My Adventures From The Ledge

So as I return to the East Coast and once again find myself surrounded by familiar and comforting things, that I now turn back to think about all that I've accomplished.

I set out to have real adventures from the ledge of the Grand Canyon and to do things that pushed me mentally, physically and emotionally to the breaking point. I wanted to know that I had done something so unlike myself that no one would ever again look at me and say things like, "You could never do that," or "You hate the outdoors/hiking/bugs." I was just getting so sick of people telling me what I could do, what I liked, what I would hate. All through my life it's true, I've been scared of most things, but I was ready to change the way people defined me--I wanted to be seen for my strengths rather than my fears.

And so I was stalked down Hermit Canyon by a mountain lion while I was alone and without radio contact. I climbed a mountain and had lunch at the summit, 9,300 feet up.

More than anything, however, was learning that the ledges I was attempting to walk were more than just physical. Sure, sometimes my adventures came from the real-life ledge of the Grand Canyon, but more often than not the ledges I faced were just that in my mind. It was the brink of knowing what I was capable of and the abyss of what could happen.

So to say because I am no longer faced with a physical ledge my adventures have come to an end is absurd. The one lesson I have learned in my four months in the backcountry is that my adventures will never stop because I will always be facing my own ledges. And where there's a ledge, there's sure to be an adventure.

And it's with that I close my Grand Canyon chapter and look ahead to the next mountain to climb, ridge to hike, or river to ford. All my adventures will be continuously posted here... more to come: the Appalachian Trail, trips to State College, and EUROPE!