Summer Recap

I think most people define the end of Summer as either Labor Day or the Autumnal Equinox. This year, I decided my Summer ended yesterday, September 15, as it was snowing on me at the time. As I lay in my sleeping bag last night, I thought about the outdoor experiences I had over the past few months and how lucky I was to have had them.

One metric to judge "getting after it" is "sleeping bag nights." By my rough count, I spent about 24 nights (or three and a half weeks) in my sleeping bag this summer. That's a record for me (excluding the summer I lived in a double-wide trailer on an Indian reservation in Montana and slept in my bag for ten weeks because I didn't have sheets).

I also skied twice (including on the morning of the Fourth of July), climbed 12 14,000+ foot peaks (another personal best), Big Traversed two large wilderness areas (the Weminuche Wilderness in Colorado and the Wind River Range in Wyoming), paddled the premier multi-day packrafting trip in the lower 48, and explored places I'd never been. By all of these metrics, my Summer was a resounding Success.

I can only hope for more Successful Summers in the future!