Mountaineering

Since my theory on life is pretty much: do what you love, dream big dreams, and do whatever you need to do to make your dreams into reality. Because you only live once, and you ain’t getting any younger (or skinnier), so do what you really want to do now.

This way of thinking caused me to decrease the ‘rainy day’ savings fund and enroll in a 12 day mountaineering guide and leadership course in SE Alaska with Alaska Mountain Guides starting April 28^th, 2012.

Day 1:

Forget what day of the week it is. Forget about what time it is. The days are now counted in numbers and the hours are counted by the sun rising and the sun setting.

After enjoying my free time and unemployment bum-bum land time in Utah, I drove up to Montana, then departed to Juneau, AK where I embarked on a ferry ride up to Haines, Alaska.

Throw together several 20-somethings from Sitka, AK, Wrangell, AK, Seattle, WA, and Fairbury, IL; along with a few 30-somethings from Fiji/Singapore, and Boston, MA and two mountain guides named Tim and Caleb and now you have six individuals not even attempting to realize what they are about to get into to.

We arrive at 8 AM with our backpacks loaded and ready with our personal camp gear at the office. At least seven large duffle bags are packed with other gear such as: ice axe, crampons, snowshoes, climbing ropes, food, pots, pans, stoves, etc…

After viewing the skies (cloudy), the mountains (covered in those clouds), our pilot, Drake, was not comfortable with the weather situation for us to fly out at 9 am. The waiting game begins. Ugh, a feeling of disappointment falls over the group. We killed some time with rope work and ascending/descending skills. Lunch rolls around and the clouds were still sitting ever so lazily in the mountains. Ugh. Just as we were finishing up our warm grilled cheese sandwiches, we get the word from higher above that the skies are clear enough and the ski plane can fly in to our destination!

The group gets hit with a wave of excitement and a whispered sense of rush beacons. We have to move quick and get down to the small airport runway before the weather decides to change again. No way do we want to be camping in town tonight, we want to get into those mountains! We hop into the van and then again patiently wait our turn to get into the ski plane.

First, the guide went into the plane with some gear and took some time scoping out if the plane could fly into our initial destination. We watched the plane very, very carefully, as we were hoping we could get dropped off near Mt. Emmerich. The plane drifted to the East. That’s not a good sign. What? Where was it going? Were we even going to be able to fly in today?  Then we lost sight of the plane and then it appeared again and landed. Our initial site was not appropriate for landing, but another site was do-able. 
 

 

The pilot was ready for group number two, followed by group number three, and finally group number four. It was just me and one other with the final gear, so I was lucky enough to grab that front seat and get a first class view for the best airplane ride of my life!

A quick liftoff and the river flood plain starts to turn into an intricate pattern of beautiful earthly design. Civilization floated away, along with my worries of normal life. The plane smoothly floats into the Chilkat Range, snowy mountains surrounded every direction you look, and you can’t even begin to imagine what it looks and feels like from the air. Just as soon as we took off, it felt like we landed. It almost felt like a video game to be floating and coming so close to the mountains and weaving in and out of them. I couldn’t help but think what a cool job a bush pilot has to be.

The pilot dropped us off ever so quickly onto an un-named glacier. This was going to be our home base for nine nights. I got a quick picture with the pilot and he jetted off. Just like that, life changed from comfortable and cozy to true mountain wilderness where it was us vs. the elements.

THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shady

Original "home" of Green River, Utah

Greetings,

My name is Shady and I am a car antenna ornament in the form of a cactus. I proudly sport some dark sunglasses, a black cowboy hat, and a blue handkerchief. This is a snippet of my life in the year 2011, which was a monumental year for me.

 My life began in some dark and smelly factory, most likely, where else, but China. Somehow, only the powers above know why, but I ended up in a small, decaying gas station in a remote, also dilapidated desert town, called Green River, Utah. Most people only stop there to fill up their gas tank on the way to the adventure paradise of Moab, Utah.

I spent many, many years in this tiny gas station, which was named, “Shady Acres”, which was appropriately named. My plastic packaging became fragile, weak, and yellow-tinged. Years and years of dust started to cover me. I was constantly living in a land of fuzz and haze as I would peer through my plastic coating at the same bag of Doritos on the shelf across from me. I felt suffocated. I felt hopeless. Would anybody ever want to buy me for ten dollars? Would I ever feel the freedom of fresh air flowing through my cactus spindles?

Full length profile

Completely unexpected, but one day in the middle of February, a young gal, wandered to the dark corner of Shady’s Gas Station and started drifting through the metal spinning display of novelty’s. Low and behold, she grabbed me, took me off my hook, dusted me off, and proceeded towards the checkout. I was in disbelief!

Right away, she tore off my plastic layer and shoved me onto her truck antenna. Boy, was I glad I had my sunglasses on! I’ve never seen such bright, brilliant light before! The gal’s name was Crystal, her trucks name was “Frosty“, and she named me “Shady”. From then on, we three have become great friends and have shared great adventures in 2011 and beyond.

Sadly though, I lost my black cowboy hat along I-15 on the way to Salt Lake City in March. So now, I have been referenced to a naked penis with cactus arms. I’m used to it now, but my noggin gets cold.

O' Canada ! Petro station !?

In May, I traveled to another country and experienced Canada first hand-the British Columbia and Yukon Territory! I also spent the whole summer living in Alaska! All I can say is that I felt very out of place and was a bit chilled up North. I also got some very funny looks.

A really really long lake in British Columbia

Shady enjoying the fresh, cold Alaskan air along the highway near Anchorage

The latter part of 2011 brought me back to another cold spot. Probably the coldest place in the Lower 48-Northwest Wyoming. What was Crystal thinking? Is this some sort of punishment? -14 degrees and this white stuff called “snow”. My poor cactus spines are frozen and constantly hurt!

Cruzin' in Wyomin'

Please ,please take me back to the desert, where I belong. Or at least for a vacation. However, I really shouldn’t complain, I’ve seen more in one year than in my life time of one Chinese factory and one dirty, dingy gas station in Utah.

I wonder where 2012 will take me?