1986 – The Year in Review. Big hair and all.

Original Post Date 7/29/2021

Tom Cruise pretended to be a fighter pilot in a movie that was nothing more than a Navy Recruiting ad. 

Ridley Scott gave us the second (and best) installment of the Aliens franchise. 

Heavy metal and big hair bands were in their golden age, and there were still a couple more years to spend in the greatest consumer decade ever (until now, thanks covid). 

It was also the year Dave returned to GNP for second season to backpack and climb.  His prior summer he learned how to hike (basically walking with purpose), and now was time to reach for the sky.   

All he brought with him was a was a pair of fabric hiking boots, a dollar store Kodak C-110 instamatic camera (with optional flash cube stick), and the plan to borrow everything else he would need from fellow employees.  Yep, backpack, tent, sleeping bag, pad, stove, even a frickin’ spoon.  

A total OG dirtbag by today’s standard, but a clean-cut dirtbag with a winning smile and jokes that made both the yuppie and MTVer laugh. It was an era where the cassette was king, and Dave had Glacier fever.  Along with some trouble with the law at home.

The peaks were many that summer, the trail miles long, and nights in the backcountry uncomfortable.  I knocked out five the six 10k peaks in the park.  But this post is NOT just a trip down memory lane, but to provide reference for my frame of mind this season. 

Other than hikes and off trailing in the Swiftcurrent area, most of the hiking I’ve been doing are trails either new to me OR revisits of places I have not been in literally 35 years.   As a result, I’m seeing a lot of things for the first time, even on hikes or climbs done in the distant pass.

I’m finding my memories aren’t as accurate as I thought. Some details are vague if not completely gone. Certain past experiences I think my body just chose not to record, as they were too traumatic and/or terrifying.  Then factor in decades of visitation impacts in Glacier, and some wonderfully once remote places are feeling tired and overrun.

So naturally I am seeing a lot of new when I revisit the old.  Not saying the past was better, just saying that experiencing the same place 35 years later yields unique and different opportunities.  Even if the physical environment had not changed (for the most part), I certainly have.  So in reality everything is new to me the summer. 

But I can still see the shadow of that brash youth I was so many years ago everywhere I look. I can feel him standing behind me with the morning sun.   And now it is my turn to lead. I turn, smile, and say ‘Follow me’.

The old vs. new theme is following me with people, too. I like to edit posts in the common kitchen area, the true crossroads of the younger seasonal employees here at the old RV park.  It’s a great place to hang out and tap into that energy you only see at that age (before the pressures of the world turn them into people like me).

Its like stepping back in time (socially). Case in point, I found myself on the listening end of what I can only call an emotional landslide from a 20+ year old.  Her story line was was like drinking from a firehose, and I thought I’d be crossing the line if I started taking notes.  To summarized would be like reducing War and Peace to twenty words.  

This gal came to work in GNP this summer with a LOT of baggage, both personally and health wise. She is a prime example of how Xanterra is doing their best to accommodate everyone and anyone so she won’t quit.  If no one has coined “Pandemic-nomics”, I’ll take the trademark. Not to be confused with that neoliberal trickle-down Reaganomics bullshit they tried to make us all believe was sound fiscal policy in the 1980’s.

But is was hard to stay mad at jellybean eating Ronnie. We did get lots of free cheese. And I ate more than my fair share (a good time to be a poor college student).

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When I stopped for gas today, I had to smile when I realized the gas station I used was also a pot shop and did snowmobile rentals.  Plus nice pile of cinder blocks holding down the TV dish on the roof. Love one-stop shopping in the 406.

Stats ending the week:

Current as of:	7/29/2021		Last Day:	9/2/2021		Days Left:	35
Category	Count	Miles	Elv Gain/Loss	Hours	Avg Grade %	Avg MPH	Drive Miles
Hikes	16	187.6	39,975	77.4	8.1%	2.42	845.0
Climbs	3	43.0	10,419	24.4	9.2%	1.77	320.0
Down Days	8						120.0
Totals	27	230.6	50,394	101.7	8.3%	2.27	1285.0
“Work” Stats:	Miles Driven	Passengers	Pass Per Mile	Gallons	MPG	Fuel $
	4205	89	47.25	241.4	17.42	$803.01