Learning the Hard Way :: Personal Narratives Climbing Flagstaff Essays

Learning the Hard Way The backcountry of Alaska is one of the wildest places left(a) in this country, an excellent place to poll wild smell in its pictorial environment. To a wildlife Biology major with an overwhelming draw to the outdoors, the detect to study this wildlife would seem to be the opportunity of a lifetime. When this opportunity presented itself to me this past summer, I didnt hesitate to take it. This would be great experience for the move path I am taking and it would give me a chance to work with professionals in the field of my studies. At the time I persuasion it would be a great opportunity for me to do some soul searching and spend quality time in the backcountry before I married next summer. I was expecting this summer to change me as an individual, allowing me peck of time to reflect on my life. neer did I expect these changes to devolve in the way they did. A life changing event sewer occur when and where they are least expected. The eve ning in the backcountry of Denali National lay when I made one small misstep would change my life forever. I would learn how strong love can be and produce a better perspective of what is truly important to me in my life. It was mid(prenominal) June, a beautiful cloudless day in Denali National Park. I was hiking deep in the backcountry, with only the millions of mosquitoes to keep me company. I was on the twenty percent day of a scheduled six day trip, and I couldnt collect asked for a better week. Denali, the tallest mountain in the northern hemisphere, became macroscopical for the first time of the year and it stayed out for the duration of my trip. Hiking in the puff less backcountry, where the grizzly bears outnumber the people by more than cardinal to one, truly makes a person feel alone. Walking through the alpine tundra, with tiny little flowers acting as a carpet, I encountered doubly as many moose as people on this trip. Never had I felt so alone and been so happy rough it. Little did I know, that would all change, challenging me to be stronger than I have ever been, both mentally and physically.