This past summer, I managed to return to one of my favorite places in the world, Glacier National Park with my best pal Scott Olson. As usual, Scott and I played our schedule relatively loose—we had a general idea of where we were going to enter the park, how many days we would be in the park, and what we hoped to experience while in the park. Scott is a master of this type of travel and way of life, and I am still his student.
Well, this year was amazing—mostly because we were open to the possibilities of the trip and approached it with an open mind to possible permutations. First, we met some wonderful new friends who were more experienced in the park. Because some of the hikes they sought to accomplish were challenging, they welcomed our companionship—it can be dangerous in the park.
From here, we rerouted and took on more challenging off-piste trails—much wilder than we had ever experienced in the park! As you might imagine, the possibilities of the park opened up in ways Scott and I could not have foreseen. We hiked to destinations such as Shangri-La, whose name is befitting of the place we experienced. We were side-by-side with the charismatic megafauna living in the park—and at some point, because of the way we were experiencing and exploring the park, we too, became charismatic megafauna ourselves.
Get outdoors. Be open to possibilities. Find Shangri-La!