coloradoan education

i learned many things about my self in colorado last week, many of which i am still learning that i learned. the most prominent thing i learned is that i am extremely social and i benefit more from meaningful social interaction than alone wilderness time. i dream of being a mountain man, but meaningful connection heals me quicker than being outdoors alone. i wasn't even alone, i was with mike on our shortened camping trip, though i think he would agree that we were in our own thoughts most of the time. we each had a lot to think about. when we arrived at our destination, a short 2 hour hike into the mountain from HC, the weather was good with blue skies, moderate warmth, and a healthy breeze. we must have stayed in shape the preceding nine months to an extent greater than we expected because we booked it up that hill at 9-10,000 feet with thirty pound packs. taking advantage of our youthful, endless energy we explored the surrounding area and quickly realized we were bordered by a stream on one side, a mountain on the other, and snow ahead, blocking any chance of hiking further, but comfortable nonetheless. maybe we overestimated our youthful, endless energy because after arriving back at the camp we had set up we took a nap. fast forward two hours; the weather descended into perpetually overcast skies, whipping wind, and an occasional light sprinkling. by observing the sky over the mountains west of us we predicted rougher conditions to follow immanently. we needed a new camping location. fortunately during mike's exploration part two he stumbled upon a nearby covered camp site complete with a low, thick, tree canopy and fire ring. so, we dragged our tent for the second time to a new camp site, camp site mark 3. at csm3 we started a campfire; it took us three tries and one frustrating hour with slightly wet wood. the fire roared an hour and a half until right around 7:30. the weather had grown worse...but to the east over HC and the valley we could see blue skies and sunlight. life. unfortunately the weather was moving in that direction and only darker skies were following.
me, "hey mike, what time is it?"
mike, "i'll give you one guess."
me, "7:30"
mike, "7:30"
this was moderately depressing since we were both bored and thinking about who we were missing out on back at HC.
me, "you know we can go back"
mike, "you want to?"
me, "yes"
'nuff said. we packed up camp and extinguished the fire in ten minutes and were down the mountain in 45. we booked and made it back to HC in time for dark to comfortably set in. the rest of the evening was spent with the foxes, karin, and destinie watching "the alaska experiment" on a leather couch. let me tell you that i felt like infinitely less of an outdoorsman that night. the folks on the alaska experiment hiked 40 miles across frozen alaskan wilderness including 30 degree rivers, miles of glacier, and frozen morraines, in a period of 7 days. they camped in sub-zero temperatures and traveled far beyond reasonable capacity. they did all of this to socialize with two other people. i am a wuss who dodged a night of 30 degree weather in slightly wet conditions. but, i did it for relationships that i cherish. i learned a lot about myself that night. i have nothing to prove and people are more important than pretty places.