9/3/21
This morning I had a little fun by sneaking up on the cashier in the dining room while they were looking at their phone. They jumped and then chased me out of the dining room. I was already heading on my break so they just sped me up a little. This evening a group of us went to the Flathead High School football game. Our previous housekeeping manager is now the QB coach and we wanted to support him at a home game before we all left for the season. It was around 3 hours to get there and the stadium was in the middle of a neighborhood! I rode with Amos, Alex, and Megan because I had to drop off my van at Lake McDonald to hike Gunsight pass tomorrow. We also stopped by Chick-fil-A on the way to the game. It was quite interesting being back at a high school event. I don't think it had hit me before but I am 5 years older than most seniors! Asbury University felt very similar to high school with knowing most of my classmates as well as a good amount of professors. So being surrounded by kids 5-9 years younger than me was a wake up call to my entry into the adult world. The game was pretty rough with Flathead scoring one touch-down in the final quarter with a 67 yard catch and run. The opposing school, I think from Billings, scored 49 points in the first 3 quarters. After the game the group of us were able to catch up with Caleb and encourage him in this new space in life. Hopefully Ryan and I will swing by once we both get off for the season and before heading down to the Grand Tetons.
9/4/21
Boy was today a long day. Molly picked me up at around 7:00am to drive to the beginning of Gunsight Pass, a 22-mile hike that leads from Jackson glacier to Lake McDonald Lodge while passing multiple lakes, valleys, mountains, and the Sperry Chalet. Ironically, when we arrived there were two people form Swiftcurrent also doing the hike. They were moving a little more slowly and Molly and I had decided to go to a rodeo after the hike so we had a slight time crunch. The hike was absolutely spectacular. After a few miles you get cut off from any sign of man made things beyond the trail. You step into a separate valley that no vehicle can travel to I will explain the pictures below to go into more detail but this hike has jumped into my top 4 favorite hikes.
After the hike, with much limping and pain, we changed for the rodeo and then made it with around an hour left. We met up with people from the West side of the park, mostly ACMNP's and enjoyed the rodeo. I don't recall ever going to a legitimate rodeo before but I had been to some sort of a show involving horses when I was very little. But this, his was most definitely an authentic rodeo. The first event that we caught was team roping where one person ropes the head and the second ropes the feet. We also saw barrel racing, steer wrestling, bareback riding, and bull riding! It was super fascinating to watch and the crowd was fun to be a part of.
9/5/21
Amos was quite understanding of how long our day was yesterday so he said we were fine to sleep in today through the first session. I slept until 12:00pm which was excellent. We hadn't gotten back until 12:30 the night before. I ended up resting until the afternoon and then met up for the final service of the season. It was a little bittersweet but a great time to listen to Amos and then Ryan sang a song that has greatly impacted him this season. This team has been absolutely incredible and getting to lead people in music surrounded by mountains and nature, where a bear and moose has interrupted our services, has been a once in a lifetime opportunity.
9/6/21
Some sad news was brought up today. On August 30th there was a woman that had gone missing. She had been on a solo trip and her car was still in the starting parking lot 4 days after she ha started. Today a report came in that her body had been found. Last year there was an ACMNP member that had fallen to their death on a hike and this occurring the next year is definitely a strong reminder to be careful in the wilderness. I recently watched 127 hours and the whole point of the movie is to express that though we may view/value our own life as risk worthy, there are those who deeply care about us and risking our lives in turn damages those closest to us. It is a selfish perspective to think that we can risk whatever we want and not consider the negative impact it could have on our closest friends and family.
9/7/21
I watched the movie Gangs of New York, which is based off of the lives of those in New York who were influenced and eventually involved in the New York City Draft Riots of 1863. It was an interesting film, quite violent and detailed in the setting building of that time period, and the acting was quite exceptional. Later in the evening I joined Amos, Alex, and her brother Zach with his fiance to play Scattegories and Telestrations. I forgot how much fun Scattegories was. We played over 6 rounds before we decided to switch to Telestrations. I apparently tend to get way too specific in describing other people's drawings so we had some crazy transitions. Like going from the "Death Star" to "an olive floating in a puddle with a shovel next to it."
9/8/21
It has been a prank lately for someone to move around a large action figure version of Mr. Incredible. He has been in a tree, on the dump truck, in the gutter, and now was in the fridge. I have thoroughly enjoyed these random pranks/activities of Swiftcurrent. It is so refreshing to have goofy things going on in a stressful season. Something that I am looking forward to is my next paycheck because my shift today was all on overtime! I purposefully am trying to work a few more hours so that I can get as much traveling in in the post season as possible. With the season getting closer and closer to ending I am beginning to procrastinate on packing. I feel like I am going to use everything and I want to pack the whole van if I start packing so I am just waiting until the day after my final day of work here. At dinner my manager mentioned that Lake McDonald contacted her about needing people to work for another week over at Lake McDonald. I am not even close to being interested because I am pretty much checked out for the season. Also I want to visit people locally before my great road trip starts. I sound a little paradoxical because I am working extra hours here but won't work an extra week to make money...oh well, I am ready to be done but in the meantime will take all the hours I can get as long as it is here at Swiftcurrent.
9/9/21
Today after work I had a rush of energy and utilized it by prepping my van and some other items in my collection. I had ordered some patches for my tent and I was able to get them to cover the rips in the tent that I bought at the REI garage sale. Hopefully when I test it out it will stay waterproof and I won't have to deal with wet equipment. I was also able to use spray on glue with the foam pad I am using for a crash pad. They worked for a while when I originally fused them together but then they came apart due to a bad original attempt. I felt quite productive and greatly enjoyed the afternoon. We then had a campfire session for worship and sharing stories. We met a guy named Larry who was sitting outside of his van cooking dinner and we invited him to join. The fire was so nice to have, especially for our final worship session. Before heading home we found a large frog and moved it to a thicker grass area.
9/10/21
Today at work I was in a musicals mood so I turned on Rachel's, my sister, musicals playlist to make the day pass by. One lady commented that she enjoyed the music and complimented my singing. It was another typical day with lots of checkouts and questions, especially about the Iceberg trailhead. I am definitely ready for a break from guest service work. COVID has made it so much more difficult to deal with.
9/11/21
Today was my final full day of work and my last desk shift. I took some photos of the route that I have taken every day to work this season. It was a surreal moment stepping out of my cabin for one of the last times. I took a moment to take in the smells, the view, and the sounds of this beautiful Many Glacier valley.
9/12/21
Today my sister turned 22! Which is absolutely crazy to me. I was able to send a letter to her in time for her to get it before her birthday too! Along with today being my sisters birthday it is the final day that Swiftcurrent is open! It was an exciting time knowing that we were able to kick guests out. The seasons have also gone from spring to fall in just 4 months. We also had so many people up front that I was moved to help with housekeeping. I was in charge of stocking the necessities for next season in each room. I was able to take care of 28 rooms in 2.5 hours by myself. We were supposed to be finished by 5:00pm so that we could join the Swiftcurrent dinner. We were able to fit everyone into the dining room and watched a video made by the location manager that summed up the summer. We then went outside for a group photo to be taken. I later climbed up onto the roof to take a few fun photos. The evening was fun until some drama occurred but we made it through the night.
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