New City, Old Friend

I was contemplating taking the scenic route that would take me to Toronto via ferry, but since the weather wasn't great it worked out better that I took the not so scenic route. I was not really ready for more driving with no cell phone service. In Canada, I am making the most out of my alone time and getting some self-reflection out of the way. With the inevitable return to the real world fast approaching, I don't think I am ready for it. This whole trip has been awesome, and it is going to be tough getting back into the swing of things.

The drive itself wasn't bad. I learned that there are ~1,238,293,604 lakes in Southern Ontario. The traffic wasn't too bad until I made it closer to Toronto. That's what you get when you get close to a city. Even though a city is where everything happens, is it worth sitting in traffic for days of your life? Ehh, tough call. Toronto definitely felt like an east coast city. It was very industrial all around, but it was odd because I never noticed any suburbs. I then found out that the suburbs are actually right outside of the city. This was interesting. Whereas in the US, it usually goes city, ghetto, then suburbs, in Canada it was city, suburbs, ghetto. It was a nice change.

I got to Toronto a little earlier than planned. My friend, Molly, who graduated from Penn Dental last year, was going to be my host for the night. I had about an hour to kill before she got home, so I decided to walk around a little bit. Finally, I ended up at a pub down the street to grab a beer. Everyone was pretty friendly, and the happy hour specials were decent. After a couple beers, I headed to Molly's apartment to meet up with her. When she asked me what I did to kill the time, I told her I went to the pub. She then informed me that the bar I went to was a gay bar. We got a good laugh out of that, and it definitely explained why everyone was so friendly.

Molly took me down to the waterfront for dinner. I got to see the CN Tower (which apparently is different than the Space Needle.) The dinner was very good and it was nice to catch up with Molly and find out what it's like outside of dental school. Seeing one of my peers out of school, definitely made me realize that the end was near. We had a really nice time and then headed back to call it a night. It was a shame I showed up on a week night because Molly had to work the next day. Regardless, we still had a great time. Got to sleep on a air mattress for the night and I was very comfortable. Tomorrow is the long drive home :( ULTRA day 38/39: COMPLETE

Another Long Lonely Drive

So the morning was actually pretty eventful. Josh was supposed to wake up and leave for work at 6 AM, so when I looked over at my phone and saw it was 8:30, I knew that was bad. He popped right out of bed and start pacing around the hotel room yelling about how he was a dead man. He was going to be 3 hours late for his Dad, who is his boss, on his Dad's birthday. Josh and Tiffany left in quite a hurry, and as quickly as Josh came into my life, he was gone. I decided to take my time and shower and straighten up a little before heading out. I was not really in any sort of rush since it was going to be a very lonely day.

Today, I was headed back into Canada, which meant no cell phone service. Surprisingly it took me almost 6 hours to even get into Canada. I drove up along the coast of Lake Michigan, and then through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was actually a very pretty drive, but I was pretty out of it still from the night before. I got out a couple times to enjoy the scenery, but couldn't spend too much time since I had a lot of ground to cover. The majority of the drive was pretty uneventful as I neared the border. I decided to stop for dinner before heading into Canada and instead of getting fast food (again), I stopped at an Applebee's to grab something healthier.

I sat down at the bar, and immediately gave into the urge to have a beer. I ordered a Shock Top and it was probably a 24 oz glass, so I had my work cut out for me. I got a chicken caesar salad which was very good, and then headed off for another Canadian adventure. I called Steve to see if he wanted to do my border patrol interview via speakerphone, but I honestly didn't want to take the chance of getting charged international roaming. As I pulled up to the booth, I was rehearsing the questions they had asked Steve so there were no problems. I started off fine, but when he asked me what I did for a living, I stumbled on my words. Not sure whether it was the rough night before plus the 6 hours I had been driving plus the beer with dinner, but my response was "I'm in dental sh-tudent." Combined school and student, and probably sounded like an idiot. From there the border patrolman was on alert, and started drilling me about where I was going, who I was seeing, was this my car, had I every been charged with a felony... I think I saved myself when I told him that I had been fingerprinted for a noise violation in college. For whatever reason, he found this to be quite humorous, saying he had heard stories about us dental students and told to be safe and have fun. Phew, that was close!!

The rest of the days drive was nice, with a beautiful sunset, but sadly, it was in the rear view mirror. I stumbled upon Espanola, ON and found the Roadside Motor Inn. I made this my home for the night, and passed out pretty early since there was no one to call, and I felt like I was just killing time on the computer. Not going to lie, this much time with zero communication is definitely tough, but I am getting better at the harmonica. ULTRA day 37/39: COMPLETE

JM

2nd Visit to Green Bay in 6 months?

Woke up pretty late again this morning. One of these days I have to get back into the ULTRA routine and get those 5:30 AM alarms to keep me up. Whatever, I'm on vacation. Woke up to find half the household up all ready, and shortly there after everyone was up and ready to go to breakfast. We went to a small place in town, and it was delicious and ridiculously cheap. For 7 people to eat breakfast, it cost $52. That is unheard of. There were chocolate chip pancakes that were awesome, mmmm.

Back at the house, it took 5 of us to get a chain saw working and then used it to cut 1 log. Martia said the problem was that we had a crew of Jews trying to fix it. She may have been on to something. Anyway, I did want to go out skiing one more time. Jake went out for a quick run and when he came back I noticed he had one foot in the ski and one foot out of the ski. He decided to do some single foot barefoot skiing, ridiculous. I went for it again, and today I was even better than yesterday. I was carving all over the place and really attacking the wake getting some air (and by air I mean 3-5 inches.) The water was so calm that it really felt like snow skiing once I got outside the wake. After a solid run, it was time to turn in. I took a shower and found weeds all over my body since the lake was infested with them this time of year.

I said my goodbyes to the whole crew and headed off to see my boy Josh in Green Bay. This past January, my good friend Kane got married to his lovely bride, Jess. Jess is from Green Bay and they decided to have the wedding there. Yes, they had their wedding in Green Bay, WI in January. And it turned out to be the same day as the NFC championship game. So it was an interesting experience for all of us in many different ways. Jess' brother, Josh, came to Philly for Kane's bachelor party in November. That was everyone's first exposure to Josh and we all were best friends immediately. The wedding definitely reinforced our friendship, so I was really looking forward to this stop.

I actually ended up meeting Josh within a mile of where our hotel was during the wedding. This was my second time to Green Bay and I was still within the same square mile as last time. We actually decided to just get a hotel room in downtown that night so we could walk to the bars and not have to worry about driving. A very responsible decision, I might say. We found a room and actually upgraded since we found $20 on the street. That is a good start to the night. We went to the Tilted Kilt, which I prefer to call the Twisted Kilt for whatever reason. It is basically a Hooter's type of establishment, but girls dress in Kilts instead of Hooter's outfits. I actually had my best burger of the entire trip at this place. I will assume that it was our smooth-talking to the waitress that made my burger that good. After dinner, we picked up Josh's friend Tiffany, who was just finishing up at the gym. She just got back from working on trails in National Parks out west and decided to crash our boy's night. I was OK with this, so we all went back to the room and got ready to go out.

The night was actually a lot of fun, even though it was Sunday night in Green Bay. We did a mini-bar crawl, but I learned a lot about the mid-West. First of all, it is very cheap to drink there. Secondly, they have games that you can challenge the bartender and get free drinks if you win. We played a game called "beer dice," which I eventually picked up and got to be good at (even though it is mostly luck.) Basically, you try to roll a high score and if you beat the bartender, they buy your group a shot. We won a couple times, so that was cool. I tried to have them recreate the Hand Grenade from Seattle, and the effort was there, but the execution wasn't. I don't think it was their fault, the shot glasses just weren't the right shape. We still took it anyway, and it pretty much had the same effect.

Josh and I were studs on the pool table all night. We must have won at least 3 games against pretty good opponents. I started off very rusty, but then picked it up towards the end. Josh was solid throughout the night, and that's why I love him; with Josh you know exactly what your going to get. I can't wait for him to come out to Philly again. We enjoyed the rest of the night with buy one, get one free drinks and by the time we got back to the room, it was time to pass out. Sunday night in Green Bay = great success. ULTRA day 36/39: COMPLETE

JM

Larry: Revisited

So today was a big day. 3 years ago, Steve, Joe and I, were making our way back home and hit a snag. This was very close to the origin of ExecDec's and we all were starting to feel the effects of excessive time on the road. We ExecDec'd our way to Sheridan, WY (which was were I got pulled over for going 28 in a 20 mph zone) and then decided to drive 900 miles through the night to Amery, WI. We needed salvation and my Dad's friends, Larry and Martia Swartz supplied it. This time around was very similar, except it was only I who was looking for salvation. Last time I was at their lake house, it was amazing. We went water skiing, had a BBQ dinner, played extreme bocce ball, and I was able to wash Old Blue. At this point of the solo trip, I needed something close to that.

When I told Larry I was in Fargo, he didn't even know if I was going to make it that day. 3 PM, I'm at the front door ready to interact with people I knew. Larry's son was visiting for the weekend and had his son and daughter out to the beach house. Larry's grandson, Jake, was an awesome water skier who is able to barefoot ski at the age of 12. Shortly after I arrived, we went out on the boat to take Jake skiing. Of course, he was slalom skiing and tearing it up. The only time I have ever water skied was at Larry's 3 years ago, but I had this 12 year old obviously showing me up. It was then my turn to go. As I entered the water, I told myself, "You are a triathlete and a damn good snow skier, you can do this." I guess my pep talk worked because I was up without a problem and only took a couple spills trying to get out of the wake. I eventually got the feeling for getting past the wake, and then had a blast. I was going one-handed and touching the water, jumping the wake, and trying to get as fancy as I could. Jake was still 1000x's better than me, but I was happy with only my second time.

We then ordered some pizza and pasta from a local place and it was absolutely delicious. They kept forcing me to eat more pizza and I kept complying. It had been a long time since I ate pizza so I didn't feel that bad. Anyway, I will start my healthy diet once I get home. After dinner, Jake and I returned the jet ski that they had borrowed. By returned, I mean Jake took me out and tried to throw me off of the jet ski. Then it was my turn to drive and I opened this thing all the way and was flying across the water at 50 mph. It was pretty sick. We then returned it to Larry's neighbor and Larry gave us a ride back on the boat.

Back at the house, we all decompressed and watched a couple movies. Out of nowhere, Martia brought out ingredients for s'mores and next thing I knew, I was cooking mallows over their fireplace. I wasn't complaining. I knew I liked Jake when I found out he was a connoisseur of toasted mallows. He didn't like them burned and took his time to get the perfect golden brown finish. After a couple s'mores, I felt ready for bed. Not going to lie, I was all ready a little sore from water skiing, but that's what happens when you live the ULTRA life. ULTRA day 35/39: COMPLETE

The Neverending Road

I woke up around and found Ashley downstairs reading a book and using her knee machine. Don't think I said this last time, but she recently had surgery on her knee so she was pretty incapacitated. The machine basically helped increase her range of motion and since she was a nurse she was getting to use it for a pretty discounted price. I told her that we were going out to breakfast and she didn't have a choice. She took me to the finest breakfast establishment that Bozeman had to offer and it was busy even on a Friday morning. We had a very nice meal and discussed all aspects of life; past, present, and future. Afterwards, I gave her a ride home and told her how much I appreciated her and Andrew's hospitality. It was then off to...

I hadn't really picked a destination for that day. All I knew is that it was 16 hours to Eau Claire, WI, which was basically my next stop. It all depended on whether I wanted to split the drive evenly or take out most of it today. Since I was solo, I actually called in for some assistance on the matter. I called Carly to help me out, and 45 minutes later I had a hotel booked in Fargo, ND; a mere 11 hours from Bozeman. So it was going to be one of those days.

Even though it was just a day full of driving across gigantic states, there were a couple monumental events. #1 - Old Blue reached 80,000 miles and still running strong #2 - Knocked North Dakota off the list, so now the only 2 states that remain are Michigan and Hawaii. Michigan will come in a couple days, and Hawaii will eventually be there. Not a bad way to tackle all 50 states. Besides these two milestones, the drive was pretty simple. I was moving at ~85 mph the whole way since the speed limit was 75. Old Blue was not loving that, and made me pay for it by spitting out ~27 mpg. At this point, I was worried more about less time on the road than trying to save money.

I actually grabbed dinner in Bismark, ND and I probably should have stayed there. The reason being was that a local bar that I passed had a sign out front "Don't Miss Philly Friday." I really have no idea what that meant, and I never will, but I was intrigued and wish I could have made an authentic appearance especially since I was wearing my Phillies shirt (I would have been a big deal.) Oh well, maybe next time I'm in Bismark, ND, I'll stop in. The only other major event that happened was I watched a beautiful sunset in my side/rear view mirrors. I am not going to lie, I really like driving into a sunset better than driving away from it.

I made it to the Rodeway Inn around 9:30 PM (after leaving Bozeman at 11:30 AM) and all I wanted to do was just crash. I definitely felt a little out of it from such a long drive, but I knew this was coming. Covering 800 miles of the country in one day is still a feat that I am proud of. Tomorrow was going to be a shorter drive, hopefully full of ULTRA activities. ULTRA (eh) day 34/39: COMPLETE

JM

View After View After View

I slept in a little bit since the previous day was pretty long, and ULTRA. So I was up by 7:30 and ready to go by 8. The hike started off with retracing my steps 1800' up to Pitamakan Pass. This was all done within 3 miles, so needless to say it was a rough start to the day. I did enjoy seeing the sun lighting up different things that I didn't get to see yesterday. After getting to the pass it was another ~700 feet to the next ridge so at this point I had knocked out another 2500', but this time in 4 miles. That's pretty ULTRA. Good thing I had another 10 miles of hiking to do that day.

As I reached the top of the ridge, I started getting excited. I was hiking west, so I had a freshly risen sun behind me illuminating whatever epic view I was about to witness. And it was spectacular. Snow-covered peaks all over, but instead of being miles away, they were right there (relatively speaking.) Not to mention, I was standing on the Continental Divide. The trail then hugged the back side of a mountain and had a ton of exposure. This was tough because I kept wanting to look up and take in the view, but one false step, and it is a 2000' tumble down to the valley. Once I got past the first mountain, I was looking over the main lake from yesterday, but from a different side and it was still amazing.

As I was looking around, I saw some movement on the cliff to my left. Staring for another second, I saw it...a goooattt!! Finally!! I had been waiting this whole trip to see a freaking goat and I finally saw one. Got my picture of it, and told myself I can go home happy now. I got back on the trail and within a minute saw 3 goats on the trail up ahead. There were 2 adults and one kid, and one of the adults was on the trail coming my way. I didn't want to get attacked by a goat, so I picked up rocks and started throwing them towards the goat. It's not cruel, it is what you are supposed to do. He got the hint and walked off the trail. I was then able to pass and headed on with the hike. About 1.5 miles later I ran into a herd of 7 goats. They were all staring me down, but I stood my ground and scared a few off the trail and hiked right by them. And yes, I was talking to them, but they were much for conversation. Add that to the list of things done on this hike: awesome wildlife sighting, and fighting off a herd of mountain goats. Another mile after my big goat encounter, I cross paths with a group of 7 very cute girls. I obviously have to tell them about the goats and how I fought them off. I think they were pretty impressed.

From here it was all downhill...for 6 miles. I actually hate downhill because it is a lot harder on my feet and knees. I didn't have a choice so I just tried to get it over with as quickly as possible. I finished the 6 miles in ~2 hours and found my car to be just where I left it. I obviously had to take a quick plunge in the lake before heading out, and it felt awesome. All those aches and pains were immediately gone. I rearranged the car and loaded everything up and with a new fresh set of clothes on, I left Glacier for Bozeman, MT. Before I left, I had to stop in the ranger station and just tell them that was the most amazing hike I have ever done. Not sure if they cared, but I was too excited to not tell the first person I saw.

I thought the drive to Bozeman would be ~4 hours, but I didn't realize that Montana was absolutely humongous. Once I finally got to the interstate (after 1.5 hours of driving), I learned that now my drive was 4 hours. Womp womp. Oh well, good thing the state was gorgeous. I definitely hit a point a few times where I was just losing it, mentally and physically. I stopped at McD's to grab some late lunch and when I got to the window I couldn't find my wallet. I had shit all over the front of my car and felt like an idiot. I didn't want to hold up the line so I told them I would be back. I drove through the drive-thru and then fount my walley (in my pocket), went back through the drive-thru and said, "I'm back." They probably thought I was crazy.

After 6 hours of hiking and 5.5 hours of driving, I finally made it to Bozeman. I have to thank JJ for making this happen, since I was staying with one of his friends from high school, Ashley. She was one of the few Pocono people who had made it out of the Poconos and was living the dream in Bozeman. She and her boyfriend, Andrew, were awesome hosts. Andrew is as ULTRA as they come, given his goal is to climb Grand Teton and then ski down it. Maybe once I don't care about living anymore, I'll attempt that. I felt bad that I couldn't stay longer because they were talking about all the awesome mountain biking, hiking, kayaking, cliff jumping, etc that there was to do around Bozeman. They cooked dinner (which was delicious) and we spent the night drinking some beers and sharing stories of travels and adventures. I was very intrigued with how awesome their lives were. I hope to make it out there this winter so I can be shown some real skiing.

Before we knew it, the night was over, but I stayed downstairs looking over my pictures from Glacier and just reliving every second of it. This day will be one of those days I never forget. I have to say a big thank you to Ashley and Andrew for taking in a stranger for the night and being so hospitable. I got to sleep in an actual bed and passed out without any problems. ULTRA day 33/39: COMPLETE.

JM

A 4 Hour Standing Ovation

Waking up this morning, I still didn't have a plan for the next 2 days. I had put together a few possible hikes, but it all depended on the availability of the campsite. After taking a few pictures of the mountains at sunrise, I headed over to the backcountry office. The ranger that I talked to was very helpful and recommended a few overnight hikes that had open campsites. I finally decided on one in the Two Medicine region of the park. So I was doing a solo overnight trip, my first one ever and I picked Glacier NP to do it; this should be interesting. He gave me the quick debriefing about bears, fires, giardia, and extreme weather. It was all stuff that I knew about, but since this one was solo it made me a little nervous. I got everything in order there, but before heading off to the trail head, I decided to treat myself to possibly my last meal. I stopped by the park restaurant and got a delicious breakfast served by a cute Ukrainian girl. She was there on an exchange program and working in the park for the summer. Really wish I had done something like that. My breakfast was delicious and satisfying, and I left to travel on Going-to-the-Sun Road.

This was supposed to be on of the most amazing mountain roads in the country. I was interested to see what it had to offer. Let me say this, it did not disappoint. Since it was still early in the morning, the sun was low enough to make everything seem even more amazing. The peaks and valleys of Glacier rival anything I have ever seen before, and that is a lot. I got stuck in construction traffic a few times on the road, but I didn't mind because it gave me a chance to take in all the scenery. Once I got up and over Logan Pass, I was ready to get to the trailhead. I was able to the keep the car in neutral for the last 15 miles of the road, and on the way down saw a huge black bear crossing the street. This guy was not in any sort of rush, just strolling his way across the road, stopping traffic and seemed completely unfazed. It was awesome to see a bear that clear and in the open. That was a huge boost of adrenaline, so now I was really ready to get to the trailhead. Two Medicine was another 40 miles once I got to the end of GttS Road. I was definitely anxious, but the majestic scenery was enough to calm me down.

As I approached Two Medicine, I was looking at all the mountains, thinking that I was going to be hiking around in there. At this point, I was just flat-out giddy. I got to the trailhead and did my ritual of putting on some music while doing my final pack. Once I had everything, I headed for the trail. Oh shit, almost forgot the map, I guess I probably need that. Quick run back to the car, and now I was ready to start. The worst thing you can do is sneak up on a bear because then they will be startled and just swipe your face off. Kidding, but it is not ideal to startle a 400 lb grizzly. You are supposed to make your presence known by making noise as you hike along the trail. I didn't feel like yelling because that would be tough if I was all ready breathing hard during the hike. My form of noise was clapping. Trust me, occasionally clapping for 4 hours is pretty painful, but you get really good at clapping.

I can't really say too much about the trail; the pictures are really the best way to describe it. This hike had everything that I ever wanted in a hike; high alpine meadows, wildflowers, high alpine lakes, amazing peaks and view, and the weather was actually perfect. I was blown away by how amazing this hike was. At one point, I actually started to get choked up thinking about how fortunate I felt to be there. It's a little ridiculous, but true. I just couldn't grasp how spectacular it was. The fact that this was the most gorgeous place I had ever been to definitely helped with the fact that I was climbing 2500 vertical feet that day. I was tired, but it didn't even kick in until I had to drop down 1800' to get to my campsite. This wasn't part of the normal hike, but I added it on to make the hike an extra 6.4 miles. I regretted it a little bit, but then realized that it just made this whole thing much more ULTRA.

When I finally made it to the campsite, I was surprised to find people all ready there. The ranger told me I would be the only person at the campsite, but I was not complaining. To keep my pack light, I didn't bring anything to do, so a few hours and a night by yourself in the middle of the wilderness would be a little boring, and creepy. Turned out that it was a group of friends from Portland, who were out on a road trip for a week. 2 of them had just finished their residencies in internal medicine and one was almost done an opthamology residency. They were all a lot of fun. They offer me some whiskey and wine, and I was hanging out with them for a while. We played a couple card games while one of them went rogue and hiked up a snowfield to a giant cliff. I was impressed by his actions, especially since he came back after it got dark and had to bushwhack his way to the campsite. We then watched as all the stars came out and saw my first shooting star! I made a wish, but I can't tell you what it is.

I then said goodbye to my new friends, and thanked them for making this camping experience a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be. I then headed back to my nice big tent all for myself and just laid there. I couldn't go to sleep yet because I didn't want this day to end. As I fell asleep I was looking up at the stars, possibly the most amazing sky I have ever seen. ULTRA day 32/39: COMPLETE.

JM