 150 yards across it the other way. And to his right and behind him was the sound of that creek falling into the lake. Jim decided it was too late to do any exploring, so he lay back on his bedding and fell asleep.
When he woke up, he saw three deer drinking from the pool at the bottom of the falls. The sun was just coming up and was directly in his eyes as he looked out over the lake to the east. He grabbed his thermos and poured the last cup of coffee and began to rig his fishing pole for some rare sport.
It wasn't until later that morning, as he was fishing, that he noticed a small column of smoke rising from behind another large rock formation, further around the lake to his right. He wondered how they had gotten up to the lake. He hadn't seen any other cars on his drive the day before. Oh well, the fishing was good and he was about ready for some fresh fried trout and eggs for lunch, so he pulled in his string of fish and began to clean them as the fire got hot. Three twelve inch trout, four eggs and six biscuits seemed to fill him up and make him think about hiking around the lake. He decided to stay away from the other campers. It was about mid afternoon when he started to work his way around their campsite. Just when he crossed the trail that they had used to get up to the lake, he heard a lot of laughing and carrying on. He moved further away from the lake so as not to disturb them. Just as he climbed over a large rock, he ran smack into them.
" Ah hello," he said with a bit of surprise.
"Hi and where did you come from?" she asks.
"I've got a camp over there a ways," said Jim.
"We're just up here for the warm springs," she added.
"This is the first time I've ever been to this lake," smiled Jim, "A warm springs you say."
"Yes. Right over there," they said in unison.
The two girls were about fortyish, and wrapped in robes, and dripping from their trip to the springs. From what Jim could see, they were very pretty and well built, which caused him to develop a speech problem, (he couldn't speak, girls you know). But something else was starting to respond, and he hoped that they couldn't see his little private problem.
"Well I was just kind of exploring," he said.
"We're going to go to camp and fix some dinner and take a nap," said one of the girls. "We always go to the warm springs just before bed, so we'll stay warm all night. You can join us if you want."
"Oh, well, ah I don't know," stuttered Jim. "I have a good sleeping bag, and it doesn't need any warming up. But thank you any way."
"If you change your mind, just come on over," they added.
And with that Jim continued his trip back to his campsite. He was steady talking to himself all the way back too. 'You silly old fart, two nice looking girls ask you to join them in a warm springs and you get all messed up in the head and don't know what to say, boy you need a tree to fall on you. I wonder what they wear in the springs, I don't have anything to wear, and I just swim naked. It works for me anyway. Oh hell, I'll just fry up the rest of my fish and get a good night sleep.'