I have lived in the beautiful Eastern Sierra basically my whole life. I have been to every restaurant, store, and anything else you can imagine in the town of Bishop. However, I have never really explored the outdoors until recently this year. Entering the real world in less than seven months never really worried be because I have never been afraid to be outgoing. But the idea of leaving the place where I grew up scared me. And mom if you’re reading this, I know I act tough but I’m slightly freaking out. I felt like I have not lived the adventurous life here. So, I decided that by the end of my time in Bishop I am going to go out to places and do some small hikes, and so on. Plus, I’m going to be living in Colorado for the next four years. I got to keep up with all the locals.

Luckily, I had a little summer job at the Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau. I was introduced to new places, as well as meeting new people. Usually the people who come into the visitors center are big time hikers, skiers, mountain bikers, climbers, and adventurers. Usually those trips consist of a lot of money and time training, as well as long trips. Now, obviously students do not have the time to take off of school just to go hike. So why not do just a fun, yet adventurous hike that’ll only take a day? Here is a little story about my first short hike experience and what I learned from it.

The first and only one I have done so far which wasn’t quite a success but definitely worth the experience was Green Lake. My friend wanted to explore over the summer and she thought this would be the perfect start. It was only about a mile long hike, and we got an early start so we could be home earlier to do other activities. Her and I got up early, was out the door by 6:30 to drive up there, had our snack and water, but forgot the MOST important thing. Bug Spray.

As we get to the trail, many people are already there who had the same idea as us. It was probably about 60 something degrees already, so we thought it was going to be a beautiful and productive day. Little did we know, (well, we just didn’t think) that there were going to be thousands and thousands of mosquitoes. We only made it about five minutes before we were eaten alive. Okay, that is a bit exaggerated, but you get the idea.

Even though that was not the most successful trip I have been on, I would do it again in a heartbeat. I learned that we should always come prepared even when you do not know what to expect, although we should’ve been smart enough to realize that mosquitoes are terrible in the summer. That is besides the point though. What I mainly learned is that the outdoors have never been in my comfort zone but yet I still got up and went with her and loved it. It made me realize that I should do anything at least once and if I do not like it I will not have to do it again.  

So kids, stay in school, play the sport you love, and go out and explore. I know I will be doing a lot more of that once it warms up here in Bishop, CA.