silversummit - Feb 20, 2010 10:54 pm - Voted 10/10
It's the small things....
isn't it that can help us see the world differently if we allow them. I loved reading your report; it reminded me that we never stop growing and changing!
Kathy,
Thanks for the added insight and the wonderful perspective you have added! Of course, more readily allowing myself to move out of my comfort zones would help - for most people as well, I imagine.
Glad you enjoyed the TR. It was a very memorable day and in hindsight obviously important.
Good job relating what many of us, myself included, have gone through. I relate very well to "Prior to this hike in 2006 I spent my time planning trips by looking at trail maps, and saw…well I saw trails. Now I find myself looking at topo maps and all I see are opportunities."
That's pretty much how it went for me. The game changed in July 1999 in the Sierra Nevada. Weather had been bad during a backpacking trip, and I took advantage of a break to wander higher up in the lake basin where we camped. Then I wandered higher and higher up scree slopes to a pinnacle up there, wanting to see the other side. When I did, I was hooked. I wrote a little TR on it here: Kearsarge Pinnacles-- How an Addiction Began.
Interestingly, I, like you, hiked up to Black Lake (1998) with the intention of going to Frozen Lake but turned back when the weather went to crap. That was also the day I learned to pack for bad weather no matter what; shorts and a flannel shirt did not work so well in thunder, rain, and hail!
I enjoyed reading this and like knowing others had these "awakenings."
Thanks for the kind words. It wasn't my primary intention, but as I wrote this TR I did start to wonder if others had had similar experiences. Glad to know I'm not the only one.
I just read your TR, and I can honestly say I'm glad I hadn't read it prior to starting work on my version. If I had I doubt that I would have submitted this. I almost feel now like I'm guilty of plagarism (but I do realize I'm not)! I've read a lot of your stuff, but hadn't stumbled across that one yet.
And I do plan on getting back to towards Frozen Lake again, but will be planning a climb of Pagoda if I do.
Your Rocky Mt Park experiences here in Colorado are exactly what many people find when they make the effort and find the fortitude to pursue such endeavors.......another great TR!
I'm not sure exactly when the game changed for me, but it wasn't in the mountains, it was in the Boundary Waters/Quetico area of Minnesota and Ontario. See I guided canoe trips there for 2 summers in the early '80s. I'd take crews out on 10 day wilderness canoe trips, but we'd always travel on open lakes or streams that were large enough to paddle or portgage along well defined portage trails. But I always looked at the map and saw lakes that weren't connected by a canoable waterway or portage trail and wondered what that lake was like. Where there big lake trout or walleye in them? Would that be where the moose are? But it wasn't until a few years later that I was joined by a like minded former guide that we took the plunge and brushcrashed our way into some of those lakes. Since then I've had no fear and often pursue the journey that is off the beaten path, whether it is back in the Boundary Waters or in RMNP or anywhere else.
silversummit - Feb 20, 2010 10:54 pm - Voted 10/10
It's the small things....isn't it that can help us see the world differently if we allow them. I loved reading your report; it reminded me that we never stop growing and changing!
Thanks for sharing with us Mark!
MarkDidier - Feb 21, 2010 2:22 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: It's the small things....Kathy,
Thanks for the added insight and the wonderful perspective you have added! Of course, more readily allowing myself to move out of my comfort zones would help - for most people as well, I imagine.
Glad you enjoyed the TR. It was a very memorable day and in hindsight obviously important.
Happy Trails,
Mark
Bob Sihler - Feb 22, 2010 7:59 pm - Voted 10/10
My own story?Good job relating what many of us, myself included, have gone through. I relate very well to "Prior to this hike in 2006 I spent my time planning trips by looking at trail maps, and saw…well I saw trails. Now I find myself looking at topo maps and all I see are opportunities."
That's pretty much how it went for me. The game changed in July 1999 in the Sierra Nevada. Weather had been bad during a backpacking trip, and I took advantage of a break to wander higher up in the lake basin where we camped. Then I wandered higher and higher up scree slopes to a pinnacle up there, wanting to see the other side. When I did, I was hooked. I wrote a little TR on it here: Kearsarge Pinnacles-- How an Addiction Began.
Interestingly, I, like you, hiked up to Black Lake (1998) with the intention of going to Frozen Lake but turned back when the weather went to crap. That was also the day I learned to pack for bad weather no matter what; shorts and a flannel shirt did not work so well in thunder, rain, and hail!
I enjoyed reading this and like knowing others had these "awakenings."
MarkDidier - Feb 22, 2010 9:53 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: My own story?Thanks for the kind words. It wasn't my primary intention, but as I wrote this TR I did start to wonder if others had had similar experiences. Glad to know I'm not the only one.
I just read your TR, and I can honestly say I'm glad I hadn't read it prior to starting work on my version. If I had I doubt that I would have submitted this. I almost feel now like I'm guilty of plagarism (but I do realize I'm not)! I've read a lot of your stuff, but hadn't stumbled across that one yet.
And I do plan on getting back to towards Frozen Lake again, but will be planning a climb of Pagoda if I do.
Thanks again,
Mark
myrone - Sep 16, 2010 9:09 am - Voted 10/10
Well received TRYour Rocky Mt Park experiences here in Colorado are exactly what many people find when they make the effort and find the fortitude to pursue such endeavors.......another great TR!
MarkDidier - Sep 18, 2010 10:29 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Well received TRThat was definitely a defining day, and my days on (and now off) the trail have never been the same since.
Thanks for kind words!
Mark
argothor - Oct 6, 2011 6:12 pm - Hasn't voted
my game changerI'm not sure exactly when the game changed for me, but it wasn't in the mountains, it was in the Boundary Waters/Quetico area of Minnesota and Ontario. See I guided canoe trips there for 2 summers in the early '80s. I'd take crews out on 10 day wilderness canoe trips, but we'd always travel on open lakes or streams that were large enough to paddle or portgage along well defined portage trails. But I always looked at the map and saw lakes that weren't connected by a canoable waterway or portage trail and wondered what that lake was like. Where there big lake trout or walleye in them? Would that be where the moose are? But it wasn't until a few years later that I was joined by a like minded former guide that we took the plunge and brushcrashed our way into some of those lakes. Since then I've had no fear and often pursue the journey that is off the beaten path, whether it is back in the Boundary Waters or in RMNP or anywhere else.
MarkDidier - Oct 7, 2011 5:52 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: my game changerThat's a great story. Thanks for sharing...and for stoppping by.