Between the months of May and September of 2001, I ventured to a corner of the world that many dream of reaching. In the past these dreams were often shattered by cold and disappointment. Your odds for success are better in the new millennium.
I decided the summer after I got home from my mission that I would go far away, reinvent dimensions of myself. The desire was very genuinely a remnant of both pent up wanderlust from my mission, and a decade old desire to go to the "last frontier." I had made wonderful friends that year at Utah State, but felt no desire to remain nearby that summer. I was off, by myself. It was thrilling.
That summer I worked in a gift shop outside of Denali National Park. I played volleyball in daylight at midnight, experience summer solstice under Mt. Mckinley (Denali) a full 7 hour drive from any paved road, performed for the public for the first time, met lifelong friends, climbed mountains, saw grizzly bears and caribou... it was a great summer. A hard one to convey to others.
Someday I will return to the land of the midnight sun... mark my words. The picture is of Dave Davis and I (one of several very good friends I met that summer).
Jake
1 comment:
'wanderlust' - what good word
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