Half in Love with Oblivion
“Those who travel to mountain-tops are half in love with themselves, and half in love with oblivion.”
–Robert Macfarlane
Due to some serendipity among pieces of software I’m certified in and schedule changes beyond my control, I currently find myself in Alaska for the first time. If you’ve known me for any amount of time in the last few years you know that I’m working toward visiting all 50 states. Alaska was one that I thought would be among my last (with Hawaii). Little did I realize that both of those would fall within 6 months of each other, and neither being the last one. Alas, if work wants to pay for my trip up here then I’m more than happy to allow that.
Part of why I took this assignment was because I knew each day’s work would not be my normal 12-14 hour on-site day. In true form, none of the 3 days ran until 5pm. And days 2 and 3 started after 8. So, not only could I sleep in, but I could explore around town in the early evening without being completely exhausted. On top of all of that, I decided to extend my trip by a day and take a free day on Saturday. Given all this free time, I smartly decided to get a rental truck for the week. It has turned out to be the best decision I’ve made regarding this trip.
To understand why it was a good idea, you need to know where I am in Alaska (it’s a big state, after all). I’m in the tiny town of Ketchikan. With a population of just over 7000, there understandably isn’t a whole lot to do. However, we’re on a fairly large island so just a few minutes drive can put you in the heart of wilderness. Go a bit further and you’re out of cell reception, the radio barely works, and you won’t see or hear another car or person for hours.
That last consequence is a perfect perk for me. So I planned to drive about an hour away to the spot where a road meets a park-ish looking thing on the map. About half way there I notice an unmarked gravel road branching from my marked gravel road. GPS had no idea what this road was, so of course I had to go see what it was about. I wanted an adventure while I was here, so this was my chance. After several, several stops to take breathtakingly gorgeous photos (and just stand there and marvel), I came upon the end of this little one-lane “road”. Twisted 3+ miles into the side of this mountain was a trail head that had no signs. Again, adventure is what I was after so I had to go see what it was about.
Before we go on, you should know my provision situation. I have a jar of peanuts in the truck. A book in a backpack, left in the truck. A Woot hoodie and my trusty Colts hat are my protection against the rain and 47 degree weather. My cell phone is in my pocket, but it’s little more than a camera at this point. All cell service was lost 30 minutes ago, before we even got to the unmarked road.
At first, I wanted to see where this little trail went. It wasn’t much of a trail anyway, but given the heavy rains it was little more than a path for water to cascade down the mountain. Trudging up about 2 minutes I find a sign. It tells all who dare make it this far that they are on Dude Mountain Trail. It won’t officially be spring until June, according to the chart. The one-way length of the trail is 1.5 miles with an estimated hike time of 2 hours (again, one way). It says we’ll traverse 1500 feet vertically for our troubles. And finally, it rates the trail difficulty as “Most Difficult”. I’ll admit, I know all these things only because I took a picture of the sign and kept on hiking. If I’d actually read the sign I might have thought twice about what I was about to do. Instead, I figured “how bad could it be?” and just wanted to see what the trail was like.
“How bad could it be?” Those five words are the downfall of many a person. Thankfully, I didn’t speak those words aloud so nature decided to be kind to me today. I hiked the trail for 10-15 minutes and would pause to take in the splendor around me. Each time seeing what looked like a ridge just above. Thinking that the trail was coming to a close, I pressed on, hoping to make that final step and stand at the peak. This cycle repeated many times until I thought that I should just turn back and come back tomorrow. In places, the trail got quite treacherous and thoughts of falling to my doom crossed my mind. “Nic, nobody knows you’re out here. Hell, you don’t even know where you are. When (not if) you fall, that’s where you’ll end. Nobody is coming to look for you.” But then the next thought said “But we have to be close. You’ll make it to the top just fine. Keep going. How bad could it be?”
I’m quite proud of myself for finally making it to the top. The trail sign said it should take 2 hours and I did it in just under an hour. And that’s with many stops to just stare at the beauty around me. The “Most Difficult” rating seemed true in a few parts, but overall it was just an exhaustive climb but not technically difficult. If I had actually planned to climb a mountain when I set out, I would probably have included some water in my bag (at the very least).
In the end, this was EXACTLY the kind of adventure I hoped I’d stumble upon on this trip. I want to find the road less traveled. Hell, it’s not even on the map! The road ended and I kept on going anyway. If that’s not some perfect metaphor for life, then I don’t know what is.
Now, I rest. For tomorrow brings the state park I had originally planned to visit today. Maybe I’ll find another adventure along the way. Maybe I’ll actually hit the adventure I planned. Either way, adventure is what I’m going to achieve.
“The road ended and I kept going.”
–Me