Saturday and Sunday, 29-Oct-2022 and 30-Oct-2022


It’s Halloween already, isn’t it? How did I miss that it’s already Halloween?



It had been a year. A busy, adventure-filled, amazing, challenging, ridiculous year. Full of evolution, change, growth, and movement forward toward the future.

But October found me back somewhere I’ve been quite a few times before… reflecting on how much has changed since the last time I was there. To an extent… but, frankly, also appreciating the calm moment to just not think about everything. To relax, to unwind, and to appreciate the cold wind and clear skies.


I’ve been to Green lakes… Ohh, probably at least seven times. Once a year, give or take, and probably a few more times that I’m not quite remembering. It’s calm, beautiful, and I’ve gotten to know the area pretty well at this point. It’s comforting, and I’m always thankful for the weekends that I can make it up.

This year, I went out a bit later than normal – Or so I thought. In retrospect, looking back at previous photos and such, it seems that mid to late October is pretty normal of a time for me to go out… interesting. I don’t quite recall there being this much so any other time, so… Hmm. interesting, in any respect.


I got out fairly early in the day, with the goal of getting to camp before sunset – Shorter days, less hiking time, the usual. I was aiming to arrive and make camp with maybe half an hour of daylight left… and instead, I got there with nearly two hours of daylight to enjoy! I was happily surprised – I’ve been hiking and working out a lot more these last few years, but haven’t been seeing too much progress, and I freely admit that it’s been a bit draining on my psyche. After absolutely crushing this, and my last, hike… I’m starting to see why I haven’t seen much progress.

I’ve been continually moving forward, and doing harder and harder hikes. Middle Sister was exceptionally challenging… but that’s because it’s a challenging hike. It’s not even really a hike – it’s a technical ascent! Of course it should be hard!

Anyways, I made it with tons of time to explore, relax, and enjoy myself… and then, to sleep. Like, so early. I legitimately was tucked into my sleeping bag drifting off by 8:00, I think.

The next morning I woke up late.

That’s right. Asleep by 8:00, and still asleep at 10:30. Awwww yeah, be amazed at that sleep debt I carry. Or… just at how much I enjoy being curled up in a sleeping bag in the freezing woods? It was exceptionally windy that night… Windy enough that I had woken up and actually got out of the tent to better secure my cooking gear and hiking poles!



Regardless of how long I slept, I got up. I broke fast, I supped upon coffee, and I enjoyed the cold. I took some time to boil off water for myself to bring home. I thought… a bit. But mostly, I simply let myself enjoy the cold world around me, either through my own eyes or through the lens of a camera.

It.

Was.

Excellent.

The drive home found me a bit hungry… and the random pizza place that I’d spotted along the drive in was closed by the time I made it by. A quick stop for gas gave me time to do a quick websearch, and soon enough I had found a small neighborhood bar and grill to slack my need for a huge bacon burger… and a chance to read some interesting roadside signs!

A fitting end, if I do say to myself.