Brain dead from finals and struggling to keep my eyes open from the long week, I realize that the one thing I need right now is a vacation. A very specific type of vacation – a camping trip.

Twice a year, my dad takes me to Sequoia Mountains, a place that I know like the back of my hand. I know every turn, every hike, every dirt bike trail, and every campground there is on this mountain. I consider it my second home.

But there is one spot in these mountains that’s even better than the rest. Ten miles down a long stretch of road, there is a dirt trail that leads you back into a hidden campground. It’s far from any sort of civilization making it really feel as if you are in the middle of nowhere. A small river runs through this campground, adding a soft trickling to fill the silence. Trees and mountains surround the campground making you feel as if you were in a valley when you are really at 5,600 feet. A small trail at one end of the campground leads you back in the trees. Sequoia trees. A large grove of them right in the campsite.

One of my favorite things to do at that campground is walking along the river, exploring upstream and seeing all the beautiful things that it takes you too. I like to sit next to the river and read a book. The peace I get from being there is amazing.

My dad and I found this campground years ago when we were looking for more dirt bike riding trails. We walk along the dirt path until we reached the campground. And then something amazing happened. Out of nowhere, thousands and thousands of ladybugs and butterflies migrated through the campground. It was the wild and weird, but extremely fascinating. Ladybugs clung to my body as I stood in the middle of their migration.

In that moment, I knew that this would always and forever be my Sequoia home.