Tuesday, July 26, 2016

The Mountains

     I've managed to travel from Fairbanks, AK to Bellingham, WA in just under two weeks. I did all of this travel while spending some time in Whitehorse, YT and Squamish, BC. I have been asked if I like living in a van by the many I have known and met on the road and trails. First, I always preface the excitement about living in a van with, "it may just all seem surreal right now to me but time will tell." Secondly, I often respond by saying, "I wonder why I hadn't done it earlier." I find myself questioning everything I've done and why I have lived in excess my whole life. Always feeling like I needed the next best thing. Now I just look at what do I need to get through the day? What type of fuel would I like to refuel my next run? Where are the hardest local trails? Must see spots? My life feels simplified and the best I could have imagined.
     The last two weeks that I've spent traveling and being in the Mountains!! I spent a couple days in Whitehorse where I went up Mount Lorne, Grey mountain, Mount White, Golden Horn, and Frog Lake Trail. All of them had beautiful views from the top. Mount Lorne was the longest of them all but truly had that journey of the mountains because I was shrouded in whisking clouds. Along the ridge lines at times I could only see 10 meters in front of me. I really enjoy the mixture of running and scrambling to the top with no trail to be seen. From there I spent the next two days on the road and into Squamish, BC. I had originally planned on Whistler/Pemberton but there was a scheduled Ironman event going on that weekend and it was just crazy packed, no thanks. I somehow ended up at the Elfin lakes trailhead, which was recommended to me by a friend, without even noticing that was the trail he had recommended. Crazy coincidence I thought. I met some mountain bikers that were up there from Bellingham. They told me of some places to check out while down here. They were a good group of people to interact with and the loved Azimuth of course. I was a little perturbed to find out that most of the Squamish trails don't allow dogs on the trails so I had to leave her behind with the MTB guys while I hit the trail.  The sweeping views of the mountains and lakes are... Words cannot explain and pictures can only say so much about that moment. After that I moved on down to Bellingham, WA. I came into town, found a coffee shop with WiFi and scouted out the area for the next days adventures. I realized I would have to visit the Mt. Baker recreational area to find what I was looking for. I found a nice little pullover area so that the next morning I could purchase a one-day pass to the NFS area. I was looking for elevation gain and views. I settled on Church Mountain and Goat Mountain trails as the goals for the day. The original totals looked like 8.5 miles and 3,800ft vert gain for Church mountain and 6.4 miles and 2,900 vert gain for Goat mountain. Church Mt. was a great trail, very clean and gave me a good sweat. Met some families from S. Korea on the trail and a strong tandem of ladies on the trail that I was able to share the summit with. In the early afternoon I found my way to the base of Goat Mt. trail. As posted by the board and my interpretation of trails that state Mountain it means that I should arrive to a summit at some point. I came to realize that after I had already passed the 3.2 stated miles and looking up to at least another 1k plus of vert gain left to just reach the top that I had been fooled. Ground springs can be a life savior when plans change because I was going to reach the summit some way, some how. I was able to navigate my way to an older trail that led to the top and traversing some snow made the journey much more worth it.
Mt. Baker
     Arriving to the top of any mountain just brings this huge rush of pride and gratefulness for being there. At the base of each on I have thoughts of doubt on making it to the top. "Will I have enough to get there today. Will thoughts creep in that will discourage me to turn back. Will obstacle appear that 'allow' me to turn back." Things like this go through my head almost all the time but with each passing moment I continue to get stronger and my danger/risk tolerance is growing as do my abilities.
     Van life. I have loved it so far even though it comes with its moments. The moments more or less come with my interaction with Azimuth, dog. From when she wants to come up to me while I'm driving and just lay all over the phone, camera, drinks, etc... To when she wants to come out and I'm trying to leash her up and she just knocks over her food. Her food seems to get knocked over on a daily basis. Overall though I am enjoying my time on the road and in the wilderness. Better than I could have ever imagined. Until next time may you find happy trails in your life!


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