i don't think i'll ever stop traveling. i love it when i'm on the road...that feels like home to me. i like not having responsibilities, being free and living simply. - heidi wirtz . rock & ice . 7.02

exactly. now, to find that life...

i love my dogs. we went backpacking in the sierra this weekend. ania is my baby. :)





oh, a fyi - i linked the pictures from my gila wilderness trip on the picture page -in case you missed 'em.

hahaha! someone searched "2002 ford expidition pics" and got my page. hey, if you're reading this, whoever searched, they're gas guzzling monsters. don't buy one. go out and get a toyota pirus instead, ok?

june first addendum: (i love finding out what people search and get me) there were two searches today for 'jack johnson birkenstock'. so i tried the search. i am the first and fourth site that comes up! wow. perfect. two of my most very favorite things. nice to know that my site appears when you search them. :P

ok...lost. gotta finish. finally.

i have now figured out i am lost, and i have no clue how to possibly get found. feeling slightly frantic, i decide to head back to where i started from, back to the creek. i trudge back, worried. i come to where i *thought* i started. (little did i know i was about, oh, 10 feet from the trail at this point)...don't see/hear anything/anbybody. now what? decide to try the compass again, but follow the 180 bearing EXACTLY. i hold the compass level in front of me, and eye it as i take each step. i only veer from my course when there is a tree in the way, plowing through all kinds of prickly bushes and plants. after another 30 minutes or so, i am in approximately the same place i was before.

NOW i am REALLY lost. and quite certain that i will never be found. i run scenarios through my head: helicoptors? big search parties? we are miles from anything. everyone must be looking for me. i climb to the ridgeline, trying to see *something* below. i start screaming 'help!' but the wind picks up my voice and carries it way.

calm down, i tell myself. calm down. you have a coat. a warm coat. there is water in the creek. (though, as i now know, that water will likely give me giardia if i drink it) i know how to get back to the creek. i can survive for a few days - though it was so cold at night that our water bottles froze solid. i tried to convince myself that they HAD to find me within a few days, don't they?

standing not far from the ridgeline, i ponder everything. debate going further, just in case. suddenly i catch something moving out of the corner of my eye. a wolf! i can't believe it. pretty big, about 60 lbs, steel grey. wow! he's only about 50 feet from me - he just walks on by, ignoring me, and heads down the hill, in the way i was pondering continuing.

well, i thought, i'm gonna die, but i saw a wolf!

decided not to follow the wolf, and head back to the creek. it's getting dark, and i should probably move down to the water. sobbing, my mouth just parched, i stumble back the way i came...i fell a few times, and my legs became terribly scratched up. i didn't realize this at the time, though. i was just scared.

i get back to the creek. walk up and down it a little. figure i am not going to be found until the morning (hopefully)...decide to splash some untreated water into my mouth. (i highly suspect this is where the giardia may have came from) stood there, thinking, listening.

'sssAAAA'

huh? what was that?

i scream 'HELP' as loud as i possibly can.

'alisssssaaaa!'

someone is calling my name!!!

i yell help louder.

someone yells alissa...we follow each other's voices. a few minutes later, i see kelly and erica. i collapse into the dirt, so thankful. i can't believe it - i'm found! it's going to be ok...what just happened? was this a movie? i explain to kelly and erica what happen - they had been looking for me for 2 hours - running all over the place, following every trail. the group had broken up into teams of two, looking for me.

elated, we turn to find the trail to walk back to camp. kelly and erica had just left it - we were only 10 feet from it, but at first we couldn't find it again. no wonder i walked right over it! headed back to camp, which was, in reality, 10 minutes away. melissa, my instructor, was SO happy to see me, to say the least. i apologize. she apologizes for sending me off alone...she kept saying 'i can't believe i did that' and i kept saying i couldn't believe i just walked off with so little knowledge of where i was going.

we realized the miscommunication - the compass bearing would get me to the TRAIL and the trail would get me to camp. which was in the opposite direction of the compass bearing.

i guzzle a nalgene bottle of lemonade. then water. then i eat. it's not even dark, but i go to sleep. i don't think i have ever been so happy/relieved/'i can't believe that just happened to me' 'd in my entire life.

i wore that compass almost everyday. somehow i felt it would help me - even though it's really what helped get me into trouble in the first place. everyone from the group said they wish they would've taken a picture of me when i returned - leaves in my hair, covered with dirt, my legs all scratched....i apparently looked like i had been lost in the woods for two hours.

i certainly realized how important clear communication is, and for the rest of the trip, i really paid attention to where i was going....whew!

you know those factory safetly seals they put on glass bottles? (like salad dressing bottles, snapple bottles, etc) the thin plastic ones that cover the metal cap and the top of the bottle? i wish they all had those little preforations that make it easy to remove. i hate it when i have a bottle of something i want to open, and i carefully examine the plastic, looking for the preforations. but, alas, sometimes they aren't there. then i struggle with my fingernails, trying to open it, until i finally resort to getting knife to open the seal.

a silly complaint. but, geez, how hard is it to add a row of tiny holes so it's easier to open? plus, it lessens the chances of klutzy people (me included) slicing their fingers with sharp knives while trying to open the bottle.

now i can say this with more conviction: GO KINGS! :)

it's supposed to be 98 today. 98?!?! it's not june yet. sacto has two seasons, i tell ya, summer and winter. spring and fall, if we get them, last, oh, a week. max.

i realized yesterday that the trees are green again...when i left for my trip, they were just starting to bud, tiny green dots on the ends of the branches. now they are lush and green and gorgeous. for as much as i complain about sacramento, i love the fact that there are so many giagantic old trees everywhere. i love looking down my street and seeing the canopy of leaves arching over it.

these random thoughts were brought to you by the number 13 divided by the number 4 and multiplied by the number 6. whaddaya think this is? sesame street?

yes, i WILL finish that lost story (which you've probably already forgotten about) today. anticlimatic, i know.

mmm...back to my morning npr fix. happy me. two interesting segments - one on tv families (it's the second segment, if you listen), the other on the internet.

as far as tv families, mary larson, a communications professor at northern illinois university (is it sad that when i cut and paste, i change the capitals to lower case letters?) did an extensive study on different ones - the huxtables (cosby show), family ties, growing pains, the simpsons, etc...her conclusion? that the simpsons were more positive role models than the other families - they supported each other more, the parents were more in charge then in other families, the siblings had better relationships, they were more involved in their community, they were shown going to church, etc. i think the simpsons portray (with a sarchastic twist) a closer example of the american family than the other shows...and people relate to that...it was interesting.

as far as the internet, they talked about it's 10 year history, as well as the future. 10 years. i remember my freshman year in college. my first email address. (email? what the hell was email?) - aagres@aix.flute.calpoly.edu. whew. @yahoo.com is much easier. :) and now i have three emails...little did i know. i remember trying to stake out the computer in the escape route (the rental center/meeting place/gathering hang out spot for outings, the outdoor club at cal poly) so i could surf the little bit of the web that exisited back then...marvelling at animated gifs and web pages with background music.

and now look where i'm at...hell, i just spent most of the past week or so with people i met on the internet! had a great time...my dad met his new wife online (!!!)...i can talk to old friends who live on the other side of the country easily...i got an email from an old high school boyfriend (haha)...i turn to the computer whenever i need information...my computer is on and online 24/7...my work wouldn't exist without the internet.

what will it be like 10 years from now?

a part of me is excited to find out. anothe part of me is a little scared to find out...

damn, i go to the npr page to link the shows i heard and i find this:

john mayer makes room for squares

i live in sacramento, so i have to say this (even though televised sports don't really interest me...)

go kings!

now back to our regularly scheduled rambling...

i'm trying to tell you something about my life
maybe give me insight between black and white
and the best thing you've ever done for me
is to help me take my life less seriously
it's only life after all

hmm...i have always loved this song, and i have heard it performed by a couple of different artists...it always brings back warm memories from my first year in college and my first love...stumbled on the lyrics...so here they are. :)

the water is wide
i can't cross over
and neither i
have wings to fly
give me a boat
that can carry two
and both shall row
my love and i

now love is gentle
and love is kind
the sweetest flower
when first it's new
but love grows old
and waxes cold
and fades away
like morning dew

there is a ship
she sails the sea
she's loaded deep
as deep can be
but not as deep
as the love i'm in
i know not how
i sink or swim

my stomach has been feeling terrible since the last week of my trip. it got better (it would cramp up so bad, i couldn't buckle the waistbelt of my pack - carrying 60 pounds on my shoulders...) but some days were good, some i couldn't eat....so i finally went to the doctor.

i have giardia.

don't drink the water...damn.

i know a few people who have gotten it backpacking, but thought, nah, we were treating all our water. i attributed it at first to the altitude, which normally affects me. but, obviously, i wasn't careful enough. icky icky icky. i certainly will be more cautious in the future.

home from portland. but it's late. and i'm tired. and i am going backpacking tomorrow in the sierra. (woo!! i cannot tell you how excited i am to go back to the backcountry) so the lost story, as well as the tales of my portland adventures will have to wait a few more days. hopefully y'all are out having a wonderful three day weekend, and won't read this til tuesday, anyways. next week is the end of my 2 months of fun, back to the old routine. (as well as updating this with stuff that is somewhat interesting, hopefully, instead of this goobledygook that i have been posting recently)...

did i say i love portland? i went to this pizza place - hot lips pizza - that used organic ingredients and got produce and cheese from local farmers and made some DAMN good pizza (i had one with sun dried tomatoes and sweet potatoes and onions and brie...it was SO good)...why can't there be restaurants everywhere that care about their products like that? i just felt so at home in portland, like i belonged....i guess i have a good goal now - figure out how to move there. :)

hi everyone! i'm in portland. on a tiny keyboard looking at a tiny monitor...13"! damn. just wanted to say hi. and that i love portland. and i am really tempted to just stay here. :) more tomorrow. yeah, i will FINALLY finish that now anti-climatic lost story.

this REALLY scares me. anyone else?

Nuclear war threat over Kashmir crisis

on npr the other day, they were intervewing reserve pilots who work for the major airlines when they are not on duty. they interviewed one pilot from united, who had this perspective - 'when i fly for the airline my job is to get people to their destination safely and efficiently. when i am on duty i have another job - to bomb buildings and kill people'

why do i hope i never find myself on this guy's plane?

*sigh* running away to the gila sounds good...it was nice not to have to think about the world, be a little ignorant for awhile. except for the night that two military jets swooped over the canyon. so quiet and still..then so loud you had to put your hands over your ears. it was an odd occurance, being so far from anything. found out later there is a military base nearby.

hi. my name is alissa and i am a blog slacker.

sorry. stil getting used to this real world stuff...then i was gone at shoreline...then...ok, yeah, trying to get out of it...i'm just a slacker. so...to try finish my rambles up..

LOST:
i was now lost. after following the creek for 10 minutes, it didn't seem to be right. so i headed up on the hill a little...then more...got on the compass bearing, and followed that again. it led me down into another drainage. up on another ridgeline. i realized then that i was lost. LOST. i could not believe it. how did this happen? what was i thinking? it was windy...getting cold...i become slightly frantic. i make myself sit down for a minute and assess the situation.

• you have been walking for 20 or so minutes.
  
• it's about 4pm. gets dark about 7pm. 3 hours.
  
• everything around me looks the same
  
• i do have my puffball jacket and blue shirt (wearing shorts. tennies. no gaiters.)
  
• do have a flashlight with almost dead batteries. (there's a story for that one, too. i'll post it soon.)
  
• walked at approx. 180 on the compass...if i reversed that, i could at least find where i started from

now what? do i go further? it MUST be at 180 on the compass. did i not follow it carfully enough and missed camp? i turned back. sobbing. 'i am going to die. i am going to freeze out here and die. i can't believe this.' i talked out loud to myself, perhaps to distract myself...i ran through the sharp bushes and stumbled on the scree, heading back to the creek. then i went out again, this time following the compass bearing exactly....walked for the same amount of time....then a little further.

it's not here. i am not going to find camp. what now?

i pulled on my jacket, as it had started to get cold. (and obviously not noticing that the windpants that i didn't realize i had were in the inner mesh pocket of the jacket)...

installment 3, tomorrow. (damn, i am lazy.) meanwhile, check out the virtual sky.

last night was the best show i have ever been to. period. wow.

sorry to leave ya hanging...but i am off to shoreline...so excited...(obviously, in the story, i am now lost. to be continued on monday)

yeah...i know. but i still have a little of today left - it's not even dark out here. i miss fireflies. we don't have them here in CA. i remember when i was a kid my neighbor jason was going to collect hundreds of 'em and glue 'em to his bike so that it glowed. how smart that boy was! ;) we just have misquitos here...not even enough to justify a bug zapper...used to love listening to that while swimming in our pool in pennsylvania when i was a kid. zzt. zzt. zzzzt. zzt. ZZT.zzt...ZzT...bZZZZZUUUUTTTTT! damn, that was a big one.

where was i? no, not another planet. oh - my story. getting lost. background: on day 14 of the trip, one of our instructors, allen, fell and injured his knee. (he later found out he fractured his kneecap) 4 students were sent on the 12 mile hike to evacuate him (evac)...he could still walk - they did the 12 miles in one day! so, there were 7 students and one instructor (melissa) left. we continued on our route, and they met up with us four days later. this is our first day with the smaller group. we hike to lilley park (not 'park' in that sense, but it was a giant open grassy field.) where we are to camp for the night. we arrived early, and melissa suggested we go see the wolf pens.

the mexican wolf is a species long extinct from the gila wilderness, and they are attempting to reintroduce it. they released a male wolf and a pregnant female wolf a few weeks prior. the pen is the roped off area where they put the wolves to begin to adapt to the environment. and, of course, we were all hoping we just might see a wolf, though chances were highly unlikely.

i had a slight headache, and debated not going (two other people stayed behind) but decided i didn't want to pass up the chance of maybe seeing a wolf. so, i trailed along at the back of the line. not paying much attention...just watching my feet...we walked for about 10 minutes down the trail, and turned off. they had taken a compass bearing to get us back to the trail, but i didn't realize they even did this. we walked another 5 minutes or so, and my head was POUNDING...and i didn't have any water. (my headaches are often caused by not drinking enough, so water usually helps) i asked melissa if it'd be ok if i headed back to camp. i explained to her that i hadn't been paying attention to where we were. she got a compass from somebody and handed it to me. 'follow the bearing to camp' she said 'you'll hit the trail soon'...

i thought she meant the bearing would take me to camp, as i didn't realize they had taken a bearing when they went off trail. she thought that i knew the bearing would take me to the trail. i held the compass out and followed the bearing. 180. walked 5 minutes, didn't see any sign of a trail, but saw the creek, which i knew we had walked along part of the way out.

little did i realize that there were tons of drainages/creeks all over. it flowed in about the direction of my bearing, so in my head at the time, it all made sense. followed the creek for about 10 minutes....

stay tuned for episode two...too tired to finish typing tonight. :)

tomorrow! dave matthews band! shoreline! i'm! excited! :) could someone tell dave to play 'say goodbye'...how many shows am i going to have to go to finally hear my favorite song? yeah, i know...they haven't played it this tour...one can dream...

i am being a slacker...i will type that story sometime today...promise...

in this life, i have often prided myself on exploring outside my comfort zone, believing that separating myself from what i already know offers the most fertile ground for growth. i have often detached myself from places, family, friends and lovers, imagining that in the next adventure, the next exotic place, the next remarkable person, i will expand my range, discover my wholeness.

it is rare a human who can blend a free spirit, a decisive nature, a deep respect for life, a love of nature and an uncomprimising sense of integrity into personal happiness. such individuals hear the heartbeat of wholeness.

you never change things by fighting the existing reality. to change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.

i am an admittied quote junkie. :) the first quote was given to my by melissa, (melissa lynn...me being alissa lyn. :) ) my nols instructor, the second i found in an old sketchbook that i took with my on my trip to serve as my journal, and the third is by buckminster fuller. i think i am still feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the world...everything that seemed so simple just one short week ago is now so complex again. in many ways it is impossible to describe my trip, beyond the tangible ways. but i will try...i hope to get the story of me getting lost in the woods later today...

finally...got the pictures up...i still have to tweak a few (forgot the resize the images) but they're pretty much good to go...i only took two rolls of film (there will likely be more shots in the future - people are going to send me their doubles to put up on the site)...enjoy! i would do anything to go back right now...4 days of the 'real world' has already been 3 days too many.

oh, for those of you who may not know, the gila wilderness is in southwestern new mexico. it is part of the gila national forest...

The Gila National Forest includes more acres of wilderness than any other National Forest in the Southwest. Three wilderness areas are located within the Gila. The Gila Wilderness, the world's first designated wilderness, was created on June 3, 1924 at the urging of the great conservation pioneer Aldo Leopold. The Aldo Leopold Wilderness lies to the east, while towards the west, the smaller Blue Range Wilderness adjoins Arizona's rugged Blue Range Primitive Area.

our trip took us through almost all of the gila wilderness, covering about 130 miles travelling from east to west. we also stopped one day at the gila cliff dwellings, which were fascinating. (and during which my camera was buried in my pack, so no pics. sorry!)

there are many more stories to tell...i will get them up soon...we had an instructor evacuated ('evaced' in NOLS terms), i got lost for over 2 hours (this is a good story), we cooked 'gourmet'-ish (well, for the backcountry) meals, my pack was much heavier than i ever expected (i was *stoked* i had bought my arcteryx one), we 'dry camped' hauling water in big dromedary bags (which weighed about 20lbs when full, in addition to a 60+lb pack! whew!), our water bottles froze solid some nights, we didn't get rained on at all (yay!) and the was a fabulous group of people. there are the cliff notes. :) more to come!

photos - GWHB - 4.10.02 - gila wilderness

happy birthday to me...27...damn. i remember thinking where i *thought* i'd be in life at 27...ha! but i am very happy to be where i *am* at....

celebrate we will
cause life is short but sweet for certain
we climb on two by two
to be sure these days continue
things we cannot change...

in the beginning...

trip got off to an interesting start. loaded up my pack, got everything together and headed to the airport. jonathon dropped me off in front, and i swung my very very full very very top heavy (definitely not a well-packed pack) and fell over backwards into a luggage cart. perfect start, eh? i was fine, but had quite the nasty bruise from it. ah well.

went in and checked my bag at the american west ticket counter, and went upstairs - security only took 15 minutes - woo! - to wait for my flight. the plane was scheduled to leave at 3:13pm. at 3:00pm it wasn't yet at the gate, so i ran to the bathroom one last time. when i got back, all of the people who had been sitting waiting for my flight were now in a gigantic line in front of the counter at the gate...apparently the flight was cancelled. why they didn't seem to know this until 3pm when the flight was scheduled at 3:13pm was beyond me - didn't they know if the plane that was supposed to land wasn't in the air, heading to sacramento? i took my place at the end of the very long line.

after about 20 minutes, the line hadn't moved and no one seemed to know what was going on. i was worried my backpack wouldn't make it with me on whatever flight i ended up on...grrr. decided to head downstairs to the front ticket counter. got rebooked on a later flight, and the agent even got my backpack out and retagged it for me - a good sign it just might make it with me. this flight went through phoenix, then onto tuscon (my final destination)...didn't even have to change planes. sweet. went upstairs and waited for the plane.

the flight to phoenix was uneventful. landed. told those of us continuing on that we could get off the plane to get something to eat or whatever and get back on before the plane departed to phoenix. i was hungry, so i deplaned. got a giant berry herbal tea at starbucks, and a yogurt with rainbow sprinkles at tcby. (hey - i wasn't going to have ice cream for a month! a month! gotta get in as much as i could!) went to reboard. while checking my boarding pass, the agent knocked my yogurt into my white tshirt. which became a white tshirt with a rainbow of sprikles. argh. i asked him if he had a napkin. nope. damnit. figured i'd get one from the flight attenedent...so i walked down the ramp.

aha! there was one right at the entrance to the plane. 'excuse me?' i said...'is there any way i can get a napkin and some water for my shirt? got my yogurt on it'

she hands me a napkin. 'water, please?' i ask.

'oh, i can't give you water. that's for my first class passengers.' what? huh? could i just get a little water for the napkin? hey, it wasn't my fault it's all over my shirt! aha. remembered i had a bottle of water in my bag. looked down and realized that someone boarding the plane had kicked my tea over, leaving a giant red (why did i have to pick berry tea? why?) stain from my knee to my ankle on my favorite hemp pants. damnit. grabbed the water out of my bag, and doused my pants.

now, at this point, i admit i was frustrated. in dousing my pants, i left a puddle of water on the floor. the flight attended was looking distainfully me at me and my non-first class birkenstock wearing young person-ness...she laid a towel down on the floor. at this point i was crying. it had been a LONG day. i wasn't taking these little stupid things well anymore...slunk back to my seat at the back of the plane.

stuck my bag in an overhead, sat down, put on my mp3 player and sniffled. a few minutes later a woman in business attaire appears at the end of my asile.

'do you have any baggage in the overhead?' well, yes...'are you the one who flooded the front of the plane?' flooded? what? well, i did get water on the floor. i apologized profusely - i didn't realize it was such an issue. i was escorted off the plane...sobbing, trying to figure out what the hell was going on...

i asked if i would be able to be on the flight. nope. i was determined to be a fucking security risk. i was met at the door of the jetway by 4 police officers. what the fuck is going on? i am really sobbing now. another woman in a business suit appears. asks what happens. i explain myself. the plane takes off.

they realize what happened. 'oh, but we don't ask questions anymore - if anyone thinks you are any kind of problem, that's it'

i am still sobbing...i explain where i am going, what i am doing...they put me on another flight and act all sympathetic. i don't get to tuscon til after 11pm.....

a security risk. a fucking security risk? me? what? appears that airlines now have free reign to do whatever they damn well please with your rights. *sigh*

definitely not the best way to start a trip. oh, at least my luggage made it! and i arrive at the hotel to see some of the people who are going to be on my trip sitting on the patio, drinking beers. nice. they are very cool. go get a pint of ben and jerry's at safeway. phish food. my 'last meal' before life in the backcountry...

i still can't believe what happened, though. kicked off the damn airplane!

someone searched 'ice cream sex' and got my site. hmmm. interesting.

stay tuned for the first intallment of the backcountry adventure...i am going to start at the beginning (seems to be the logical place, ya know) with (drumroll)...'alissa gets kicked off american west airline's flight 519'

an essay by morgan hite in to attempt to explain my month...though i don't think there are words that could ever truly summarize my experience:

Briefing for Entry Into a Harsher Environment
People always talk about what you can't take home with you after a NOLS course. You can't take home the backpack, or at least it has not place in your daily life. You can't take home the rations, and if you did, your friends wouldn't eat them. You can't take home the mountains. We seem to have to get rid of all of our connections to this place and our experiences here. It's frustrating and can be depressing.

This essay is about what you can take home: what you can take home, and what, if you work at it, can be more important than any of those things you have to leave behind. Let's look at what we've really been doing out here. We've been organized. We lived out of backpacks the whole time, and mostly we knew where everything was. We've been prepared: at this moment, every one of us knows where his or her raingear is. We've taken care of ourselves. We've been in touch with basic survival tasks. We've taken chances with outer people, entrusted them with our lives and seen no reason not to grow close to them. We've persevered and put our minds to things that never seemed to end. We've learned to use new tools and new techniques. We've taken care of the things we have with us. We've lived simply. These are the things you can really take home. Together they comprise the set I call "mental hygiene," as if we needed to take care of our minds the way we take care of our bodies. Here they are again, one by one.

1. Organization.
The mountains are harsh, so you need to be organized. But that other world is much more complex, and even harsher in ways that aren't always as tangible as cold, wind and rain. Being organized can help you weather its storms.

2. Thoroughness.
Here, it is easy to see the consequences of leaving things only half-done. That other world has so many interruptions, distractions and stimuli that is is easy to leave things half-done, until you find yourself buried under a pile of on-going projects with no direction.

3. Preparedness.
Out here, you've only had to be prepared for every eventuality of weather; but in that other world you have to be prepared for every eventuality period. There are no rules, shit happens, and only the prepared are not caught off balance.

4. Take care of yourself
and do it even more aggressively than you do it out here. The environmental hazards are even greater: crowding, noise, schedules. Take time to be alone and think. Never underestimate the healing power of being near beauty, be it a flower, music, a person, or just dinner well-prepared.

5. Stay in touch with basics.
Continue to cook your own food and consciously select the place where you sleep at night. Take care of your own minor injuries and those of your friends. Learn about how the complex vehicles and tools you use work. The other world is far more distracting and seeks to draw you away from the basics.

6. Keep taking risks with people.
Your own aliveness is measured by the aliveness of your relationships with others. There are so many more people to choose from in that other world, and yet somehow we get less close. Remember that the dangers are still present; at any time that you get in a car with someone, you are entrusting that person with your life. Any reasons that seem to crop up not to get close, examine very carefully.

7. Remember, you can let go and do without seemingly critical things.
Here, it has only been hot showers, forks and a roof overhead. But anything can be done without; eventually, for us all, it is a person that we have to do without, and then especially it is important to remember that having to do without does not rule out joy.

8. Persevere at difficult things.
It may not be as concrete as a mountain or as immediately rewarding as cinnamon rolls, but the world is given to those who persevere. Often you will receive no support for your perseverance because everyone else is too busy being confused.

9. Continue to learn to use new tools and techniques.
Whether it is a computer or an ice cream maker, you know now that simply because you haven't seen it before doesn't mean you can't soon be a pro. Remember that the only truly old people are the ones who've stopped learning.

10. Take care of things.
In that other world, it's easy to replace anything that wears out or breaks, and the seemingly endless supply suggests that individual objects have little value. Be what the philosopher Wendell Berry calls "a true materialist." Build things of quality, mend what you have and throw away as little as possible.

11. Live simply.
There is no substitute for sanity.

These eleven things are the skills you've really learned out here, and they will serve you in good stead in any environment in the world. They are habits to live by. If anyone asks what your course was like, you can tell them. "We were organized, thorough and prepared. We took care of ourselves in basic ways. We entrusted people with our lives, learned to do without and persevered at difficult things. We learned to use new tools and we took care of what we had with us. We lived simply." And if they are perceptive, they will say, "You don't need the mountains to do that." Europa Canyon, Bridger Wilderness, Wyoming 8/89.

hey there...i'm back. there is a ceiling over my head. everything i am living on is no longer being carried on my back. i am in some sort of culture shock right now. i had a wonderful time. wonderful? hmm. that's an understatement. it is really odd to see these words appear on the screen...weird to see a computer. it was such an amazing trip. i will have so much to tell...stay tuned. i got kicked off an airplane. lost in the gila wilderness. slept under the stars almost every night. saw a mexican wolf, one of only two in the area where i was (they are currenetly reintroducing the species in the gila), met great people, hiked over 130 miles, while carrying 60+ lbs. amazing. there aren't words to describe how i feel right now. i hope y'all had a wonderful month, and i will post more soon!