out of the woods
so, after a week of utter absurdity, we're back from the wind river wilderness, and hanging out in denver, welcoming ellen's new puppy into the family -- who, it turns out, is the smartest dog on earth (the 12-week-old mutt learned to play fetch in like, an hour). the bottom line of the backpacking trip is that we're all safe and, by now, finally healed, and that the arc'teryx bora backpack series is amazing, but that it got more than a little epic -- what started out as a "little afternoon rain" on day 2 turned into a drenching storm which stayed with us until day 4 and prompted a 17+ mile hike out from cook lakes to the elkhart trailhead in 25 degree weather which included rain, hail, sleet, and, in the middle of fucking august, a blizzard, and a lot of unsafe behavior as the "fight or flight" instinct which makes you just try to get out of a bad situation also led nikki and i to hike for 9 hours on about 200 calories and a litre and a half of water between the two of us, only to arrive delirious in the parking lot and be found by dave, don, tricia and ellen an hour later still shivering. i'm starting to feel better and dave's recovering from his nasty hypothermia/virus combination, but, suffice it to say that during a few moments, i was more afraid for my life than i've ever been. we're headed back to dc tomorrow morning, and i have another interview (this time with the women's campaign fund) next week, plus more travel to new jersey -- inevitably, and honestly, as fucked up as some of it all was, i can't wait to go backpacking with nikki and dave for labor day weekend. anyway, we're safe and sound, and the bouncing puppy calls, so i'll sign off, but, that's a wrap on the last week or so, with more details to come later. oh, and by the way? still no word from my parents.