Well hey there once again Genxers!  Matt Marshall here checkin in for another edition of… GenxTalkin Storytime. Today we’ll be talking through a great little adventure I had a couple of years back while hiking in colorado.

But first, I just wanted to remind you all to comment, like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and on your favorite social media app.  Without the support we’re just talkin into a mic, and we’d rather like to know that we’re making a difference.  And now, onto the story…

I took a trip to Northern New Mexico a couple of winters ago.  I spent about 4 days recording my parents for a podcast.  BTW if you still have your parents, and you can find a chance to ask them questions about their lives.  Take it!

While in the area, I went on a hike to Ice Lake just west of Silverton, CO.  I was planning on doing it by myself, just because I normally like to hike alone.

The drive up was early and uneventful. Got to the trailhead at about 7:30am.  There was one other vehicle (a truck) parked at the trailhead.  And there's this kid, maybe 19-20 years old just walking around his truck several times, opening one door, then going to the back, opening it up and digging around.  Almost looked like he was living out of his truck.

Aside from my security mindset saying "this scene looks a little strange", I reckon it was OK…

So I got my pack with food, water and emergency supplies (yes, that old prepper nut gene coming out in me…). 

I tightened the laces on my boots, and started walking to the trailhead.  I was reading the sign when the kid comes up to me and says,

you headed to Ice Lake? 

I say yes.

Have you done it before?

I say no

Cool, well maybe we'll see each other on the trail.

He sets off at what, to me, appears to be a sprint

and I start at more of a marathon pace. 

Mind you this hike itself is 3000 feet vertical ascent over about 4 miles up.

I’m about a mile into the hike and looking ahead, I can see the kid at times, but then lose sight of him. Eventually I got to this spot where there's a switchback, but just off the switchback there's a beautiful frozen waterfall, so I stopped to take a few pics and videos.  As I do, I see the kid on the other side of this waterfall walking back toward me.  He had gone the wrong direction and was backtracking.  So he comes back over, and we start hiking together in the correct direction.  Me behind him, and he quickly outpaces me again.

I get to another part of the trail.  And at this point, there was some snow on the ground and by now it's about 32 degrees outside, it was warming up.  I somehow caught up with the kid again, he was resting on the side of the trail.  We chat for a bit, I grab a snack and drink and offer him some, which he accepts.  Indicating he didn't have any food…

By now, we're 2-3 hours into this trip, and the snow's getting deeper, and he's not getting ahead as quickly.  I came relatively prepared with wool socks and boots.  This kid is wearing hiking sneakers in 4-6 inch deep snow.  so I gave him a pair of gators I had in my pack.  We're both sliding around a bit in the steep parts, but we're making it...  He of course pulls out ahead again.  I stop again to snack and drink (and rest!), and I think I'm not going to see him again until the top. 

But in the last half mile or so, the trail gets a bit ... lost. and I catch up to him (him having gone the wrong way again).  At this point, the trail is getting dangerous with

slick surfaces

under a foot of snow

crossing icy streams and

walking up very steep sections of trail

with icicles above your head  starting to drop

from the warming of the sun. 

We made a conscious decision to stick together. 

Because at this point, there is no visible path! 

Well we made it!  And I can tell you… the colors are unlike anything you've ever seen.  Hard to capture, truly. I’ll provide a short video of these on the genxtalkin youtube channel with links in the podcast notes.

When we got to the lake, we sat down and talked, and found out that…

APART, each of us was considering quitting multiple times. 

This was actually one of the reasons he was purposefully slowing down, so I'd catch up.  I do believe neither one of us would have made it, if the other wasn't there. 

So this episode of Storytime brings out a few important points for those who take physical and mental health seriously as part of their prepper planning. 

We know that keeping ourselves healthy as part of our preparedness planning is very important. And so we often can find ourselves all alone on long bike rides or on a single or multi-day hike. 

And as we see in this story, if we don’t prepare appropriately, it could mean the difference between a fantastic adventure or a failed attempt. And in worse case scenarios, it could mean life or death. 

So what are some applications we can take from this Storytime?

• First on a positive note, always keep in mind how important it can be to practice what you preach. How else will we learn if and how the contents of our bug out bags work if we never use them?  Taking a long hike, even a multi day hike is a great way to test out some of the components of our bug out bags. 
• Consider looking at weather and conditions ahead of a trip - I’m sure I still would have gone, even if I’d heard about a foot of snow at the top. But my fellow traveler?  He may have either reconsidered the trip, or he may have made additional preparations. Better shoes, more water, maybe some food?  But then, this also could have been his way of presenting himself with a scenario and seeing how he responds and gets through it. 
• Consider the possibility of running into others and be prepared to help. Now there is always the possibility of meeting others on a trail while hiking or biking or just in general while traveling.  And in many cases, we’re hard pressed enough to want to carry food and other supplies just for ourselves.  But when measuring out the weight of adding an extra power bar, or another life straw water filter, consider how important having the means to help others might be.  After all, one is none and two is one, right?  This also could mean you yourself might have something that another person might really benefit from.
• Consider that even though we may feel better hiking or biking alone - I certainly do. Almost always we can be better together. Having multiple people in an event to support each other - physically, mentally, emotionally can be very important, and can mean the difference between the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat. 

Oops, my GenX is showing…. 

Hope this helps at least someone out there respond well and recover faster. 

until next time, this is Matt Marshall signing off.