2020: A Year in Review
“We’ve got no worries.”
I find myself declaring this religiously when faced with anything from small hiccups to serious predicaments. I like how just saying those four little words out loud helps to calm my own mind while ideally lowering collective stress among my compatriots (although it usually just prompts a skeptical eyebrow raise).
This year, though, we’ve all had worries. Between pandemic repercussions, civil and social unrest, climate change related catastrophes and collective financial instability, the illusion of control over our physical and mental wellbeing has been slowly stripped away. Between the trips canceled, jobs lost and friendships distanced, a cloud of uncertainty has been forming over our heads for the better part of nine months, misting constantly and slowly soaking us to the bone. But you know what? The year’s over, and I think we’ve all earned a hearty pat on the back (after a liberal application of hand sanitizer of course).
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When the ski resorts closed and the country was first about to shut down, I booked it back to Cleveland from Salt Lake City to await reopening. While home, I worked on turning my RAV4 into a miniature living space, enjoying time with my family while watching the midwest come to life in the spring rain. As I savored the simple pleasure of puttering around working on projects, I found that my summer job as a backcountry guide in Maine had disappeared into thin air.
To my good friend Bryan’s delight, this meant that I could come help get the Moonshadow CBD hemp farm up and running for its sophomore season in the California Central Valley. We had 40 acres to ourselves to grow CBD and CBG hemp, a hefty quantity of tomatoes and the only patch of okra for hundreds of miles. I had ample freedom to explore the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains, which I took advantage of whenever there was downtime waiting on plants to grow. I expect to return once more next year as Bryan’s number two.
While at the farm, I started teaching myself guitar and ukulele while preparing for a never before attempted series of high routes down the Sierra Nevada, dubbed the “Grand Sierra Traverse”. It was to be a nearly month long, 400 mile off-trail bushwhack from the north shore of Lake Tahoe down to Mt. Whitney. To my delight, my dear friend Lebowski would be tagging along as my partner. After just a few days, he realized that this was a completely ridiculous endeavor and left me to continue solo. The emotional and mental struggle of being truly alone was grueling, and when paired with the sheer physical insanity I nearly quit halfway through. Luckily, I pushed on and completed the hike in 21 days.
After completing the GST, I returned to “The Bug Farm”, a vehicle dwelling commune in the mountains north of Lake Tahoe full of truly spectacular friends and phenomenal musicians. It was the perfect place to escape the real world and live a (halfway) civilized life in the woods.
Now, the snow is back in the mountains which means it’s time to ski! I haven’t used my brain much this year, so I’ve set this season up to be very learning centric: I’ll be ski instructing at Alpine Meadows and taking an EMT class in the hopes of ski patrolling in future seasons. I also just completed an avalanche rescue and risk assessment course to assist in surviving the gnarly world that is the winter backcountry, and I hope to become certified in teaching both alpine and telemark skiing before bare ground appears again.
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This year has been nothing but curveballs, and I’m oh-so fortunate to have kept my head above water while still appreciating all the agony and delight the mountains have to provide. Not everyone can say the same, so I implore you to help your neighbors, be kind to everyone and hang in there. We’ve got a 21 year old on our hands now.
Winter 2021
Tahoe Winter, Round Two