Four Pass Loop - Day 4
8/31/23
00.00am i got up to look at the moon, but really, ended up mostly admiring at the view illuminated by it. snowmass peak looked glorious under her light. no headlamp needed to walk back to the tent.
5.50am whoop buzzed and alarm beeped.
i had breakfast and watched the sunrise over Snowmass Peak, which was 100% worth it. sunrise was probably one of my favorite times of day out there: the quiet from the night still lingering in the air, the landscape around me going from grey to being dipped in color.
i packed up camp for the last time on this trip and left around 7.50am. i thanked the guys and wished them well in case i didn’t see them again, although i had a feeling i would.
as i put my pack on and headed for the trail, i realized part of the routine i developed out there shifted depending on how close or not i was to other people.
if i was far enough away that i thought my rustling wouldn’t wake them, i first packed my tent and backpack up. then, would eat breakfast and enjoy my coffee. i perfered this version of things, as almost everything would be taken care of before i sat down and ate- extra incentive for my busy mind to stay quiet a little longer.
if people were close, i reversed the order, food first, followed by packing up my sleep system. then enjoying my coffee as the final treat. saving the best for last.
i passed a few people running in the opposite direction as me, they’d already made it past the first pass and were attempting to complete the whole loop in a day. maybe that’ll be me in a few years.
the rest of the day flew by. i was about a mile away from the pass, when i heard the guys behind me. i moved aside so some of them could pass me and i challenged myself again to make it to the top without stopping. one breath and one step at a time. breathe, step. breathe, step. breathe, step.
the adrenaline i felt as i reached the top was another highlight of the trip. i felt like i was on cloud 9 as i raised my hiking poles in the air and high fived the guys. i was about to plop my pack down when i spotted nikki (cue another high five) and sat down next to her. we exchanged numbers, caught up on how the previous day was for both of us, and admired the view around us. there was something extra special about looking out at the vast beauty before me, with someone else who so clearly and joyfully loved it too.
being at the top of the final pass with all of them felt like the cherry on top. a journey i started and would end alone, that was made that much sweeter because of the people i met along the way. the jokes exchanged, the questions asked, the views appreciated together.
as i made my way back towards the trailhead, jon and i reflected on this trip. what we’d enjoyed about it, were suprised by, and more. his calmness and mindfulness while talking reminded me to appreciate more of my own. how for some of us, slowness can feel like a breath of fresh air.
as we reached the last half a mile, i stayed back and waited a few mintues alone. i wanted to take it in. to be as present as i could. to feel the dirt crackling beneath my boots and the person i was out there linger with me just a little longer.
even though it had only been 4 days, the bustle of people and proximity to civilization felt a bit jarring. a part of me not ready to return, to go back to all that waited for me back home.
but she’s like that, nature. she takes you in, then she spits you right out. in a split second, a journey of a dozen or a hundred or a thousand miles is over. as quickly as it started, it ended. leaving you wondering if it all even happened at all. you look back and stare at her in awe, trying to soak up the last bits of her beauty and clarity she so freely offers. she looks back at you, a mischievous flicker in her eye, she knows you’ll be back for more.
the finality of the trip reminded me of the finality of life. everything begins and ends, comes and goes. and that is part of what makes it all so magical. or at least, that’s what i tell myself.
as i headed to my car i thought of how the people i walked by had no idea of the journey i’d just been on. how i was changed, molecularly altered, by the people i met and passes i climbed.
it reminded me of all the stories people have living inside them, that i don’t know of. pieces of their soul so intimate, only for their breath to feel and their body to know. how we’re really all just walking around this earth with whole worlds and dreams swirling inside us.
and what a pleasure it was, to have just achieved one of mine.
3pm. i turned the keys in my car’s ignition and set towards home.
the day’s data:
hiked 7.50am-2.10pm
9.30 miles and 1,827 ft elevation
blue skies all day babyyyy
this felt like the fastest day yet, there’s a certain speed and energy that only the last days seem to carry. they have a different kind of grativational pull about them
technical notes:
not much to report on this section, plenty of water sources and it felt like the tree cover came sooner than it did on the other days