Forgot my bad day I DID SHANGRILAH!!!!!

Soo this morning is my first day off in a week so I slept in and sleepily walked to the employee dining room or EDR for a quick breakfast and then I was off to figure out what exactly I was to do today. My co-worker Max told me he was going on a hike but I was really tired so I sorta blew it off until Josh mentioned that we were going to do Shangrilah. I didn't know what it was but I remember everybody talking about it and saying how amazing it was so I decided I better do it. So after a quick breakfast I changed really quick and headed off towards the hike that I had no clue about. I was told it would take about two hours so I didn't bring much food...that was a mistake.
At first the hike was really easy, just a simple trail that was on the way to Red Rock Falls but then we began cross countrying through the woods and along a stream. As we were hiking, on the mountain slope next to us we (me and my friend Josh who had been seperated from the rest of the group) encountered the biggest grizzly bear I have ever seen. Not that I've seen that many grizzlies but this one was BIG! We began hollering and shouting and waving as to not surprise it but instead I think it just made the bear a little more curious of us...sooo it stood there checking us out, and me knowing all too well that it could cover the 150 yards of distance between us in no time and me not being able to move very much due to the thickness of the underbrush. I had bear spray but it's not very comforting....Anyways the bear loped off around the side of the mountain...towards are companions who apparently encountered the bear as well.
Soooo after a long uphill haul we began freeclimbing the rock face of this mountain in order to enter the punchbowl of Iceberg Lake which was still a few miles off. After the rock wall a mile hike over ice and mud, followed by another rock wall. Along the way I saw several small lakes and all sorts of cool flowers and scenery.
Then, after climbing, and hiking, and waiting for the people who were scared shitless of this hike (with reason of course) we summit the side of this mountain peak and behold!!! SHANGRILAH!!!!!! The view was absolutely gorgeous!!! The way down however was....hairy. Skree. At the steepest angle I've ever encountered. SO like everybody else in the group we began making our way down. At one point almost getting hit bit a giant boulder that became dislodged. SO at the end of this skree field was a giant ice patch...I didn't want to go on it but I watched Josh slide down it so I thought it looked pretty cool so I made a steep cut towards the ice, and turned on my camera to film either my death or something cool.
So I'm making my way to the ice and BAM!!! the ice was slick and I lose my footing sending me in an uncontrollable slide towards the punchbowl valley. I narrowly avoid this rock, and that rock, and then slide right over one! It was the biggest addrenaline rush I've ever had!!! I was ALIVE!!! when I reached the bottom all I could d was laugh and shout and cheer. It was perfect. A little bruised, a little battered I hit the trail back to home. Oh yeah...I almost jumped into the frozen lake at the bottom before cutting out.
I spent the rest of the day playing guitar and fishing. It was a perfect end to a perfect day. I love this place and despite the stress of my job all i have to do is walk outside after my shift, breathe, look around and I'm allright. This is paradise and it's almost perfect. Almost :)

Long Day part 1

June 27, 2010
Today was rough. But before I get to today I want to go over the last few days since they were pretty frickin’ cool. On my days off earlier in the week Erica, Daniel and myself all decided to venture into Canada for a couple of days to see the sights, visit various places and just do whatever. I bought a few things…namely a pillow and a new pair of pants for work, oh yeah and Kinder eggs. What are Kinder Eggs you ask? Well Kinder Eggs are a chocolate egg with a small toy inside that’s comparable to what you would find in a happy meal…only cooler. So I had never seen these before so I bought a couple since it was kind of fun and a bit of a joke between the three of us. Well what I didn’t know was that Kinder Eggs aren’t sold in the US for a reason…I mean it crossed my mind a few times as to why they have them in Canada and not here in the US but I was too enthralled in the idea of them to really consider it. So after staying a night in Fort Mclaud, Alberta we headed back across the border. Before this, a couple days before I was talking to Daniel as to why it’s better to not give extra information when being questioned by the police in hopes he would take it to heart since he kind of rambles when speaking with them. Well the Border Patrol Officer asked us if we bought anything and the first thing that Daniel mentioned was that we had Kinder Eggs. The border officer…not quite seeing the awesomeness and silliness in this got incredibly pissed that we were trying to bring something that was illegal over the border. ILLEGAL!!!!! KINDER EGGS!!!!! We asked him why and apparently we here in the states are too stupid to realize that there is in fact a toy inside the chocolate and not another edible piece of plastic. They would have searched the car….they would have confiscated them from us and probably fined us, but instead they made us turn around, go back into Canada, and throw them away. Erica was pissed so she threw all the toys in her shoes and we crossed the border again. They let us through and we successfully smuggled small plastic toys across the border despite the best efforts of the Border Patrol Agents. Since then I’ve been giving Daniel a hard time about it.
Well a few days went by and one night after work we decided to head out to get cell phone reception so Daniel could get his clock working again on his phone. I had never seen the moon so bright before. And after that, when we arrived at the point where we get cell phone service there was a fireworks show that I got to watch. It was a pretty amazing night….and Filip is hilarious.
Well that brings me to today…but I’m too tired to write about it so I’ll finish it tomorrow. Goodnight.

Life in Glacier Park

Sooo all in all things have been going pretty well here. I like my new job. My bosses are really nice, the people I work with are cool, the area is really beautiful, I'm getting more free time than I've ever had before, and well it's just plain nice. The other day when asked how I was I said jokingly that I was "living the dream". It's something I used to say when I worked at Target. But I realized that I actually AM living my dream right now. I'm about to go live in Japan. I'm finishing up my degree. I'm a step away from paradise right now. It's just really cool.
I've also met some extraordinary people already and I've only been here a little more than a week. Things are just about perfect I'd say. Anyways that's all. Just thought I'd share it with ya.
The weather sucks but I might go fishing later....hopefully I won't have another deer encounter.

Deer problems

Soooo I got attacked by a deer today. But before I get there let me explain how the day went down. The last several days have been rainy, cold as shit, and pretty miserable. I have been couped up in doors all the time playing guitar, doing yoga, hanging out with Daniel and Erica, etc. The Jordanians have been acting crazy as fuck….ugh……I could go on about them but I won’t start. Sooo today, finally, after several days of shit it was sunny, warm, and realllllly nice. So this new friend, Sasha, that I made at Many Glacier Hotel and I went for a hike to Iceberg lake some 5 miles away after my breakfast shift. I was tired so I slept in the common room for half an hour. Sasha was a cool guy…a little crazy…but cool. We talked about relationships and he gave me some good advice…and some not good advice, but good advice was mixed in so it was cool. After the hike I had 30 minutes to change and get to work. I had planned to go fishing with Josh and Pua after work but they bailed so I grabbed my roomy Sam and my other roomy’s girlfriend Anna who I just met today. Sooo we almost arrive at the fishing spot and the two Slovakian guys Rusty and Filip show up and since they like fishing a lot they decided to stick around too. A few casts in one spot and we see them all jumping in other areas. Sooo we head over there. I failed a few times and handed the pole off to a few other people. Rusty, on his first cast catches a fish. After a few more casts he catches another one!!! And then nothing…….soo Sam was getting cold and Anna had to meet her boyfriend so we all decide to cast one last time. Me, nothing. Filip, Nothing. Anna, Nothing. Rusty…….catches another fish. So after a lot of laughs and chatting we pass by a spot that earlier had a moose and calf. But instead there was a male deer. The buck didn’t heed much attention and Rusty and Filip wanted to check it out up close and take some photos. The last deer experience I had went well so I thought it’d be allright….until the deer got pissed off that we were too close. The fucking thing started shaking it’s head, left to right, left to right. I told everyone to back up…..despite the adrenalin coursing its way through was really funny. It did a lot of the same things Anthony the rabbit did before it charged (deer and rabbits are in the same family). So here we were, pissed off Bambi and all. I’m gonna break this down piece by piece for you guys. Bambi takes his head down real low shaking it from side to side doing a couple of ballerina kicks with its back legs, doing a couple mock charges. Had we ran it woulda chased us so despite the terror/hilarity I told everyone not to run but rather back away slowly. So what happens? Filip and Rusty B-line it for the Aspen grove behind us to try and climb the slippery motherfuckers. They didn’t do a very good job. Bambi on ‘roids began to mock charge Sam and Anna so in order to save their asses I pulled my bear spray and got between them and the deer. Bear spray works on bears to maybe it’ll through the deer off too right? Plus it’s the only thing I had…had I gun we would be eating venison for the next few days. After the deer does a couple more ballerina kicks it begans heading for Rusty and Filip. Since they climbed the crappiest trees they could find they weren’t very high up…and they were too far away for me to get there in time. I had to hope the deer wouldn’t charge them. Luckily the deer decided it too also had enough of our shit and sauntered off into the aspen grove. At this point hilarious laughter erupted from the whole group. What idiots we were thinking we could get that close to the fucking thing. Well I’ve learned my lesson and really don’t want to break a rib this summer. I’ve had enough pissed off Bambi to last a while. Goodnight.

Beginnings...

The wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legends fade to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The mist was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.
-Robert Jordan
And thus another beginning becomes of my life. I am ready.