First the reason I was there

One summer in the Academy I had to do survival training. They put us in groups of three in a national forest in Colorado. After teaching us how to avoid being seen, pick paths, use a compass properly, triangulate, etc. etc., they grouped everyone in one spot and we began practicing. So during one particular night, we were supposed to get from one area to another area approximately 3 miles away. (keep in mind we were being hunted down by the upperclassmen so we couldn't take straight lines, had to stay away from wellknown paths and roads, etc. etc.)

We left around midnight, and around 3 AM were hopelessly lost (that's what I get for allowing another member to pick a heading and trusting him to follow that heading . . . turns out that he "thought" we were going wrong so he changed the degree heading by ten degrees at SOME point in the night without telling us. So we ended up WAY off)

Then the most beautiful place I've ever seen

We took a break by a stream, and it was the most gorgeous place I've ever seen. A full moon that night, small clearing above us through the trees so the moon was reflecting off the stream. A few mossy boulders, fish swimming in this CRYSTAL CLEAR stream (only about four feet deep). It was better than any scene I've ever seen in any movie or magazine. We all ate some of our food there and sat down for about twenty minutes or so while I calmed down. It was so beautiful I drank straight from the stream (stupid, I know, considering all the crap I coulda gotten and considering I did have iodine tablets on me to properly sterilize the water), but I just HAD to drink from it.

Alexi

PS - the water ended up being ICE cold, and tasted GREAT. And I didn't catch anything (wipes sweat off forehead . . )