Hitchhikin' Through Life

          The summer may be over, and the drudge of school has begun, but the adventures continue! For the second time, I went rock climbing outdoors (not to mention, somehow found myself walking out of the Trailhead with a new climbing harness. Oops.)
         If ever you reach a point of incredible stress in your life and just need a release, take up climbing. There is nothing quite like it. All your buzzing thoughts and worries vanish when you're high up in the sky clinging to a rock, needing to focus on your every move. Not to mention, I've made some new climber friends (making friends yay!) which is of course, always awesome.
        I also managed to kick a few things off the bucket list this weekend, including:
        1) Backpacking! Crazily enough, I spent all summer out in the woods but never did go backpacking. I went with three very good friends, in Glacier National Park of all places. We swam in the chilly waters of Gunsight Lake, danced with mountain goats in the sunset, and threw snowballs at each other on the high talus slopes. It was an amazing, breathtaking (sometimes literally, as we climbed over a mountain pass) experience.

     2) Hitchhiking. We got down to the end of the trail and discovered that the park shuttle was no longer running, and stuck our thumbs out. I felt a little ridiculous at first, but I didn't think it would be a problem--my friend Jeremy and I looked like pretty harmless youths, our giant packs giving us an air of legitimacy, so I thought. It was only 20-30 minutes before we got picked up, but that time span felt like forever, as we knew that if we didn't get picked up it was another 11 miles of walking to go. At last, we were saved by a lovely Canadian woman doctor.
          So much for helping out your fellow Americans, you entitled, wealthy white assholes. (Not that I'm bitter). Jody, thank you so much, wherever you are. I learned a good lesson from this one though--you never know when you're going to be the one stranded at the side of the road. Do a person a good turn whenever you can.

    3) Riding a motorcycle over Going to the Sun road. I've wanted to do this ever since I first went up Going to the Sun in a car. Let me tell you. It absolutely cannot compare to doing it on a bike. I rode pillion behind Jeremy on his bike, so I was free to just look. And I did. My eyes were bloodshot from the wildfire smoke afterward, and I was sore as hell from hiking 22 miles and then sitting in one cramped position on the back of the bike. But it was soooo worth it.

         The real adventure of the trip? Getting to do all this with good friends at my side. We signed the hiker register at Sperry Chalet "Happiness is only real when shared."