Well I am pleased to announce the new site is up and running thanks to a lot of work from a good friend. Whereispaul.me is the new site. It is sleak and clean looking. My goal is to have a lot of writing on my travels as I go but also to start writing about some of my past adventures as well. I hope it will be a source of knowledge for some, a source of inspiration for others, and a place of creativity for myself. A big thank you is needed for David Aviles who is my computer and coding guru. For those of you who are using a computer at work or on a non secure server you may have to access the new site using theadventuregarage.com . While the site is currently launched it is still under construction. Lots will be coming sortly, as I travel a lot will be written as I go along from my present trip as well as from my past. so check back frequently and don't forget to check out my interactive map page.
Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego, Argintina.
Departure date July 1st 2013
(Emerald Bay- Lake Tahoe California 2007 on Bike and Build Trip)
I believe that within every person there
is a lust for exploration. However, mine may be a little greater than most. I
have biked across the USA, hiked the Appalachian Trail and explored Australia,
but even after all of my travels, I still have wanderlust.I am ready to explore the Pan America Highway
and to bike through countries and across continents. It is my dream. I have
come to realize that there is no perfect time for a trip like the one I am
about to undergo.There is never an easy
time to walk away from your life. I will never be in the perfect shape, will
never have enough money, nor enough time off.Now is the time! The first step, simply starting, is the hardest.If it’s something important, something that
truly resonates with you, then you make time, find the money, and get in shape
as you go. So I’m making the time and I’m leaving. If I don’t start now, I will
always be in the planning phases. I could continue to wait for that perfect
time forever so I’ve decided to leave on a wonderfully epic journey.
(REI Novarra Randonee- the bicycle I am riding. From Rei.com)
I first heard about the Pan American Highway years ago while I biking
from Rhode Island to California with a group called Bike and Build.The Pan American was described to me as the greatest
of adventures and not for the faint of heart.It is the ultimate bike tour that only the most daring people dream
about.I knew that I would never forget
the idea of such a journey and I have continued to talk about going for years
with anyone who would listen. The majority think the trip is crazy, so it’s
been difficult to find anyone who would contemplate the idea, let alone find another
crazy enough to come with me.But I have
to go.Although I am starting this trip
alone, it is my hope that people will join me along the way.For some it will only be a few hours, others
a few days, and maybe there will even be a few awesome people who will even
come out for a few weeks or months.The
moments shared will be, by far, my best ones, so I hope you consider joining
me.
(Pan American Highway map and route courtesy of Wikipedia)
My plan is simple enough.July 1st I will fly to Prudhoe Bay,
Alaska.I will get off the plane, pick
up my bike from the post office, rebuild it, and then set off into the Alaskan wilderness:
in a southern direction of course.I
have mapped and studied my entire route to make a daily itinerary of what I
would like to accomplish.I have broken
it down in the simplest way I could, bike from point A to point B.This leaves me time and flexibility so I can
truly live each day as it comes.The
plan will definitely change as I go but my goal will be to average 80-90 miles
a day.I will stop as circumstances come
up, rest when I need too, meet and interact with people, and sight see a little
here and there.My trip will be broken
down into 3 parts; North, Central, and South America. I have not been to any of
the areas that I propose to travel through.Even in the north, I will pass through states that are all foreign to me:
Alaska, Yukon Territory, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California.Then I will venture into Central America
where I will be submerged in a new language as I pass through Mexico,
Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.Finally, after passing the famed Darian Gap I
will start the final leg of the trip through South America: Columbia, Ecuador,
Peru, Chile, and Argentina.The end of my trip will take me to Tierra del
Fuego the southernmost point of Argentina and South America. I know that this
final stage will be just as glorious as the start and everything in between. If
everything goes smoothly and I stick to the schedule that I have created, I
could be done as early as February, 7 months from when I begin. However, I
almost hope that I can extend my experience. (Bike Route similar to what I am planning on taking- Map taken from Bikeitsolo.com - original rider and blogger who inspired me to do this trip a few years back)
I want to see the world before I settle
into one city and plant roots. I need to see how far I can take this. I need to
get on my bicycle and complete the Pan America Highway. In July, I will be turning
25 and as I hit my quarter life crisis, I want to be challenging myself.I would like to push my limits physically as
I pedal some 15,000 miles from Alaska all the way down to Argentina. I want to
see and feel the loneliness of the remote Alaskan wilderness, experience some west
coast culture while seeing the grand ocean views on the road. I want to learn a
new language, experience new cultures, and see the tropical rain forests and
deserts along the way.I need to climb
over one mountain range after another at a pedals pace so that I can see and
feel every single mile.My wanderlust,
my need to see what is around the next corner will keep me going, even on those
days that are difficult.I want to see
as much as I can, appreciate as much as I can because we never really know how
long any of us will be here.Far too
often we hear about people leaving this life too early between cancers and
random unexpected horrible accidents.I
want to live this life for as long and as hard as I can. I will get the most
out of every day.
(Grabbing life by the horns)
Hopefully
I can find some great people and also causes to volunteer for along this epic
journey. I have no idea what this trip has in store for me but as I ride, I
want to meet and help as many people as I can. I would like to teach and to
learn from every single person I encounter and hopefully inspire them as well.A few months ago while hiking with my mother,
something happened that really kindled my desire to go on this expedition.We were hiking an uphill snow covered and icy
trail that wasn’t ideal but I knew we could do it.As we climbed up, my mother started to have a
panic attack. Her fear of heights was taking over and each step seemed more painful
to her. She was literally crawling up this trail, too afraid to stand.I helped her push herself to her limits, and
eventually past her fear as well.At the
top I witnessed this beautiful moment, when the fear finally subsided and she could
stand up to look around. There was a moment of pure bliss on her face where she
looked at the scenery around us, at the hill she had just conquered. The sun
was beaming down on her but her smile was even brighter. It was a moment that I
will remember for a long time.It made
me realize that fear can hold us back from doing amazing things and when we
push past the fear we receive gifts and moments that are worth more to the soul
than money could ever buy.In that
moment, I knew I wanted and needed to
go on this trip. There will be scary moments but I need to push harder to reach
that instance of awe and that moment of pride where I can say “I did It”.I hope that as I go along and find joy daily
that my family and friends back home can share with me and live vicariously
through my travels.
(Mom Climbing up that steep slope)
(Mom and I enjoying our victory for the day)
To me
biking is the perfect pace because cars zoom by too quickly and don’t allow you
to really absorb anything that you experience. Walking is amazing and awesome for
experiencing every detail but is too slow for the logistics of a trip of this
magnitude. On a bike, miles can be covered but the details of the landscape are
not lost, and I will be able to interact with people almost every day.I may not go fast but slow consistent progress
will be made.I will be able to enjoy
every change in fauna and flora as I travel this long road.Every change of terrain will be welcome. Over
the Course of 15,000 miles of coast, I imagine I will cover and stop through
almost every kind of ecosystem.The biologist
in me jumps for joy at this chance to nerd out.It brings back fond memories of studying biology with a concentration in
marine and environmental science.It
will be a dream come true to see and feel what we had talked about in my
ecology classes. I cannot wait to see giant mountains, endless forests,
beautiful coast lines, rainforests, deserts and everything in between.It is my dream to learn about the world by
living, breathing, and feeling it rather than simply studying it.With this trip, this incredible adventure,
that is exactly what I will do.
(Me taking a leap of faith - here goes nothing...July 1st)
(Flying around on my bicycle like super man - I am Mr. Bikeman)
Also here is the Link to my trip Itinerary- one tab has every city I will pass through and one tab has my daily plan from point A to point B- usually from a city to a city but some gaps exsist
This trip started with me driving up to Whiteface to spend the day by myself since I took off work. The Canadians (split into couple groups- Dustin and Tracy; Stephen and Emily; Adam and Emily; and Mike and Jay) arrived later that night.I had planned on leaving super early at first but changed my mind.It was starting to snow pretty heavily and I could feel the temperature drop,
but when I got off the main highway and saw a pull off on the road with a trail sign I couldn’t help but take it.As I pulled off, I hit the brakes and started to slide.As my car doesn’t have snow tires and the powdering of snow is covering a sheet of ice on the side of the road, I lost control and the sign that so attracted me was dead center in my path of sliding.Thank my lucky stars I wasn’t going that fast. Although I hit the side snowbank, I stopped short of the sign with a few inches to spare and when I threw it in reverse the car wasn't stuck. I had a quick laugh to myself thinking that it was probably a bad sign for my hike that hadn’t even started yet. Since it was one of my first real experiences with winter snow and ice conditions this year, I was too excited to pass up the opportunity and I decided to ignore my bad luck warning sign.The sign said that there was a bowl less than a mile away so although the sun was low I decided to try and make it there and back.I noticed that the trail seems pretty steep because the top is only a few miles away and becomes about 3000 feet in elevation.
The start was deceivingly easy with a beautiful running brook and tiny little snow covered mini bog board bridges.
Just past there was a sign in a box that I ignored before the trail started to climb. At first I slowly moved forward on well packed snow but as I continued it became steeper and icier.Not far in, there were two stream crossings and although I knew it would be freezing to fall in, I was comfortable with my rock hopping skills.From there the trail deteriorated quickly from packed snow to a more hidden threat of super slick ice covered by fine powdery fresh snow. Since I was only wearing basic hiking boots with terrible ice traction the path became difficult very quickly.I was forced to use rocks and roots as my only traction points even though I remember, from hiking the AT, that this can be a very bad idea because these can be just as slick sometimes. After crossing another small, really frozen stream the trail quickly got much steeper and I could see that the entire face of everything ahead of me looked like a giant sheet of beautiful deep blue and white thick layer of ice.It almost looked like a frozen waterfall but I knew that the little stream was not that wide. A few days ago there had been thaw and with the drop in temperature everything that once had been thawing refroze into this wintery dangerous beauty that is tempting me like a siren of the sea.Everything in my left brain told me that this was a bad idea but everything in my right brain go for it.I have no experience with any of this wintery goodness so I needed to at least try, even with my fingerless gloves leading to frozen finger tips. I ignored my better judgment.I used every little tiny piece of traction, stretching, folding, bending and reaching in all kinds of funky positions that would make any yoga enthusiast proud.I made it a good 100-150 feet or more up this “frozen water fall”and as I reach edwhat looked like the last hand grab before the top and a leveling out with snow my feet lost all grip. It was amazing, I couldn’t tell up from down and in a split second I was rolling, sliding, and flopping down the icy slide I had just climbed.I felt like a pinball spining down to the gutter, bouncing off the springy side wall.It happened so fast but I came to a sudden halt just as quickly.Somehow my luck held and my feet slammed down first at the bottom, cracking through the layer of ice covering the frozen stream.I broke through into a couple of feet of water, soaking my feet, legs. Even my bum and parts of my torso got wet.It was freezing! Other than that nothing really hurt miraculously, I just had some bruising from the pinball effect and an even worse bruised ego.All in all, it wasn't terrible luck, so I double timed it back to the car, slipping and sliding the whole way.Thank goodness for heat and fresh clothing! The rest of my day in Lake Placid was much calmer.
When I finally arrived in town, I visited the Olympic rink and pretended to be a photographer to what seemed like a full team of women skaters.Once inside, I got so see a bunch of different teams of synchronized figure skaters doing their practice runs.It was something I have never seen before.I was very surprised that I enjoyed myself so much.I was super impressed with the skating ability of all the women and girls of all different ages.I was so impressed that I stopped to talk to a team of women sitting around waiting for their turn.They explained some of the finer points of skating and tried to explain to me how the competition works.
After that, my new team of friends was on the ice so I stayed to watch them before heading to the rented house to check in by myself. The house was massive and amazing.The first floor had a kitchen, den, living room, dining room, hot tub room; while the second floor had 4 good sized bedrooms with two bathrooms, 2 rooms which connected with a conjoined bathroom (pretty neat eh? ); the third floor was a massive attic space with a bathroom and two massive rooms containing 4 more beds.I wish more people had come because there was so much open room!After warming up and settling in I cozied up on the couch to read and wait.They all arrived late into the night and were thrilled with the accomodations (great job Steve) and we had a hot tub session before bed.
Day 2: We all woke up early for breakfast around 7 and lollygagged around a bit before heading to the mountain at just before 9.The conditions on the mountain were not ideal because of the thaw that happened during the last few days and because of all the crazy winds. As a result everything is super, super icy and only a few chair lifts are open.The gondola and chair lift to the highest main peak are both closed because their power is out. During a wind storm a tree fell and took out the power. Dustin was super bummed and kind of mad that only three lifts were open that morning.My response was, "A day on the mountain is better than any day off."He smiled and agreed.As we made our first run I noticed a few key things about the day.First, it was freezing! I saw a sign that said -1 degree Fahrenheit and my face and hands quickly felt this on the way up the first lift. Second, I noticed the diversity and range of our group, we were almost split right down the middle between skiers and boarders. It's a fun group mix and we also had as well as we have some beginners, some intermediate, and some advanced (Dustin and Steven raced in their younger years).
The first couple of runs we all stuck together, but before long people began to break off for warming up breaks.All our first runs were off the ‘facelift” ski lift that went down the same basic trails to a middle lodge before heading down to the main lower lodge.The slopes just above the mid lodge, we quickly found out, were semi steep but super icy!It was a bomb and ride day for me. I made sure to stay on my edges pretty hard, slowing down was not much of an option for me (my style is fast to the point just before out of control).
Before long the “little white face” lift opened up and we got to get some elevation gain and longer runs in.First time up, Steve and a group of us meant to hit a blue square called excelsior with some of the girls but instead Steve misread a sign and we wound up ditching the girls on a black diamond trail called Essex that led to a really steep super icy trail that followed the lift path down.It’s so sketchy going down, I hit a huge sheet of ice that I could see grass and rock poking through but I was going so fast that I couldn't stop or steer.I managed to stay up but it's super sketch. I did enjoy the fact that I got to shoot powdery snow all over the place so much that I couldn’t even see what was ahead of me.
After doing that section a few more times, another lift to the other side of the mountain opened.The “lookout mountain’ lift opened.This trail was one of my favorite, it’s not terribly difficult but it was super long and after a nice slow tree enclosed section it opened up on the left completely to a super steep cutoff cliff with no safety barrier or wall. It gives you this amazing view of the next ridge.It was absolutely magical, although hard to appreciate while moving, but I refused to stop.I still managed to notice the awesome exposed rock faces with their deep gray color backdropped with a hint of white powder and beautiful dark green tinge from the trees.The trail was epic and sweet but like most other trails on the mountain today was super icy.
In fact, on a later run I lost track of the shape of the trail because of the shade of light, as a result gravity and speed taught me an important lesson.I hit a little hump with too much speed on a sharp angled turn downhill that leveled out just as quick on a steep sloped angle that caused me to crumple and fold in half.Gravity pushed my body down so hard that somehow my face was able to smack the snow in front of me without me catching an edge and falling.Thankfully I got my hand out just in front of my face to catch and push off with.Living dangerously on the edge I guess, but it was awesome. I had so much fun catching up with Dustin and Steve all day while also getting to know some of my other new Canadian friends.Dustin talked a lot about our past travels (Bike and Build, Appalachian trail, Australia) and about future trails as well.It’s funny how much we both enjoy maps and geography through our adventures.
After a long full day on the mountain we headed back to the house to recoup, jump in the hot tub, go out to dinner at Lake Placid Brewery, and then ended our night playing a game called 7 wonders. It as pretty sweet to have such great company to share my second day experiences with.I stayed up late into the night catching up on some writing and catching up with Dustin and Steve.It’s funny how connected our past can be while at the same time being so different.The world is full of the strangest connections.Dustin and I biked across the country together because he met some girls on the AT when he hiked.He also hiked with the same hiker I helped rescue off a mountain in Maine, Bobby.I can’t describe the feeling knowing that these trips are so closely connected. I guess life is one big tangle of interwoven webs.
Day three started pretty early as well with a quick breakfast and a trip to Whiteface Mountain.I was a little sleepy but the cold crispy below freezing morning air woke me right up.Today the conditions are a lot better on the mountain since it has snowed all night.We started as a group again today but split off into sub groups pretty quickly.I enjoyed hanging out with Dustin and Steve on the mountain all day.They are both amazing skiers and are both old buddies who raced together in high school.The mountain was a playground for them and I did my best to keep up.The Summit was open and we spent a lot of time on the highest peak on the east coast.The welcome sign at the top reads “welcome to the top of the world”.
It was pretty awesome being so high up, but with all the clouds and snow coming down there isn’t much of a view.We all took turns using the camera and pole mount that I brought along for the day.It’s fun to take turns filming down the mountain. We learned that the film will appear jumpy if filming someone else but the background stays smoother if the video is focused on yourself.
We rode so long in the freezing cold that at some point before lunch I realized I couldn’t feel my left toe or move at all but every second on the mountain was worth it with friends so we rode on.After lunch the gondola re-opened which was a nice change so that we could stay out of the cold.We ended our day on my favorite run on lookout mountain. Dustin and Steve raced ahead but I decided to take it nice and slow so I could enjoy the views and the last run.
We went home and made a family style dinner as a group.It felt nice to be a part of another family.The main course was a baked lasagna dish but it took forever because the stove was so old and finicky.While we waited, we played more of the 7 wonders game which I really started to enjoy although I never seemed to win.I also decided to conjur up some delicious quinoa, rice, chili, and cheese dip.It was all great.After we ate, instead of going out we all just stayed in to hang out in the living room while talking and playing games.I wish I had stayed up later but I curled up near the fire under a blanket to do work and that was the end of my night.
In the morning it was time to pack up.It was a sad and slow moving process.However, that changed pretty quickly when I hear a series of moans coming from the other room.It’s Emily, and I found her slumped in a curled ball on top of a bunch of her bags.Steve ran down the stairs at the same time and we saw his girlfriend laying in a heap of pain.Her back had gone out for the first time ever when she went to bend over and pick up a box full of her stuff. It's strange to think that the human body can go from working so well to curled up in heap so quickly. None of us knew what to do or what to say.I know nothing about backs going out but I did know who might be able to help.A special thanks to both Mrs. Angelini and Mr. Reynolds.It is awesome to have family with wisdom to rely on in a pinch, and friends to boot.They walked me through the steps and process of an out back. It mostly requires staying calm and laying still until the muscles relax.Taking Advil and muscle relaxers helps, as well as gently massaging the muscles, and ice/heat on and off.There was one other piece of advice and it didn’t quite make sense at first because it hurt Emily so much to do. The suggestion was to lay on her back and bring her knees to her chest.I think Emily was on the floor for almost two hours recovering and it took a crew of us to get her up and standing.Thank goodness for staying calm enough in a tough new situation to sort things out enough to realize to ask for advice. It could have been a lot more scary and difficult.I really felt bad to say our goodbyes and watch Emily grandma style get into the front seat of the car for her 6ish hour drive back to Toronto, Canada.
For me it was only a four hour drive home, but since it was so amazingly nice out I knew I was going to be making a pit stop, and I had a great idea of where to go!Although my phone, GPS, and car charger were all dead I got home from memory.I think I only missed 2 turns but I made it back to the correct road eventually.After passing my landmark store called “the Mountaineer,” that my buddy from work Mike had recommended, I knew I was on the right path home.A few miles past I found that same pull off on the side of the road that had that tempting sign from days before. This time with the beautiful weather, there were other cars parked and I was sure other hikers around somewhere.
I was better prepared this time, with my full finger gloves, more layers, and a backpack with some bonus goodies and snacks. The ice may have kicked my butt last time but now I know to be more careful.I made it to the first assent and could already see where I went wrong.Going up! Just kidding haha, I could see more clearly where the path led, which is not the way I went last time.Although it is not easy, it is far more doable than what I forced my way up last time.I was still slipping and sliding all over the icy waterfall but I could still use root edges, rock edges, and tree trunks to find enough grip to make it safely up.
Past the first good icy assent I ran into a hiker coming down. He was an older, experienced hiker coming down from the top.He had a full set of gear and a nice big pack.He had hiking poles and those little clip on traction springs attached to his shoes.On his pack he also had snow shoes and crampons hanging off the back plus a nice down jacket I am sure he used at some point for warmth.I felt very under equipped even though a few seconds ago I had been so proud to make it up the first ice section.His words of wisdom made me feel even worse,“You should turn around, its gets really icy and hairy up there.Don’t go any further, YOU WON”T MAKE IT.” Well, the first words out of his mouth made sense but those last four ruined all of his wisdom. If he spoke more I must have missed it because I tuned him out and jumped up and over a steep section of icy rocks he had so carefully avoided and had gone around.As nice as he was and as much respect I gave him, he had lost me with “you won’t”.Now I had to make it up further. It was a personal challenge. He had mentioned a nice lookout, so I decided that I was going to make it there and even further just to prove it to myself. Thankfully his fear was mostly unwarranted. Maybe a normal person should have (and probably would have) turned around but nothing along the trail put me out of my comfort zone. It was a little dicy and slippery here and there. I made it to that first view and it was completely worth it.It opened up to look out past the road towards the mountain on the other side. Its steep slope was completely covered in a thick layer of ice. I noticed a little later that there were actually 4 climbers ice climbing up that awesome slope! Now I can’t get that image out of my head, it's something new that I must do. To the right of that icy side there was that beautiful snow covered lake, almost glowing in the reflection of the sun, and there were even more distant mountains hiding in the distance.Although I was almost in a trance given the beauty, I was determined to see what all that gear that guy had was actually for on this trail.Was it like the sheer ice wall on the opposing mountain?
I found another great surprise a little further in the woods. It was a beautiful pristine alpine lake in the bowl that the sign at the bottom of the trail had been indicating.It was almost eerie how quiet it was out up there as I looked down at the openness of the ice and as I crossed over some snow covered bog boards. In the distance I could see that thankfully there were no angry bears, not even a majestic moose. There were however, two hikers running and sliding on the frozen icy lake.They were so far away that I couldn’t hear them and they surely did not notice me.
As I continued up the trail further and further I was lost in the beauty. Hiking in the winter snow is fairly new to me and there is something special about the crunch of snow under your feet, the glistening light refracting off each distinct shade of color of snow and ice, and the vast orchestra of quiet surrounding the openness of wintery woods.I could feel the trail getting steeper and could tell I was getting higher in elevation with the frequency of thick smooth ice flows.Each made my path more difficult. When I had almost decided that I had gone far enough, I had to get off the trail in order to cut through to the higher trail using tree trunks to basically climb my way up.At one point I even used the base of one tree to get enough friction to push and jump my way up to just barely reach with one hand the base root of another flimsy tree.It was a sketchy feeling with a nice sheer drop to the one side.
A little further, I could see one massive ice flow and heard the distinct crunch of a group of 4 hikers with crampons coming down the mountain.They were all younger, 2 girls and 2 guys around my age and they were all speaking French.When they passed by, I saw one guy struggle because he didn’t have crampons, just the quick on spring added traction things. They spotted me and all looked amazed that I had reached this point.The two guys stopped and I decided to ask about the conditions. I don't know why and it's probably a funny reason to have respect for a person but the French accent just says to me "wintery knowledge" since I always think about French speaking Canada. I asked about the conditions and they said it got a lot worse, and that I should think about turning back.“Just be careful if you go up, it gets a lot worse from here”.They even offered to go down with me but in a way without pressure.As he was busy enough helping his friend, I said that I would be fine but as they trotted away I decided it was my “top”. I had gone far enough, reached my level of comfort and was ready to go back down.
As it stands, I knew that I had made it further than most normal people would have gone under the circumstances.I carefully made my way back down afterall what goes up must come down.That being said, it is always harder on the way down!The gap that I had jumped using the tree was freakishly scary on the way down.Trusting myself enough to slide on purpose and catch myself on that opposing tree was awesome.I never had a doubt in it, not even the slightest but that split second of slippery freedom brought back all that adrenaline from my slip and fall down the first icy fall a few days ago.Even swinging down hill using the slim tree trunks to avoid the ice was a lot more blood pumping than I had remembered.Even walking on the edges of tree roots, and rocks seemed ten times harder on the way down.I don't have a single regret though.When I got back down by the lake I saw the group of Canadians playing on the ice. I didn't want to bug them and also didn't want my awesome side trip to be over I decided to take a side trail called “Nugget” even though I had no idea where it went.My hope was that it would reach the little ridge right above the lake.My guess about its direction was right and as I climbed I could tell I was on my way to that ridge which would hopefully have a perfect view of the lake that the Canadians were currently playing on. This trail was much easier with almost no ice, just steeper snowy sections.The view just like I had guessed was breath taking.I stopped long enough to play with my panoramic picture setting but as the sun was pointing to directly at me, it took a little while to get a decently connected picture and I had started to get cold.For me that was the final sign I am done, cold sweat is no fun and the sun was getting lower in the sky.
I headed back down to the lake with just enough time to say hi and bye to the Canadian group who seemed relieved to see me back down before they left.I stopped for a snack on those bog boards. Then in the peace and quiet on this beautiful lake I decided that I had to stop and head to the middle of the lake for some pictures and a quick video.It was the perfect ending to a perfectly epic weekend.
It only made sense that a trip reconnecting with my old cross country bike riding buddy Dustin would be so perfectly fun and full of adventures both alone and in a group. It was wonderful revisiting stories from the past and making new ones.Seeing the growth of old friendships and quick forming new ones with good souled people was amazing. As I walked in slowly downward it was all I could think about and continued to appreciate the whole way down but I was extra careful not so slip and end my epic trip badly. Once back at the car, it was only a few short hours of thinking before I was back home, and back to reality.
But I was already inspired enough to think about the next grand adventure.
So this past weekend I was bummed to find out there was a massive storm coming. I had hopes of having an adventure somewhere with friends, but just like my sister who planned on going to Boston, the storm stopped us in our tracks. Thankfully I listened to the weatherman for once. Friday I caught up with sleep so that I could stay up all night shoveling. I think at first this surprised my mother because the past few years when it snowed I was being an old grump and didn't want to shovel. Not this year though! Any storm named after one of my favorite animated movie characters would get me excited. It inspired the little kid in me and I had a plan! I was going to build an Igloo/fortress. Something my earliest childhood best friend newton and I bonded over building many times. This one was for him and all my other friend who have dispersed over the last few years. To the kid in all of us I built you all an monster! I shoveled my snow, and stole snow from five of the neighbors houses. Even after they had already shoveled their paths I would walk back and forth stealing all there well packed snow piles they had made. Soon Mom started to notice my ever growing pile that I even got my sister outside to help make.
Even Sam and Sonia briefly stopped by and put up with my madness.
Before the end of the night I remember mom banging on the window and screaming at me to stop! "What are you doing! stop piling all the snow on my front lawn!". I should tell you all the truth that she is a patient saint of a person! who I take after a lot, but I also take after the hardheadedness of my grandmother. Once I start doing something my way, I will continue my way. By the end of the night I had a pile almost 6 ft tall, 6-8ft long and 4 feet wide.
There was no snow on my sidewalks as well as even in the street in front of my house where the plows had pushed it. I had successfully taken even the plowed piles from all the surrounding houses. My arms and shoulders were the only thing that convinced me to stop and take a break to nap. I left the pile to settle over night and planned to dig it out in the morning...but it continued to snow all night. As I woke up in the morning I was ecstatic to see how much more snow there was. I was full of energy even after only a few hours of sleep. I found a pair of clothes out of the 4 sets of clothes I went through yesterday that was finally dry and grabbed my shovel. It looked like I had done nothing the night before from looking at the sidewalk other than that massive pile sitting on my front lawn. After an hour or so of shoveling out my house and adding to my pile some of the neighbors were out all working on finishing up there work. As we are talking I see my neighbor on the corner and older man starting to shovel, he waves and thanks me for doing the little bit of path I shoveled out for him already. I excuse myself from out little neighbor huddle and go to finish my work. Right behind me follow the rest of the group. My tenant Rena and the neighbors across the way Eric and his father all pitch in. what would have taken at least an hour for the old guy Gusman we finish in the flash of maybe 15 minutes. He is so thankfully he really doesn't know what to say, but you can see it in the sincerity of his face his thanks. After that everyone head in except for me, I painfully continue on my goal for the day. My shoulder is throbbing but I clean all our snow even the street plus some of the piles from the other houses. My piles is now at least 6ish ft tall, 4 ft wide and somewhere in the range of 16-18ft long.
After a night lunch/snack break its time to start digging. I don't even know where to begin so I just start closest to the tree. Before long the shovel is to awkward to dig out with so I grab my kayak paddle to poke and prod out chunks of snow and Ice with.
It is a hard long process. slowly I carve out the inside enough to almost block my entrance before using my feet to kick out enough snow to make it out into the sunlight to shovel the entrance clean once again. In my head I imagine I now know how it feels to be a sea turtle on the beach digging out the sand with its flippers. Its awkward and hard but something keeps you pushing.
I repeat the process over and over, only stopping for food breaks and to change into drier clothes. Before long I have an awesome carved igloo cave. Even mom is outside and although she yelled and hated my pile yesterday is enthralled by its awesomeness.
Although see won't stop with her nervousness about it caving in. I use my better judgement on how much to carve out which seems to work. I am not nervous at all because I gave the snow enough time to settle as well as its not my first rodeo. I did this like a boss as a kid. It only makes sense to go bigger and grander.
My only regret is that my shoulder and arms are so tired I must stop and take breaks and never have time to decorate the outside into a more elaborate looking fortress! Next time I'll have some friends as recruits to help throughout the process and I am sure it will be epic. The Inner child in me is very impressed and utterly happy with my accomplishment. Rule # (?) enjoy the little things! CHECK!
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