This is me on the first day of 2012 Christmas break afforded me the great pleasure of taking a break from the studying, working, and worrying that has of late monopolized my time. Getting out in nature is unquestionably my favorite way to get away . Up until late high school, getting away meant escaping into my room to play video games. Neither of my parents were big nature fans. Occasionally, we would go on a family "camping trip." This usually consisted of parking a pop-up camper in a large gravel circle somewhere near the mountains and eating hot dogs for a few days. Needless to say, the experiences were lacking. This all changed late in high school, when my Aunt Rachel and Uncle Joshua invited me to backpack with them in the Chisos Mountains. I went along, not because I loved nature, but because I loved my Aunt and Uncle and, furthermore, it was a way to assert independence. Keep in mind that I had never until this time experienced wilderness. I was a video-gamer;...