Living for the Experiences

Growing up in Northern Colorado, I had what I consider to be one of the prettiest mountain views in the world available from my front door. This view was so amazing primarily because of two mountain peaks (known as twin peaks) that rose above above all others in the areas. Seeing those two peaks every day, filled me with a deep desire from a very young age to climb the higher of the two, Longs Peak. This was a particularly unique desire for me because I did not particularly like hiking at a young age; yet this desire stayed with me for several years.

Because I was not particularly fond of hiking, I continued to push off this desire, telling myself that I would eventually hike to the top, but I was in no hurry. I would have many opportunities to climb it in the future. In the meantime, several of my friends and family members did the hike and reached the top, and every time that they came back with amazing stories of the view from the top. When I heard these stories, my desire peaked and yearned so bad to reach the top of the world(as it seemed to me) and be able to see everything around you.

When I was almost 18 years old, I had the opportunity to climb this mountain with a group of friends. I knew that the hike would be challenging, but even knowing that, I was not fully prepared for what would come. The trail is about 16 miles round trip, and in that 16 miles, the trail ascends nearly a mile in elevation and then descends down the same path. Along the way, I was required to climb up and over boulders bigger than cars, hike along ridges with 1000 foot drops and finally climb an exhausting hill full of gravel which seemed to thwart all of my progress as I tried to ascend.

However, all of this, despite being extremely challenging, was bearable because I would be able to see the great view at the top.

Finally, we began to ascend the last 100 feet, and my whole body filled with anticipation, and as I climbed the last few steps to look back over the valley my heart sank. Dense clouds had covered all but a small portion of the plains.

I was devastated, but surprisingly only for a moment, because as I thought about all of the hard work that it had taken to get to the top of the mountain I realized how amazing it was just to have made it to the top. The amazing part about climbing Longs Peak was not the end goal of see the view, but the great experiences and accomplishments along the way. This has since become, by far, my favorite hiking trip because I was able to see beyond the end goal and have fun along the way, even when it was hard.

As I have thought back on this day, it has occurred to me that most people are like I was when I was a kid: they only care about the end result; once they get out of school or get married or get a good job or become famous, suddenly everything will be fine. However, this experience and many others, have taught me that if you can't find joy in the experiences that you have along the way, you will never be satisfied with the end goal.

Life's hard sometimes. We can either dream of better days, or we can acknowledge the great things that happen to us even in our hardest moments.

Swim Away From the Boat

“Swim away from the boat.” Usually that is the last thing that guides will ever say to a participant. In most cases, we try to do everything in our power to get participants to stay with their boats (with a marginal amount of success might I add), but today, JP encountered one of the few times where he found himself yelling these words to Richard (name has been changed). Richard had swamped (tipped his canoe and filled it up with water) in a large whirlpool that had grown since the previous day and now found himself 30 feet up stream of a large root ball as the river moved at near record-setting speeds. The guides in their group had done everything that they could to keep their group safe, but sometimes things happen that are out of our control.

This was definitely not a situation that any of the guides wanted to be in. Fortunately, they stepped up to the challenge. JP jumped to the rescue issuing out directions to Richard as he floated toward the root ball. “Swim away from your boat and toward me,” he urged with all of his might. However, Richard stayed in that position. Stunned as a deer in the headlights, he had never been in a situation like this before. On shore, fellow river users watched in disbelief as Richard continued to hurtle toward the dangerous tree. JP yelled louder, “Swim away from the tree.” But still he did not move. At this point there was nothing else that JP could do without risking his own safety, so he continued to yell, but to no avail.

It all happened so fast for JP. He passed the tree, eddying out in the wake of the rootball with all the speed and grace of the best veteran canoer s(remarkable considering this is his first year). At this point all he could do is watch and pray. He sat there as seconds passed in what seemed like days, hoping to see a body float out of the tangled mess of roots and debris, but no one passed. His heart sank as he began to face the reality of the situation. How could this have happened to him. What had he done to deserve this? It always seemed to work out in the past.

And then finally, he saw the man emerge on top of the root ball. He could not believe what had happened. Although the man was too panicky to swim away from the tree, when his life was on the line, his body took over, and he remembered the training that he had received about what to do in that situation. He had swam toward the tree and climbed on top of it to avoid further injury. JP could not believe what he saw. Nothing short of a miracle.

Spencer meanwhile had gone after the canoe as well as the other participant in the canoe that had floated past. And ledthem to safety.

The most amazing part about this story is not that it is really true. To me, it is amazing to think that the guides that encountered and handled these situations are on their first year here at the Base. Good job

Weather

The weather up here in Jackson took a turn for the worse today. As you might assume, it makes the trips a little more complicated when you have to deal with all of the normal hazards and fight a thunderstorm. Fortunately, all of the groups were excellent, so things were a lot easier.

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the weather can go from sunny to a complete downpour. Today, the weather went from perfect sunshine to complete overcast in about thirty minutes. And it is not just the weather that changes quickly. I can't the number of times that a trip has gone from complete safety to terrifying danger in matter of seconds, but to be honest, I am actually grateful for this aspect of this job. With dramatic changes that occur so quickly, it is almost impossible to get bored, and I have learned to be on my toes all of the time. I know that it is sometimes stressful for the river guides to always function at such a high level of alertness, but I know that later on it will prove to be a valuable skill for all of us.

Getting in the Know

As a staff member of Teton High Adventure Base, I have come to realize that things that we have come to know as routine occurrences are to most people excellent adventures. For those of you who are not familiar with Teton High Adventure Base, we are a boy scout high adventure base that takes scouts and other youth on whitewater canoeing trips on the Snake River. Short and Sweet, we grab life by the horns; we grip it and rip it.