♫♫ Homeward bound ♫♫ And what I learned this summer.

Original Post 9/2/21

My last day. My last shift. I’m thinking bullet points. Those of you who have been here since the beginning, this must come as a blessing. But thank you for sharing my journey the last two months.

I have learned if you hike 450+ miles and gain 100,000+ feet solo in roughly 60 days, you will:

• Lose twenty-eight pounds and a couple of toenails (on the right foot only), and build callouses tougher than whale barnacles

• End up talking to yourself in the 3rd person and using a lot of profanity (ALL of the time)

• Have all other employees think you just sell meth all day at the Hungry Horse Reservoir (north shore) because you never show photos of your hikes

• Find areas of GNP you would have never found otherwise, and new wilderness to cherish

• Understand why the CIA uses sleep deprivation as a torture technique

• Wonder how many photos your roommate posted of you sleeping on the internet

I learned if you drive an employee shuttle for just over 10,000 miles, you will:

• Have transported a grand total of 242 riders, three of which ever spoke to you

• Be second only to China in CO2 emissions

• Have nothing to show for it professionally

• Have less to show for it emotionally

• Seek counselling for isolation and road rage that will cost more than your summer earnings

• Have lost hours 400 hours of your life that could have been better spent building sandcastles or a really awesome mahogany kayak

I learned if you live in an RV park for the summer, you will:

• Want to go home and remodel your shower with painted cinder blocks and mold accents

• Ask your doctor for the shots needed to travel to Africa to counter extended use of the community kitchen

• Try to figure out what your housing deposit has to do with mowing the lawn

• Realize you were the only one there working for Xanterra; it was really a homeless camp

And of course, the final statistics:

The numbers say it all. Sometimes good things do come with age, like true commitment and hard discipline. I know young Dave could not have pulled this off. But his journey was not the same as old Dave.

Or rather, they were two roads that diverged in a wood, going to the same place taking different ways. But unlike in Frost’s epic poem, this traveler did not have to make a choice. And at two very distinct extremes of my life, I am truly humbled to say it was a unique privilege to not have let a road untraveled.

Current as of:	9/2/2021		Last Day:	9/2/2021		Days Left:	0
Category	Count	Miles	Elv Gain/Loss	Hours	Avg Grade	Avg MPH	Drive Miles
Hikes	23	267.5	55,630	114.1	7.9%	2.34	1315.0
Climbs	19	188.6	59,184	119.0	11.9%	1.58	1815.0
Down Days	20						290.0
Final Totals	62	456.1	114,814	233.1	9.5%	1.96	3420.0
Work Stats:		Miles Driven	Passengers	Pass Per Mile	Gallons	MPG	Fuel $
		10598	264	40.14	630.6	16.81	$2,147.12