Embracing Uncomfortability

I can't believe it's been more than 4 years since I quit my job and gave up my 9 to 5 life.

I've had many unbelievable life experiences since then. I've also had a lot of difficult experiences, and been through times of adversity and hardship. But looking back, it's been those darkest and most difficult of times that I have grown the most from, that have transformed me into the person I am today.

To climb a mountain you have to get uncomfortable

Salkantay, an equally grinding and rewarding 6 day trek to Machu Picchu - Peru, 2017

Two skills I have developed since walking the path of the wanderer is resilience and toughness.

These are perhaps the two most valuable life skills or qualities I have learned - ones I would never have had a chance to develop if I had not given up the 9 to 5 lifestyle. That's because office life is, in a word, comfortable.

Our modern society idealizes a comfortable life, one of minimal physical hardship, material excess, ultimate convenience and short term gratification. I did, for a time, enjoy this comfortable life. Years ago though I had a growing suspicion that this comfort was a trap that bred contentment and apathy, and was a barrier to achieving real and fulfilling happiness. My instincts also told me that a comfortable life insidiously leads society down a road to chronic stress and chronic disease.

But I didn't know this through experience yet - I only had an instinct about it. So I decided to stop letting comfort stop me from chasing this happiness. I started by quitting my job. And, since then, I put myself in countless uncomfortable experiences, and learned to embrace this feeling.

Exhausted but satisfied at having finished one of the toughest hikes in my life

My legs were pretty beat up from several stumbles and falls - no pain no gain

I applied this lesson at first on a small scale - in order to get to the top of a mountain, I had to engage in the uncomfortable task of walking up a steep, uneven slope with a heavy backpack. At first I got easily frustrated with muscle pains, hunger pains, and environmental conditions.

But I slowly learned to embrace the uncomfortability of it all, and with each hike, I noticed myself embracing the pain, my resilience growing. Over the years I've done a lot more long hikes and treks, and spent lots of time camping in the wilderness. Mosquitoes, for the most part, no longer bother me; fatigue a minor annoyance rather than a serious barrier.

Besides hiking and nature, I've extrapolated this lesson to other areas of my life. I've taken on a number of odd jobs, most requiring physical labour. I've engaged in gardening, warehouse work, delivering food by bicycle, carpentry and cherry picking.

Those first jobs I worked since quitting my job, I remember getting frustrated and fatigued easily, taking many breaks. I remember some of my bosses and homestay hosts getting frustrated with me for carrying out my tasks meekly and clumsily. But over time I learned to stop complaining and power through my tasks. I learned that my body was capable of much more than I thought, and I pushed my body grow into its natural potential. And though it "suffered" and was pushed to its limit, it felt activating and ultimately more fulfilling to push my body in this way.

My first job after quitting my office job? Picking cherries - summer 2014. A humbling experience - I was terrible at it.

Picking morel mushrooms in the Yukon for 1 month during summer 2016

Working as a carpenter, summer 2017 - a physically demanding job, but one that taught me toughness

Finally, through low budget traveling, through hitchhiking, dumpster diving, wild camping and Couchsurfing, I discovered a more fulfilling way to enjoy my travels without the expected comforts.

Since quitting my 9 to 5 job, in many aspects of my life, whether it be going out into nature, work, or travel, I've learned to embrace uncomfortability in order to reap rewarding life experiences and to learn and ultimately become a better person from them.

Embracing uncomfortability goes hand in hand with embracing challenge - and challenging myself is the only way to learn and grow. Embracing uncomfortability has become so ingrained within me that I often find myself avoiding taking shortcuts, preferring the longer, harder way instead. I also become hyper-aware when I get too comfortable, because I notice that I get bored easily and stop learning.

In the end it's all about finding a balance. So while I do beat myself up for spending too much time connected to social media, I make sure to spend more time connecting with nature. While I've rarely showered this summer, I've scrubbed myself down in plenty of lakes and rivers! While I occasionally feast and be merry, I can also tolerate periods of fasting. And while I can tolerate a bit of small talk, I prefer having challenging but open and honest conversations.

Skinny dipping in a cold glacial lake, a practice of overcoming the discomfort to activate the human body

Meditating involves the uncomfortable task of sitting erect and concentrating - with positive results!

I resonate with the Buddhist lesson that suffering is a part of life. When you choose a path of suffering in order to achieve a higher goal, whether that be to climb a mountain or learn a skill such as an instrument, the result is a rewarding outcome which makes the suffering worth it. And when suffering comes when you don't expect it, you can approach that adversity in one of two ways: you can lean into it, overcome it and grow as a person, becoming tougher and more resilient; or you can cower or run away in fear.

I've learned to lean into it and grow tougher and more resilient. I've learned to embrace adversity and tension as an opportunity to grow and become a better person. Because life is not meant to be easy. Since thinking this way I've addressed tension in my relationships, and have come through tough times with a newfound self confidence and peace of mind that no amount of money can buy.

Sometimes I wonder what my life would have been like if I stuck to my office job, and if every step on my life journey was smooth and easy. There's no way of knowing how life will turn out. Some people never encounter significant adversity throughout their lives - that's pretty fortunate. But I know many who have built safe lives for themselves, minimized risk, and yet still encountered unexpected adversity. If I decided to stay in my 9 to 5 bubble, I know I would have crumbled under unexpected adversity.

What's your resilience in the face of unexpected adversity? What's your balance between sinking into comfortability and embracing uncomfortability?

Summer Doesn't Stop - Assiniboine Calling

Did you read my last blog about The Toba Adventure? If not, go and read it! If you don't want to, then just know that only one week before doing this trek I had already completed my grandest adventure of all mountaineering adventures. My mountain stoke was still dialed up high after the Toba, and carried over nicely into our upcoming trek to the famous Assiniboine region.

My friend Francine was checking the reservations for the campgrounds everyday for nearly one whole month before an availability presented itself to us due to a cancellation. She didn't hesitate to book it first, and inform me later.

Luckily the timing worked out well for me. I had to leave a music festival early, on the Sunday, in order to drive almost 12 hours from Squamish to Calgary, so that I could sign the papers the next day to finalize the sale of my condo. What a relief it was to finally be free of home ownership! I just needed one full and stressful day afterward to move out the rest of the furniture, and that night I drove straight to Canmore so that Francine and I could prep for the trek.

All stoked for my second trek in as many weeks!

Sunshine Meadows, from the top of the chairlift, the starting point of our trek

Early the next morning we were off! We dropped off our food at a helicopter service company, and continued on our way to Banff National Park's Sunshine Village, a ski resort in the winter, day hiking hub in the summer.

From the top of the chairlift we began our hike initially through smooth wildflower covered Sunshine Meadows, then skirting along the side of a steep valley, through a winding rock garden, and finally opening up into the meadow with the Assiniboine Lodge overlooking classic lake and mountain vistas. All in all, we hiked 30 km on day one!

It was a long and strenuous slog all the way to our campground. But Francine showed her toughness, while I called up my recent Toba experience as well as past difficult treks, to push me forward. I find during such long hauls I get into a zone where I'm laser sharp focused, moving as if every single step mattered. And I internalize the pain and suffering in my body, choosing to see it as growing pains - as an opportunity to increase my resilience. It allows such long hauls to feel like walking meditations.

We limped in to our campground as the sun was setting, feeling tired but extremely satisfied at our accomplishment. We made camp, picked up our food which was helicoptered to the lodge, then cooked dinner under headlamp light before passing out.

Wildflowers such as Indian paintbrushes dotted the trails, keeping the hike colourful

Walking along the steep slopes of the valley, smoke wafting over from nearby forest fires obscuring the view

Rock Garden part of the hike was dotted with tiny rugged rock formations

 Assiniboine Lodge - you can get helicoptered in from Canmore and skip the hike!

The view from Assiniboine Lodge - Magog Campground was even closer to the lake

We woke up the next morning to quite a view! Magog Campground sits in a sweet spot - directly overlooking Lake Magog and snuggled under a collection of peaks including the classic Mt. Assiniboine, a pyramid of rock jutting into the sky, heads and shoulder above all the peaks.

Day 2 was our day to explore, and after breakfast and packing, we took off for little Nub Peak. I've never seen the clouds move so fast as they did in this region. Grey painted clouds overtook the sky and opened up early in day two to a barrage of hail.

But the rains stopped as quickly as they came, the clouds parted, and the rest of the day saw a wrestling match between grey clouds and blue sky. This provided my near ideal conditions for hiking - not too hot with a cool breeze, and so I moved forward with anticipation.

Beholding the thick glacier chilling below the sharp peak of Mt. Assiniboine. The rains opened up shortly

My inner goat is satisfied

View from Nub Peak - Mt. Assiniboine dominates the skyline, with 4 adjacent lakes lining the smooth valley

Sunburst Peak has a lot of character

Nub Peak provided sweeping views of one of the Mt. Assiniboine region. I couldn't help but make one of my fun time lapses. Excited and sweaty from the day's hike, I bathed in

Skinny dipping in Lake Magog under the watch of Mt. Assiniboine

The next day we decided to get a head start on heading home, so we would only need 2 shorter days to hike out instead of another long 27 km day. We also decided to hike out a different way than we came in, taking the Marvel Pass route. It was well worth the view from the top of the pass towards the lake.

As if we haven't seen enough natural beauty, as we hit Marvel Lake and started walking parallel to it we encountered a rainbow! That night, I went for another dip in the river by our campground.

Marvel Lake - it's quite a... marvelous sight

The closest I ever came to a rainbow!

The final morning, we had a pretty easy day of hiking along a smooth forest road. We stopped several times to pick wild strawberries. I also picked some yarrow and labrador tea to take home and make tea with.

We eventually reached the end of our trek, at the Mt. Shark trailhead. It didn't take us long to hitchhike a ride back to Canmore, where we drove in my car to get Francine's car at Sunshine Village.

While this trek was nothing like the raw adventure of the Toba, I still got my mountain fix, and felt very grateful to see such a beautiful part of the Canadian Rockies, which I had previously lived near for 6 years of my life without knowing existed.

August is wild strawberry season in the Canadian Rockies

I'll just leave you with one more time lapse of Francine and I packing up camp on the final morning :)

From Sailboats to Summits - The Toba Adventure

I could easily write a novella about my recent foray into the wilderness, The Toba Adventure. But I will do my best to compress it into one blog. Unfortunately it's the small details that give a story depth which I will have to leave out for the sake of the bigger story - but it will still blow your mind!

I could also easily write a novella about the individuals I was privileged enough to have bring me along their adventure. There is Red Beard, my sailboat captain, who's summited many mountains and escaped death just as many times; Medicine Man, a true American Dirtbag, hiked the whole Pacific Crest Trail among too many other adventures to count. Then there's the Powell River power couple, including a former MEC Adventurer of the Year. Together they've explored heaps of the coast mountains behind Powell River. Oh, and neither of them own cell phones!

Medicine Man - Instagram @mightyhealthyadventures

I left off from the previous blog with Red Beard and I sailing into Powell River and meeting up with the Dillas, the name of their crew. After brief and energetic discussions, big preparations were set into motion. I was given a vague overview and, besides that, they put their faith in me to be able to keep up with them, and I in them not to get me seriously hurt or leave me behind!

A few days later, we pile hundreds of pounds of gear into Red Beard's sailboat, Rose, hop in and start sailing north of Powell River (which is already a day's sailing north of Vancouver). We sail past serene coastal mountain landscapes, and by evening look for a bay or cove with quiet waters in which to drop anchor.

We instead find probably the coolest docking spot along the whole coast! A 25 x 25 foot floating wooden dock, free for passersby to use. Here we make dinner, make a little fire in the wood stove, unpack and repack all of our gear, and have a cozy sleep.

A floating dock along the BC coast, free to use!

This is what these guys do for fun

And this

Red Beard and the Powell River power couple, sailing up the Toba Inlet

Docking at the end of the Toba Inlet

The next morning we sail up the Toba Inlet. An inlet is a twisting and bending arm of water, extending into the mainland. By this time, there are no more cottages or buildings - only the smooth curves of the hills blanketed with thick green forests or sheer grey slabs of rock.

We eventually reach the end of the inlet, find a loggers dock, and start unloading all of our gear. We create a rickshaw out of two bicycles, trunks of trees, and rope. Then we load all of our gear on it and start pushing!

Before long, a few loggers spot us and inquire as to what we are doing. We explain that we are on a Memorial Climbing Trip for Rob Richards (a side story which I must leave out for brevity's sake) and it turns out the loggers happen to also be friends with this famous local!

In turn, they decide to help us out with our plans, and drive us and all our gear up the forest road to our destination! Their declaration of help leaves us ecstatic and screaming for joy! And to top it off they cook us dinner and put us up for the night in some of their vacant dorms before driving us off the next morning.

The loggers offer to drive us and all our gear, so we don't have to push it!

After the loggers dropped us off at our destination, Red Beard and Medicine Man find two trees to climb up and make a food cache. They've never made a food cache this heavy before, and it takes them almost 5 hours, a complex pulley system and a bit of muscle to loft the dry bags to a height untouchable by bears.

Red Beard and Medicine Man aid climb maybe 40 feet up trees to make a food cache

Some gymnastics required to pull the rope with the cache on the other end of the rope!

Finally, the food cache is in place!

We then cross the roaring Toba River using a boat tied to a highline or tyrolean. Basically the boat is tied to a rope which spans the river. One person has to be on land to pull the rope in order to move the boat across the river.

Finally we start hiking! My backpack weighs about 20 kg, and some of the other guys have up to 35 kg on their backs. The hike begins through a cut-block, or logged area, which is easy. But soon we find the gully and start ascending it. This gully is the most treacherous challenge I have ever hiked. It is steep, uneven and full of loose rocks and gravel. There are a few spots where the gully is impassable with our packs on, and we need to break out climbing ropes and gear to get past it.

A cut-block. The pyramids of scrap wood will be burned with a flame thrower in the winter

The most difficult ascent of my life, up a gnarly gully

On a few occasions we needed to break out the rope where it was too steep

The Dillas taking a break in the gully

We were forced to sleep in the gully that night. Luckily, we found some flat enough sections along the steep gully, using ice axes to expose the soft ground, and sleep side by side in the open air, with the stream rushing by and the stars watching over us.

The next morning we spend another 10 hours ascending the gully. Somehow it became steeper as we neared the top, and there were one or two moments, caught on some steep ledges and looking down, where I feared for my life, my adrenaline nearly pumping my heart out of my chest, and feeling nearly like throwing up. It was both an incredible relief and a miracle when we finally made it to the top of the gully!

During most of the day I was in disbelief that this crew put their faith in me to keep up with them without hurting myself. Now I was in disbelief at the beautiful view, and the fact we were only the second party to ever come here! It was a truly special moment, and the crew celebrated with big smiles and hugs.

View from an adjacent hill. The gully we ascended follows the bottom of the cliff's shadow, just above the far left treeline

The splendid view across the Toba River valley from which we first came

A tent with a view

On the night of our arrival we had time just to make camp, dinner and sleep. Early next morning, the power couple crossed the glacier and with their rock climbing gear, climbed to the summit of one of the surrounding mountains - a rare and awesome feat they will be proud of the rest of their lives.

By contrast Red Beard, Medicine Man and I took it relatively easy. We spent 2 full days in our alpine camp, doing some light hiking, bouldering, stretching, and just enjoying the view and eachother's company, sharing interesting stories and tidbits of wisdom.

Stretching out those sore limbs

The fourth day was a day I was silently dreading ever since we started ascending the gully. It was the descent. I was worried sick about going down such steep slopes and gnarly rocks with 20 kg on my back.

We started early morning, bushwhacking through the forests in order to avoid the steep gully. While safer, this was no simple task. Pushing our way through bushes and branches, stepping through thick, moist vegetation, while descending a 45 degree slope was extremely slow, frustrating and tiring.

At some point we could no longer avoid the gully. We had to set up a rappel system so that we could descend the cliff like slope into the gully. Rappelling down the slope, in simple terms, involved dangling a really long rope, secured at the top, and sliding down the rope with a gri-gri, a tool that allows you to slowly slide down a rope with a controlled grip and safety mechanism.

Back in the gully, moving down it required being very patient and methodical. Every step was prone to slippage, and potentially a rough slide down the steep sides of the gully. A long day's hike like this requires a zen approach. A steep gravel patch gave way one time, and I slid around 10 feet down the slope. Thankfully I was not seriously hurt, but I came away with scratches bleeding down my arms and legs. Oh, I also cracked my cell phone during this accident!

By the time we made it to the bottom of the gully, we were beat up, sweaty and dead tired. However, as it was when we first ascended the gully, we felt a mix of relief and excitement at completing such a great accomplishment. To top off the moment, just after exiting the gully, we saw a cougar! (sorry no pics)

After taking down our food cache, we made dinner, camp, and had a big sleep, recovering from the day's toil. The next morning was a decision point: the enormous food cache was there to give the Dillas the flexibility to refuel and return to the alpine camp multiple times, allowing them to stay for several weeks if they so desired. However, even for this gnarly group of adventurers the gully was more work than they expected and they decided it wasn't worth the trouble.

So we packed everything up and got ready to go. As luck has been on our side this trip, we encountered the loggers, who drove us back to our sailboat, and we eventually sailed back to Powell River, ending The Toba Adventure.

When I look back over the past several years, every new adventure has been bigger and better than the last, and I've been constantly outdoing myself. I'm not sure it'll get any bigger and better than this! If I hang up my hiking boots after this adventure, I'll have no regrets.

But as important as the adventure itself were the amazing people I shared it with. I learned so much and gained so much inspiration from them. I also know who to turn to when there's an apocalypse - these guys are the masters of survival and adaptation. The Toba Adventure will live on in my memory but the Toba crew will forever be in my heart.

Enjoying a beautiful sunset from the sailboat