Every month this year, I’m trying something new and documenting how it went. Check out what I’ve done in past months here. I spent most of June, July, and August out west, which meant lots of new things – a new job, new activities, a new state, new food habits.
How do you encapsulate a summer in a blog post?
This was the first time in years that this summer felt like a summer from when I was growing up – namely, a lot of time spent outside. No internship in New York responding to customer service emails, no classes on campus hindering my ability to enjoy the sun without the threat of exams looming.
Also, there were teenagers. It really did bring me back to high school.
I left my job in March to move to Boston, knowing by that time that I would be working as a Trip Leader guiding outdoor trips for teenagers out west for the summer. I wanted to try something new, and I’d been wanting to do this type of job for awhile.
I was changing my life, if just in minor ways, step by step. Micro-changes.
June
The first week of June, I flew out to Salt Lake City for a week-long Wilderness First Responder course in Utah. I’d been certified in Wilderness First Aid and CPR before, but six long days of conducting primary assessments, bandaging fake wounds, and actually feeling competent enough to treat injuries in the outdoors? This was New Thing #1.
I rode a fixed gear bike I borrowed from the family I was staying with, walking it up hills and rolling into class each morning slightly sweaty. All those hills must have done something for me, though, because I felt in slightly better shape and slightly less altitude-sensitive by the time staff training in Victor, Idaho rolled around.
Two weeks of training came and went, and before long I was leading middle schoolers into the backcountry of Yellowstone. Getting paid to lead trips outside: New Thing #2.
July
July always moves quickly, even when the days are long and full. The month-long trip my co-leader and I were leading started on July 2nd, and I’ve never had four weeks fly by so quickly.
I bought a cheap watch and wore it day and night – and kept it in military time, no less – and suddenly I always knew what time it was. My phone came out in the backcountry only for camera purposes.
We started early each morning, the weeks melding together from backpacking in the Wind River Range to whitewater kayaking school near Jackson. Then it was on to backpacking again in Montana, sea kayaking in Yellowstone, and finally climbing the Grand Teton.
Cool job, huh? You don’t get paid much, and the challenges can be great, but the rewards are even greater.
Though I’d had some experience with each of these activities, doing them in these places and to such an extent was all new – and technical climbing on the Grand with hip belaying and guides was definitely new to me. I’d also never spent so many nights in a row sleeping in a tent; by the end of July, the hostel beds at Teton Village had never felt so good.
What a crazy, incredible month.
August
August is technically part of summer, but by the end you can taste fall on your tongue. Literally, because for some reason Starbucks released the Pumpkin Spice Latte on August 28th this year, and in what dimension is August 28th the first day of fall? We all know the first real day of fall is September 1st.
Anyway, the new thing I tried in August was coming home from a long trip and collapsing.
Just kidding, that’s nothing new.
I did check off a new state, though – Oregon! It was pretty much just as I’d imagined: Portland was full of hipsters, and the nature was stunning.
Some friends, my boyfriend, and I backpacked part of the Timberline Trail, the trail that circumnavigates Mount Hood, just as the smoky skies cleared up and gave us incredible views of the mountain.
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A whirlwind of a summer, with so many nights spent under the stars, and I’m so grateful for it.
