Down time... I'll chat with whoever I'm hiking with, write in my little waterproof journal, make sketches, maybe explore & take pictures. For me, it's a time to be away from cell phones, blaring music, traffic, everything. It's the down time that feels the best because I earned it.

Of things I haven't tried but would like to:
- talk my brother into camping so we can write native songs with nature right there as an inspiration
- carve and paint native artwork, using found woods & pigments
- have a bible study with my fiance
- stargaze with a little spotting scope
- make a bow from deadwood and target practice with it
- have a big pinochle game

I've toyed with the idea of making a hiking trip out of collecting food items, such as berries, seaweed, sea asparagus, fern fronds, hudson bay tea. We used to do it a lot back on the res when I grew up and it's something I'd like to show to my non-res friends & family. Collecting food and preserving it for winter is an old, pre-electricity habbit my tribe hasn't quite grown out of yet. They probably will forget someday, maybe after a generation or two more of grocery stores and fast food.