Life Lessons: Make Memories

You know the age old saying, "Take only pictures, leave only footprints"?  Well, I realized today, when someone asked me about my favorite adventure, it's not the photos that I remember.  It's not the images that I've printed or posted to Facebook.  It's not the albums I've made or the pictures I framed.  It's the memories that I remember the most.  It's the moments that took my breath away, the ones that made me feel invincible.  The smell of pine and the wind blowing against my skin.  Those are the things that can't be captured in photographs.  But it's what we take away inside us that really makes it memorable.  And no one else is able to feel what we do.  It's a personal and intimate experience.  And some moments aren't for sharing.  They're for our own telling; a way to keep the experience alive.  Because no one else is ever going to feel the exact same way you do.  And that's why those moments and those feelings and those memories are so special.  It's because they're unique.

So venture outside and create those moments that you will hold inside of you forever.  Remember the way they made you feel and you will always carry with you a gift of a moment that can never be replaced or repeated.

What I'm Loving Now: January 2013

I bought a sleeping bag today!  A Kelty Coromell Down 0!  I read a ton of reviews on this sleeping bag and it has mostly awesome reviews.  It's warm and lofty, the down retains its shape nicely and it packs small and its light!  Seems perfect.  Did I mention I got it for 50% off?  SteepandCheap have a 30 day unconditional return policy, so I'm going to take it on some serious testing runs.  Starting in my backyard.  And when the temp dips down to the high teens, low twenties, Ellensburg becomes the best place to start testing a new piece of winter gear.  If all goes well, it'll pass my tests and I'll be able to take it into the backcountry.  Up into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, North Cascades National Park, or the Okanogan-Wenatchee Wilderness Area.  The bag even opens all the way and can be used as a blanket with its removable hood!  How cool is that?  Welcome winter world, here comes fun!

Life Lessons: Use 'Epic' as a Verb

I just got done re-reading an article Backpacker Magazine published about the Lake Tahoe Rim Trail.  It's 165-mile circumnavigation of the second deepest lake in the US.  The author starts the article this way:

My younger brother Robert is the kind of person who uses epic as a verb. Bare-chested and howling atop a 10,000-foot peak, cigarette in hand, flask at his lips, wearing what appears to be one of those undersized swimsuits favored by European men, he'll say, "We just epiced that mountain, bro!" And I'll pant, "Yes, brother, we did."

This got me thinking about the word 'epic'.  Webster defines the word as "extending beyond the usual or ordinary especially in size or scope".  I guess that's true...  An epic stands beyond the normalcy of life and encourages the extraordinary.  But it's so much more than just something abnormally large.  As the author's brother is able to understand it, it's a way of thinking and consequently, a way of doing.  When you conquer something new, you should bask in the glory of your accomplishment.  You gave all of your effort and then some and now you have your excitement and pride to show for it.  As long as we have the desire to conquer amazing things, we can surely do them epically.  SO next time you get that promotion, climb a new peak, finish a 5K, or bike up that crazy hill.  Stand on top of your imaginary podium, pump your fists in the air, and say, "I just epiced that!"