Quinn Endicott/SWC
110 9th Street West
Columbia Falls, MT 59912
7/23/21
Today I finally got my lightbulb in the mail to fix the brake light on the right side of the van. I am pretty lucky that I haven't gotten pulled over yet but it may be due to the remote area and lack of mechanics around. Today was a normal day at work but I did find out that we didn't get permits for backpacking. So, I am going to have to figure out what to do this weekend.
7/24/21
Today I ended up sleeping in until noon! I have not done that in a couple of years. It felt great to catch up on some much needed rest. I was then invited on a hike to summit Divide Mt. It was Amos, Ryan, Alex, Megan, and myself who ventured out to St. Mary to summit the mountain. The air was still covered in the smoke from the Haystack fire 4 miles West of Polebridge, which is 3 hours West of us. We started at around 3pm and made it to the top in around two hours. The view was excellent even though most of it was covered in a smoky haze. Most everyone had service at the top so they all tried calling family to show them that they were on top of a mountain. My phone kept cutting out so I wasn't able to call at all. The sunlight eventually turned to Golden Hour as we scrambled back down and the views were absolutely stunning. When we got back I ran into a group that was planning to go skydiving the next day. My plans for Sunday had already been cancelled but the worship service had prepared for me to not be there so I made a quick decision to join the group the next day to go skydiving.
7/25/21
We left today at 5:30am to drive over to Whitefish, MT which is around 2.5 hours away. Our jump time was scheduled for 10am but they needed us to arrive at 9am to go over safety precautions and detail about who was jumping when. We arrived at the parking lot, which was right next to a dog park, and saw a single engine plane sitting in a grass field with a grass runway right next to a train track. we got there before the pilot and the jumping guides so we were all a little skeptical because we were picturing more of an airport setting. The guides and the pilot showed up about 15 minutes after we got there and then we all signed waivers and paid for the jump. There were 5 of us that had decided to skydive and the plane could only take two people and their tandem guides so one person had to go with just their tandem guide. I ended up volunteering to go by myself because I knew the other people would rather have someone else with them. The easiest order for the guides to handle the gear is for two people to go first then one person and then the last two. We watched the first two girls go and we heard them laughing as they came down to land. One of the girls and their guide had another parachute trailing behind the one that they were using and we were all confused as to why it was there. It ended up landing in another field a few hundred meters away. I immediately suited/geared up with kale, one of the tandem guides, and walked over to the plane. We sat on the floor as the plane took off and about halfway up he opened the door to get me used to what it would be like once we were jumping out. We enjoyed the view for a while before he closed the door as the plane made a sweep to go back over the spot we would be landing at. Once we reached 10,000ft above the ground he opened the door again and had me step out onto a little step above the landing wheel. He then tilted my head back and I tucked my arms in as he pushed us out of the plane to tumble through the air. We rolled and flipped a few times before flattening out towards the surface. The wind was rushing so loudly that when I yelled with excitement and joy it sounded like I was muffled. I was laughing internally to the sensation of falling/flying in the wind. It was such an amazing experience but passed by so quickly! When Kale pulled the parachute I whooped a the new experience of soaring through the sky while controlling the sail. He showed me how to spin and at first I was ok but then he wanted to get it on video so I did it again and made myself nauseous. I started dry heaving just before we landed and then once we landed I immediately vomited in the grass. Afterwards I learned that the extra parachute that we saw from the girl earlier had been the initial chute which was cut because it got tangled. The chute they ended up using was the reserve. After the next two people went we ended up grabbing sushi in Kalispell, the closest large city, and then checking out Wal-Mart an REI where I found a tent on sale for 65% off. We then headed back to Swiftcurrent to make it back for the Christmas in July party.
Sunrise
The field/airstrip
The plane and place we sat for the ascent
Getting strapped in
Internally prepping myself for this experience
Mitch after his jump
Sushi stop
Quick hike to Hidden Lake overlook
For many years the park staff has held a Christmas in July party on July, 25th. We have been planning a secret Santa party for the staff as well so we were all really excited for the evening. We had plenty of decorations and everyone had their own miniature stocking! We were given our secret Santa gifts but had to guess who our secret Santa was. I ended up getting a hand drawn/hand painted poster of Simon and Garfunkel that was made with water colors. It was absolutely incredible and blew away my expectations. My secret Santa ended up being an employee named Paval who is extremely artistically talented. We all took a group photo and then Ryan, the guy I went hiking with earlier, had made a song about Swiftcurrent and played it for everyone. It was an amazing night and one of my favorite parties that I have ever been to.
Everyone gathering around
Amos putting up lights
The gift I received from my Secret Santa...done by hand!!!!
Pretty much the full crew for the 2021 season at Swiftcurrent Motor Inn
7/26/21
Today was the last day that a co-worker would be at Swiftcurrent so we had a going-away party at one of the cabin circles. There were a lot of people and it was a little sentimental but the guy didn't want to say goodbye until the next day so that he wouldn't start crying or be overwhelmed with emotions during the party. We also had tacos made for the Swifties and then I went to bed since I would be working at 6am the next day.
7/27/21
Today was another day at work with my shift being 6am-2pm and then I went climbing with a coworker. Turns out that he was a personal chef for Rupert from Survivor! He even showed me Rupert's buff from the Pearl Island's season. We climbed at the boulder out behind the motor inns and were able to come up with some new routes to figure out. I wasn't able to complete a v4 that I have been working on but we made a lot of progress. I shredded a bit of my index figure due to the rock being jagged.
7/28/21
Yesterday was a normal day at work but there was great anticipation for the evening. Most of the staff had planned to go to Kipp's, the local bar, and participate in karaoke. Many people would be going for the first time and others would be continuing their regular attendance. Since there were so many people going I decided to bite the bullet of working at 6am the next day and went as well. It was an absolutely wonderful night. I sang two duets with Jacob, one of my co-workers, with the songs being Ebony and Ivory and Bohemian Rhapsody. We eventually had the swifty crew up on stage singing I'm a Believer and it was a blast. I then went with Amos back to Swiftcurrent and we got in at 4:00am. I went straight to bed and then woke up at 5:30am to get ready for work.
7/29/21
I found out this morning hen I got in to work that we are re-establishing the mask mandate due to the new CDC guidelines and the high level of infection rate in the county that we are a part of. This has made the morning quite difficult with repeating the same phrase, "Excuse me, just to let you know we are requiring masks to be worn inside buildings in the national park," over 90 times. I have only had a few people get really upset. Most people say ok and then put on a mask and others grumble to themselves as they put on a mask or leave. It has been quite strenuous working for the past two years in guest service jobs where people get upset about the smallest things and has forced me to learn a lot of patience and how to let things go.
P.S. I definitely plan on skydiving again!
P.P.S. I don't have any photos yet because I can't get them to upload.
"Does this ATM have money in it?" - a guest before even attempting to use it
So glad you got to go skydiving!
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