23 years. That’s how long it took before I went camping for the first time. My first foray into sleeping in a temporary nylon home in the outdoors was both an experience I would have never expected and one that I will never forget.
I was over it. I was over scrolling. I was over using these apps to communicate with people, often times leaving several messages in my inbox unread because I simply didn’t want to attend to them anymore. I was over waking up and reaching over to my phone to check up on all of these apps. I had to reprioritize and get my focus back. My mornings and nights back.
While we only spoke for a few minutes, it was very insightful. He told me that he was 78 and runs every second day. In fact, he’s been doing it for years! The astounding thing is that he looks incredibly youthful and still moves very well all things considered!
After a days worth of mileage was under our belts, we’d reconvene at the campsite, cook our meals, and revel around the fire, often singing Take Me Home Country Roads at the tops of our lungs. Completely gone was the perpetual need to update my stories on Instagram or to document every little thing. I found myself hardly ever reaching for my phone and I loved it.
Want to know one of the greatest feelings there is as a runner that lives at sea level? Your first few runs back home immediately following some nice mileage in high altitude.
“I run because I can. When I get tired, I remember those who can’t run, what they would give to have this simple gift I take for granted, and I run harder for them. I know they would do the same for me.” — Unknown
Nearly 50km of hiking had been done in the last two days and people were beginning to feel the effects, especially after the challenge that was Cascade Mountain.
Day 2 was probably remembered most for its notorious switchbacks, and the surreal beauty of the Cascade Amphitheatre, not to mention the worsening smoke from the BC forest fires. The day’s hikes consisted of the Cascade Amphitheatre (13.2 km, 640m elevation gain) and Stoney Squaw (4.2 km, 190m)
Lake Day, as it was dubbed, was the best way possible to start the trip. We wasted no time getting into it as we were set to hike Rockbound Lake (16.8km, 760m elevation gain) and Boom Lake (10km, 175m) for a combined 27km of hiking with 935m of elevation gain! Each hike was to take us to some beautiful destinations, and both places will forever be ingrained in my mind.
On Friday, August 3rd, 2017, myself and 27 students from across Canada came together in Calgary, Alberta. Many had already known one another, many more did not. But if the initial talks and impressions were any indication, we were all in for quite the week.