As I approach my last month, I have been trying to use my time as well as possible-besides this weekend, which I’m using to recharge. The past couple weeks I have been working on a bat study, recording data on bat roosts in rocks and trees.

Three weeks ago I made the effort to go hiking in Mt. Rainier. Cold, rainy, snowy, exhausting: I loved it all. And I was relatively pleased for knocking out a 40 mile loop in 3 days.

My favorite moment was probably sharing a campsite with a fellow solo hiker. As it turned out his wife and grandfather went to my alma mater at Wake Forest. He told me how his wife will be “tickled” to hear how he spent a night with a Demon Deacon. He spent dinner telling me how I need to follow my dreams. Backpacking always gives me a renewed sense of optimism in humans, and this man was no exception.

As I was driving back-less than 24 hours to prepare for returning to work-I came to realize that one of the biggest reasons I love backpacking is afterwards returning to civilization I feel like a better person. I may not smell like one, but I sure feel better in a way no other activity I know can provide.

The weekend following, to the dismay of my recovering feet and knees, I climbed South Sister just outside of Bend. For me, climbing up was the fun part, on the return trip it seemed falling was the only right way to get down. Still, a gorgeous hike.

Finally, last week for work we got the opportunity to visit Bill’s place. While there we found a visit from some wild horses, so all in all it was a pretty great day.

All in all I’m pretty proud for the high density of adventure, so I’m rewarding myself with a weekend of coffee and relaxing.

Until next time,

Ben Robb