this is backpacking. you carry a load of only those things you need a few things that make you happy and put them on your back. you walk 15 miles to the next water source hoping it will deliver. your muscles ache as you climb ridge after ridge. the sun is beating down on your brow. you back is soaking wet. the mosquitoes are everywhere. you are eating constantly because you have to. the trail becomes even steeper, your muscles ache even more, and the mosquitoes become thicker still. doubt enters your mind. what the fuck am i doing??? you push on. you are getting thirsty. your mood is foul. the trail gets steeper still, the sun get hotter. you are ready to quit.
and then all of the sudden you see it.
your jaw drops.
you peer down from the edge of a rim into a massive dormant volcano crater filled with the deepest crystal blue lake in north america, crater lake.
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you're like a cross between bear grylls, jack bauer and mark twain. i love it! i can't stop reading...more!!!!
ReplyDeleteI just stumbled across this, and I thought you were being all metaphorical about life. I said to myself, "I know the mosquitoes, the doubts, the sweaty back, but how will I recognize this so-called 'crater lake' when, in the fullness of time, it smiles upon me?" (I mean, other than by the deep blue face).
ReplyDeleteThen, I pieced together, shit, you're actually hiking across the state of Oregon in 20 mile-a-day chunks?!?
So, wait, that means... if I were driving up the I-5 at 20mph... I'd be, like, three and a half weeks ahead of you by now... or whatever else happens to people driving the interstate at 20mph.
Now, how are you supposed to swim across that thing with a pack on your back?