Quinn Endicott/SWC
110 9th Street West
Columbia Falls, MT 59912
6/25/21
Today was another typical day at work but I had a fun night to look forward to. A group of the ministry team went to Logan Pass along the Going-to-the-Sun-Road to watch the sunset. I had the wrong idea and wore Chaco's not thinking that there would be snow at the top of the pass. Along the drive we saw some big horned sheep and one of them jumped on a car in the parking lot. We then drove along the road until we found a good spot to watch the beginning of the sunset. After the sunlight faded from that spot we chased it up the mountain back to Logan Pass until it had faded there. We then went hiking on the snow at Logan Pass until it started to get dark, then we slid down the snow hills we had climbed back to the parking lot. I implemented my back sledding technique and it worked fairly well. I then drove back to Swiftcurrent to get some sleep before waking up really early to do the half-marathon in the morning.
Driving on Going-to-the-Sun Road
6/26/21
Today was a long and physically exhausting day. I woke up at 4:45am to pick up my friend Molly then drove to Browning, a town 1 hour and 15 minutes away, to board a shuttle to run a half marathon. We started the run at 6:59am and ran the first two miles before walking. The first five miles were uphill so it was quite a bit of elevation change. We walked for about 3 miles until I decide to start picking up trash along the road that I saw. Molly and I soon learned that we would need something to put all the trash in because we were slowly overwhelming ourselves. So, when people would say "Thanks for picking up trash," I would respond, "Your welcome, mind helping us out by carrying some to the next trash can?" Most of the people said sure but others were more hesitant. We finally reached an aid station and I asked for a trash bag to put trash in. She originally gave me a large 25 gallon one then switched it out so it would be easier to carry. We ended up filling the 12 gallon bag full of beer cans! Once we filled that bag up we were at mile 11 so we decided to just run the rest of the way to the finish and ignore the trash we saw. We finished the race, me placing last in my age group, also a first for me, and ended up picking up over 30lbs of beer cans! Molly and I then went to get some food afterwards at Two Sisters, a very popular restaurant, then went to Fishercap lake to recover from the run. I ended up figuring out what songs I wanted to play at the service tomorrow and we saw a moose swim across the lake. I then lead a DnD (dungeons and dragons) session that evening to help the guys I am playing with create their characters. In the middle of the session, Amos had to go attend to a duel that he has set up with a co-worker because she kept shooting him with the rubber chicken slingshots. He asked me to be his second so I carried the weapons of choice, blades and guns (foam swords or nerf guns). The challenger ended up choosing blades so I let Amos inspect them and make his selection and then gave the other one to the challenger. We had Midnight Cowboy, the security guards nickname, judge the duel and Amos ended up winning. I then threw the extra nerf guns to people watching and we had a nerf gun fight for a solid 30 minutes. It was a lot of fun and a great moral booster for everyone because it had been a rough last week. I didn't get to bed until 11:30pm! All in all, it was a very long day but filled with fun.
Just before we started the race.
6/27/21
Today, in between services, rather than resting I decide to join some people on a hike up Mt. Altynn again. We took a different route this time that was more direct, so we climbed 3 miles with 3,000 feet of elevation change. Turns out that the first time I climbed Mt. Altynn I wasn't actually at the peak, I was at a false peak further west along the mountain ridge. So, this time I was actually at the highest point on the mountain and it was as spectacular as before. Molly and I took a photo with our medals at the top and then we all headed back down to make it to our evening service. After the service I went back to my cabin and went to sleep after reading for a while. A wonderful weekend to rest emotionally and spiritually but it was definitely a physically demanding weekend.
The group following a goat trail up the mountain side.
6/28/21
Today has been quite hot in comparison to what the weather has been. It is 92 degrees in Northwest Montana just 20 miles form the Canadian border. I had an excellent morning jouranling and then hammocking and reading for a few hours. Work has been alright but the heat is pretty rough. We dont't have AC units so our cabins get fairly stuffy and the lobby only has a heater as well so everyone has been dealing with the intensity of jumping 20 degrees in temperature. What is crazy is to still see snow on June 28th when it is 92 degrees outside!
6/29/21
Today was another hot day at Swiftcurrent with the temps reaching 95 degrees. The ice machine has been so overworked that it is malfunctioning so plenty of guests are asking about ice. Nothing new has been happening here beyond continuing to work although I have been catching up on the Olympic trials during down times at the desk. Turns out, one of the guys who qualified for the 1500m for the Olympics is someone that I used to race against in high school, Yared Nuguse. I have a photo of the start of a race and we are both in the picture since our teams were right next to each other. Other than that, just another casual day with nothing too drastic happening.
6/30/21
Today was a usual day until a lady came in to ask some questions while breastfeeding her baby. She came up and started asking me questions so I just rolled along with it. She ended up talking to me for around 10 minutes and I just maintained eye contact with her and kept my cool during the whole time. It turned out to not be as awkward as I thought it would be but still makes for a great story.
7/1/21
Today was an opening shift but the heat has continued to build here at Swiftcurrent. The employees don't have fans so I have been dealing with the mid 80s in my cabin. I ended up watching the NCAA Baseball World Series where Mississippi St. won their first national title ever. I am planning on camping on a mountain with a group of people tomorrow to watch the sunrise and sunset so hopefully that goes well!
P.S. I have decided to add the CDT, PCT, and AT trails to my bucket list to complete over my lifetime.
"How large is your '12-inch' pizza?" - a guest
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