I always experience an interesting
feeling during the summer, particularly in late July and in August (these are
what I think of as the “dog days” of summer). At times, the days seem to
stretch on and are full of potential, even in the lull of late afternoon. I
love the feeling of having enough daylight to be outdoors for a while, and I’ve
barely used my headlamp this summer, although that’s also because I usually
fall asleep by 9 pm when I’m in the field! After weeks of the wonderful feeling
of having lots of time, the middle of August confronts me with the startling realization
that the summer is coming to an end. Between eight day long hitches in the
backcountry and many adventures on my days off, this summer has been a
whirlwind of unpacking and repacking. It has certainly gone quickly, but I
think I have packed a lot into it, and have been able to enjoy my time off.
I’m writing one blog post to
encompass all of my days off. My schedule for the summer typically was an
eight-day hitch in the backcountry followed by 4-6 days off. These large chunks
of time lent themselves well to adventures, and I tried to maintain the
difficult balance of exploring new places and also relaxing.
After my first hitch back in June, I
had five days off, and I ended up going on a somewhat spontaneous solo trip to
Seattle (how’s that for alliteration?). I had been to Seattle once before in
middle school, and I was excited to explore the city after spending time in the
backcountry. I arrived in Seattle without much of a plan, but after a couple
hours, I secured a bed in a beautiful, clean, and affordable hostel only two
blocks from downtown. I spent two nights there, and filled my days with
visiting the Space Needle, leisurely wandering through the stalls of Pike Place
Market, and eating delicious food. Although finding free parking in Seattle was
a little stressful, once I left the car, I enjoyed navigating the city by foot.
It was fun to see people from all over the world at the hostel, including
France, the UK, and Japan.
Several weeks ago, one of the other
interns, Kristina, and I decided to spend a few days camping at Tin Cup Lake,
which is in the Bitterroot National Forest portion of the Selway-Bitterroot
wilderness. We never work in this district, so it was fun to check out a new
area. We hiked in 11 miles and set up camp on the shore of the lake. The next
two days were a combination of reading an entire book (Indian Creek Chronicles, which I read in preparation for my
upcoming semester in Idaho’s Frank Church-River of No Return wilderness),
eating lots of fruits and vegetables, and picking huckleberries. This short
trip did me a world of good, because I remembered how much I enjoyed
recreational backpacking, rather than just doing it as part of trail work. We
had a lot of fun once we realized that we could eat lunch whenever we wanted
to, stop for a swim break, and have a completely unstructured schedule. On the
last night, we began to see a smoke column from behind the mountains that framed
the lake. The smoke gradually turned to be a simultaneously beautiful yet eerie
color of orange. I should also mention that we were completely safe, since the fire was far away.
For my most recent days off, I
drove to Bozeman, Montana, to visit with a high school friend and her sister
and brother-in-law. It was great fun to stay in their beautiful apartment and
to wander around downtown Bozeman, and just catch up with a dear friend who I
haven’t spent much with during the past two years. As much as I have loved spending
the majority of the summer sleeping in a tent and eternally covered in a layer
of grime, I equally enjoyed being clean and dressing up when we went out to
dinner. I was also fortunate enough to be able to meet up with my high school
science teacher who was in town. Reconnecting with people from my past was
exactly what I needed to unwind.
I think
that I tend to always look at adventures as being 100% fun, and glossing over
the part that is challenging. Coming out west to work in the largest area of
wilderness in the lower 48 was certainly an adventure with huge challenges, but
also contained the sweetest rewards imaginable, including complete solitude,
sunsets, sunrises, swimming holes, laughter, and happiness. Through long days
of hiking in sweltering heat, sometimes struggling to find a water source, and fighting
off seemingly inevitable blisters, the summer was much more mentally
challenging than I thought it would be. But from these challenges, friendships,
insight, and a huge amount of self-awareness have arisen. I have gained a ton
of backpacking experience, and a type of self-confidence that will transcend my
life, even when I’m back in school. In my opinion, the most important part
about adventures is that the highlights outweigh the challenges. Hiking for
14.5 hours straight or digging check steps for eight days actually end up
making really great stories, and the moments of connection to the landscape and
the people around me are the most important things I remember from this
experience. I have been so fortunate to see such a remote area of the country,
and to have indescribable feelings of peace and pure relaxation.
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Seattle city scene |
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A mural in Pike Place Market, Seattle |
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Space Needle |
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Enjoying the view from the Space Needle |
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Beautiful flowers at Pike Place Market |
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Exploring Beaver Ridge and Beaver Lake. This was a great swimming spot! |
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A wonderful swimming hole on the hike into Tin Cup Lake. |
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Grouse |
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View from above Tin Cup Lake |
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Exploring the area around Tin Cup Lake |
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Tin Cup Lake |
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Smoke from a wildfire |
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Visiting in Bozeman |