It’s just after dawn, the birds are chirping and the summer sun has just hit my tent like a spotlight. Morning, as they say, has broken.

Well, I say, wake me up when it’s fixed; I’m going back to sleep.

I admit it; I’m a proud member of the Crack of Noon Club, a loose-knit fellowship of hikers and campers who have discovered the joy of being fashionably late in the wilderness. Composed of the seriously sleepy and the terminally tardy, the club is a veritable society of sloth, dedicated to the proposition that the phrase “Better late than never” is two words too long.

Are you Crack of Noon material? Do you like to sleep late and travel slowly? To saunter where others sprint, and meander where no one has meandered before? The fact is, you may already be a Nooner.

I mean, c’mon, don’t you wonder about those people who jump up at the crack of dawn, rattle around the campsite and say things like, “Rise and shine! The early bird catches the worm!”? Gee, now there’s an incentive.

And, really, what’s the hurry? The mountains aren’t going anywhere, the trail won’t suddenly get overgrown and your next camp will still be there whenever you arrive. It’s a walk in the woods, for Pete’s sake, not a competition—and people who race through the wilderness run the risk of missing the forest and the trees. As any Nooner will tell you, it’s always better to stop and smell the rosewood.

Then there’s the practical factor: The slower you go, the later you get to camp, which means there’s a good chance your worm-chasing friends will have already collected the firewood, set up the tent, and, if you’re really good, prepared the evening repast. You can grab a bite, grab your pillow and be halfway to dreamland before they’ve gotten to the second verse of Kum Ba Yah.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? Yeah, I figured you for a Nooner all along. Welcome to the club. There are no dues and no meetings, but now you can dare to dawdle, procrastinate with pride and lollygag until the cows come home. After all, it’s not often you see Bessie breaking a sweat.

Besides, the slower you travel, the more time you have to enjoy the trip. And the next time some worm-chaser hassles you about it, just reply with the official Nooner credo: “Hey, give it a rest, will ya?”