Mountain Lakes Loop, Klamath County

I start up Mountain Lakes Loop trail at 530pm in hopes of reaching Harriett Lake before dark. By 730pm,the sky disappears behind a curtain of storm clouds. A drizzle begins. I reach Hariett Lake after 9pm.  It's dark and I use my headlight to find a campsite. My waterproof jacket, pants, and backpack-cover are utterly soaked but they've succeeded in keeping the essentials dry. I wait for a break in the rain before pitching my tent. I’ll have to move quickly - I’ll be in for a miserable night if my tent gets wet.

The rain softens to a drizzle. I layout my tent. Terrible timing. The sky opens up and a billion balls of hail drop down.  I grab my tent and whip it like a sheet, brushing off frozen water. I toss my rain-fly over my head, straddle my tent, and attempt to work the poles. I can’t see through my wet glasses. My frozen fingers feel fat and numb.  Finally, after a pathetically epic struggle, my muddy tent is pitched but soon collapses against the wind.

My hands worthless.  I spend several minutes drying the inside of my tent with a pack-towel. Water from my clothes drip while I work. I strip off the drenched clothes and stick them in a sack. Now naked and shivering, I’m able to finish drying the tent. I lay out my pad and sleeping bag. I dry off with my towel and struggle to dress myself. My tent is tiny and sagging beneath the weight of layers upon layers of hail. The wind whips my rain-fly and I pray it holds. At last, I crawl in my sleeping bag and squeeze my hands between my thighs.  My hands are too frozen for dinner prep or reading. Drips of water fall from the ceiling. It rains all night.  My hands feel better and I fall asleep shortly after enjoying this day dream:

How many wealthy folks dream of adventures that they know they aren’t capable of - due to health problems, time constraints, ect.? What if you could get these folks to pay for you to experience these adventure for them? You don’t come to them with your idea, they come to you with theirs. For example, some retired real estate agent with a terminal disease has always dreamed of rafting the Grand Canyon. You meet her and get an idea of the trip she has imagined. She gives you a few suggestions of places she’d like you to camp at, things she’d like you to try. She finances your trip and you do they best you can to live it for her. You send her a post card upon arrival. She is giddy each night, knowing you floating at the bottom of that great canyon. You take plenty of pictures, draw sketches, collect mementos and return to share them all with her.

What if you could make a name for yourself living out othersdream adventures?! You could build a reputation as an artist and adventurer. How cool would your website be??? You could begin charging enough to live comfortable between adventures. Your art and writing would mean even more to them, knowing you’re growing in celebrity. You could write a wonderful memoir of your adventures and all the silly things, places, and people have requested that you try along the way. You could get financed to horse back through Colorado one month and dig for treasure the next. You could simultaneously enrich another's life while enriching your own!

My mind played with that thought before drifting towards warm sheets, blankets, breasts, hot cider and dream land.