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.
Don’t take your good health, your ability and your youth for granted. Don’t take the little things in life for granted. Get out there, explore, meet people, make connections and appreciate everything around you, because life is so fleeting and when it’s all said and done you’ll want to be able to say that you lived it to its fullest.
But my experience in the Rockies taught me to make the most out of my travels, to get off the beaten path and to say yes. To say yes to crazy, unexpected and impulsive ideas and suggestions. Because in the end it’s always worth it.
It’d been a while. Several years. The last memory I had of this place was of being a child, and looking out from the back seat window, in awe, at the mountains rising up above me. Face pressed to the glass, transfixed to the beauty of the natural scenes around me. I must have been six, if not younger. At least eighteen years later, I found myself back.