Looking back at adventure highlights in 2023, I still feel euphoric when I reflect on a particular evening in July. It went like this:

During a week-long stay at the Indianhead Warden Cabin in the far northeast corner of Banff National Park, I tried to capitalize on my current location and the long daylight hours of mid-summer. After day three of roofing on the cabin, I set out for an easy scramble up a nearby ridge once the work day was done. One river crossing and minimal bushwhacking took me up to the rocky ridge, where I wondered how many other people had been here before. The remoteness and unknown made the excitement of this escapade unmatched to any other excursion I’d done this week, or this year for that matter. I felt the thrill of how kids feel on Christmas morning; impossible to wipe the smile off my face although no one was there to see it, save for the mountain goats I met early on.  As I stood on top of the knob and looked out at the expansive horizon of mountain ranges, I felt calm and content; renewed for what was to come and released from past piled up stress. The meditative act of exploring and being present reminded me of my roots and true self, balancing the simplicity of solo exploration and respect for the land in which I find myself on.