Thin Air and a Chance of Bears......My Favorite Places

Bear and Her Cub in Alaska, picture by Camille Fichera

Hi guys!

I took Mythology and Folklore last semester so if you want to see my original post "Views from Altitude.....My Favorite Places" click here!

Exploring the Crevasses (picture from previous blog), by Camille Fichera

Now to be honest, not a lot has changed. I still love everything about the mountains.

When I was super young my family would go to our cabin up in the Arapaho National Forest (aka a forest in Colorado) every summer. We stopped going when I was about 10. I was too young to go hiking with my parents and siblings, so my grandma would stay with me and we would do puzzles. Look....I have done a lot of puzzles and not a lot of hiking in my life. Now I am trying my best to catch up haha.

There has always been something so captivating about the mountains to me. Maybe that captivation is just a bit of six year old sass from not being old enough to hike. Even if it is, it really stuck. The mountains are where I find my peace, where I feel the most happiness, and where I am the best version of myself.

Top of Sea to Summit Hike in British Columbia, by Camille Fichera 

For those who do not hike or climb, let me try to put how awesome it is into words. So, you get to the base of this mountain really early in the morning. Like the sun's light is peaking up over the horizon. Secret time: this part is 0% fun, but you have to get up the mountain and down before afternoon thunderstorms. You have your trusty boots on, a pup leading the way, and gear in your bag. You start the hike and you realize once again that hiking is horrible. Your heart is racing and all of those warm layers you thought you needed come off. You hike for hours and then you get to the tree line. All of a sudden.....there is literally no oxygen. At this point you start setting goals like:

• 10 more steps and I will take a break
• Okay lets get to the horizon and take a break
• Maybe 5 steps is more realistic for a break

The Last Part of The Hike, by Creative Commons

and so on. All while your pup has gone to the top of this mountain in a full on sprint like 5 times already. You keep on going because you know you are so close. Then after a few hours you make it to the top. This is the best part. This is my favorite place. It was hard as hell, but for some reason you already forgot how hard it was.

Then after the best part, you must hike down.....which if you thought going up was hard....get ready haha. It goes by pretty quick which is nice, but it is really boring and hard to get good footing. I think I have tripped going down a mountain every single time. But, then you get to the bottom. Again, you somehow forget how hard it is. You just had so much fun and that is all you can remember.