The People You Meet

So I bet anyone reading this thought I'd come back from Glacier National Park with a ton of pictures and hiking stories. Well I do have a bunch of those, but I'll save that for a post tomorrow or one of the next few days. First I wanted to tell the stories of the people I've met in the last week, as some of them were impactful and while they are still fresh on my mind.

It's amazing how kind people are while camping and hiking. I don't know if its because nature draws a kinder more relatable kind of person, or if people are so at ease and open when they are out in the parks that opens them up to conversation. Either way, I've talked to more complete strangers, and had good if not great conversations with them, in one week than I probably have in the last year.

Monday night, I arrived and set up my tent. After going out for a little while to do some short hikes, I came back to a small storm. I just found out my small camping burner wouldn't work because I was missing one small piece, so I had to go buy firewood to cook dinner. When I tried to get the fire going, I was not successful due to the rain, wind, and lack of a good fire starter. My neighbor must have seen me struggling, so he came over and offered me a fire starting stick. It worked like a charm, and the next day I bought a pack from the camp store. I had fire for the whole week. We got to talking though, and the guy's name is Jiggs. I've never met a "Jiggs" before. We talked for a few minutes, then we both went back to our sites. Then Tuesday morning, Jiggs's wife, Cindy, asks me to come have some coffee with them. I politely declined, but she insisted. So I joined them. They gave me some hiking trail recommendations then asked me why I was all the way out in Montana. Once I told them my plan, which indluded driving down to San Diego, then home, Cindy says, "we live in Tuscon! That's right on your way home, come stay with us". They gave me their info and said to get in touch. Although I doubt I will, I was shocked by their overwhelming offers of hospitality and trust. So Jiggs and Cindy got the ball rolling for me talking to people during the week.

Tuesday night, on the other side of my site, a new family is setting up once I get back from a day of hiking. A car from Seattle with 7 year old twins, Annabelle and Joshua. I think I opened my door and Annabelle was standing there, "what's your name?" I think kids deserve every bit the time of day that we give other adults and peers, because I think it builds their self-confidence. What's more building-up than an adult that will listen to you? Plus, sometimes they say the funniest things. Annabelle started showing me some of the exercises she and her mom do (if you can imagine a 7 year old imitating aerobics exercises, just go with that. It was funny). I asked her where her mom was and with a super straight face she says "mom is taking a nap in the tent. We stressed her out." I about died laughing. I don't think I was aware of how I stressed my parents out till I was a teen. Anyway, I saw their dad working on their campfire and was struggling with some of the big wood pieces. Just like Jiggs the night before, I wanted to help out so I asked if he'd like to use my axe to make some of those wood pieces smaller. He was incredibly grateful for it and it looked like it helped with the fire. Dave and I talked for a while and turned out he was from a part of Oregon where my brother and I plan to go this upcoming week. He gave me all sorts of recommendations for places to go and things to see. 

We saw each other a few times in passing the next few days and exchanged some quick stories from the day's adventures. Annabelle and Joshua were always excited to tell me what wildlife they had seen. I never got to say goodbye formally, but when I got back to my campsite Thursday afternoon, I found extra firewood and the note (picture below) under a rock by my firepit. 

They didn't need to do that, but it made my day. Now I wished I could have said goodbye a little better. But I'll keep the paper and use it as a reminder to pray for that family.

Thursday was a fascinating day in terms of who I met. As a bit of background, I had worn myself out Monday-Wednesday. I had hiked about 28 miles in 2 1/2 days, so Thursday I rested by riding the free shuttles from one end of the park to the other, sat by a few lakes, and did a few short trails.

On my way from Logan's pass, the highest road point in the park, to the west end, I ended up on a shuttle by myself. Just me and the driver, Ed. In no time, Ed and me were buddies. Turned out Ed had been a pilot for 20+ years in Alaska doing fishing and hunting expiditions. Ed's big thing was "I'm here on borrowed time. Count every day as a gift". Ed shared with me the 6 times that he should have died. 2 bear incidents, 1 hypothermia, 1 near fall off an icy mountain, 1 plane propeller incident, and honesty I forget what the other was. But his message stuck with me. Every day is a gift. When he dropped me off as far as he could go he shook my hand an said "Andrew, I wish you'd ride back to the top with me, you're my favorite passenger I've had in a long time. Most people get on here and want to talk about junk. We talked about life." I took it as quite a compliment as I really liked Ed.

That afternoon, while taking the bus from Logan's Pass to my side of the park, I sat down next to an older man with a very long, white beard and hair. My immediate thought was "this guy is a complete loner and maybe crazy". But having learned too many times before you can't judge a book by its cover, I withheld final judgement. I eventually said something to him as he mentioned one of the trails I had been thinking of doing. Turned out he was not only very normal, but really well-spoken and knowledgeable. He told me all about his kids and grandchildren. How he moved from the East to Montana because he couldn't stand how crowded and humid it was. He created a web site for Glacier hiking (he kept telling me "google slow hikers guide"). The guy was fascinating. I actually missed the stop I was planning on getting off to do a short hike, and rode all the way down to my campsite because he was giving me such good tips on the park. He recommended that I do a hike called "Scenic Point", which I did Friday and it was amazing.

View from Scenic Point

Thursday doesn't even end there. I was sitting at my campsite table reading just before it got dark and this guy walks up to me. He gives me his story - him and his friends are trying to pass through the park, but cannot because the road is closed (the road did close from 9 PM to 7AM every day), there are no campsites left, and they have no money for a hotel room back in the town outside the park. He wants to know if they can set up tent on my lot. Having been taken in by a stranger as a stranded traveler before, I said sure. So 2 guys and 1 girl start setting up tents just next to mine - Ami, Didi, and Hannah. Turns out the 2 guys are from Israel and the girl is a substitute teacher/artist from NYC who has hitchhiked all the way out here. She knew Hebrew and had met these guys at some festival in Montana and so she rode with them up to Glacier. I stayed up talking to them and drinking tea over the fire for an hour or so, then decided it was time to go to bed when Ami and Didi pulled out the "Colorado tobacco" as they put it. I almost asked them not to, but decided I could just plead ignorance if the ranger came around and I was in my tent. But still, I wished them the best, gave them a few good trails and recommendations, and gave them a few fire sticks. The circle of life.

All this to say, these encounters have had a profound impact on me. From Ed, I heard a message I've heard before but more powerfully - every day is a gift and treat it as such. From that, I can bend it to - every person is a gift, treat them as such. To all my family and friends back home, I apologize for rarely living this out. I'm coming back a changed man! Yesterday while reflecting on this, I happened to be in 1 Corinthians 13, the famous passage about love. It wasn't the often read wedding passage that stuck with me, but verses 1-3 that basically said "you can have faith, you can have the gift of tongues, you can have whatever gifts, but none of it means anything without love" (again, me paraphrasing). So I'm coming back with a "love infusion". Also, I think I am going to start talking to strangers back home. I'll say something dumb if I have to to try to spark a conversation, but you never know what might come of it and you never know how positively you might impact someone else.