A Full Life

Hello, hi, hello! I’m back at my laptop and ready to wax poetic about anything and everything. You may have noticed we’re working with a new headline/name for this newsletter.

Truth be told, since I started this over a year ago, I always felt like “Hand Drawn (and Hiked) by McCall” was a placeholder name — just something to start publishing under until I felt like I found the right one.

As I was sitting at my desk a few weeks ago, I realized this newsletter is simply the amalgamation of all the things I think are so important in life: being outdoors, creating art, writing, having hobbies, etc. — or in simpler terms, living a full life.

As I get ready to close out the final lap of my 20’s, I find myself constantly reflecting on how much my life has evolved over the last decade. The thing I’m undoubtedly the most proud of is what I constantly talk about here — having so many hobbies that make me so grateful to live my life.

Welcome to the new chapter! I have no idea if this is a permanent change, but it feels right for now.

Backcountry Chronicles

My heart truly couldn’t be more full as I write this. This past Saturday, I took on my first-ever solo 14er — and it was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had since I moved to Colorado.

I’ve said this on here before, but I wanted to do Pikes Peak before Longs Peak since they’re similar mileage and vertical gain. A nice test, but really more of a confidence builder than anything else.

I hiked Mt. Sopris last June (14 miles, 5.2K elevation gain) in objectively worse shape than I am now — and that’s no shade to June 2023 McCall! Getting into backcountry skiing this past winter definitely upped the ante with fitness, and I know I’m stronger and fitter than I was a year ago. All that to say, I knew I could hike it without any problems. I just wanted to do it to remind myself of how capable I am.

I was originally planning to hike Pikes Peak with some friends, but as the hike got closer, life got in the way and I didn’t have anyone to do it with. I was a little apprehensive, but ultimately decided to go alone. I’m generally not someone who hikes solo; mostly because I get wigged out by wildlife (i.e.: moose, bears, mountain lions) and want the noise of talking to someone else, but it felt right for a couple reasons:

• Garmin InReach: my birthday gift to Alex last year was a Garmin InReach and its been the most self-serving gift possible. Every time I go hiking, I can borrow it for the day. For those unfamiliar, a Garmin InReach is essentially a satellite phone, so you can send check-in texts to designated contacts no matter how far out of range you are. Absolute worst case, there’s an SOS button to put you in touch with Emergency Services.

• Access Road + Train To The Top: Pikes has a road and a train track that run to the top, meaning there’s a ton of people around. If something went awry and I found myself injured or spooked, I could alert one of the many people at the summit, or take the train down and get an Uber/Lyft from Colorado Springs back to the trailhead.

• Close to Denver: Pikes is right outside of Colorado Springs, so the drive to the trailhead was just under 2 hours from my house. If something went wrong, I had friends in Denver I could contact to come help me.

• Gut Feeling: Above all else, it just felt right to do this one solo. The closer I got to Saturday, the better I felt about it.

On Saturday morning, my alarm went off at a ripe 3:45AM. I followed the to-do list I wrote the night prior for my half-functioning brain (brush teeth, put on deodorant, fill your Camelbak, get your food out of the fridge, etc.), tried to make as little noise as possible in the process, and was out the door by 4AM.

The drive from my house was just under 2 hours, so of course, I started the drive off with listening to my favorite road trip album top to bottom, and parked at the trailhead just before 6AM.

My original plan was to wait in my car until the sun came up (around 6:40AM) again, because, wildlife! Bears and mountain lion sightings in Pikes Peak wilderness are extremely rare, but prairie rattlesnakes are pretty common, so I wanted full vision.

Although, as soon as I got there I knew I was fine to start hiking. The parking lot was ¾ full by the time I got there, and there were hikers galore. I set off and had hikers within 15 yards of me in both directions for the first hour. I played an unofficial game of leapfrog (my favorite!) with two different dudes for the first few miles and was able to take off my headlamp before I even got to the treeline.

I read approximately 572 AllTrails reviews before this hike and the overwhelming majority said the treeline was the hardest part. Lemme tell ya, all of those reviews were CORRECT.

The treeline and stretch just above treeline was a series of unrelenting switchbacks and some serious vertical gain. Thankfully, I met my guardian angels halfway through in the form of a couple Colorado College kids who had a Costco sized bag of Sour Patch Watermelons. A handful of sugar later and I was ready to crush the rest of it.

Prior to this day, my favorite compliment I’ve ever received was from a 15 year old Crested Butte high schooler in my AIARE1 who told me I was “setting an awesome pace” while breaking trail for the group (that one went straight to the ‘ole ego). That compliment took second place, though, after I stopped to put my puffy back on mid-hike and a ~55 year old man who was 20 yards behind me for the entirety of the hike told me “I swear I’m not stalking you, your pace is just amazing.” Again, I injected that one straight into the ego and sent my best thank-you to past McCall for getting out of bed before work and going to the gym.

Immediately after the brutal treeline stretch, you’re rewarded with a niiiice, long traverse along the face of the mountain up to Devil’s Playground. I made it to Devil’s Playground in 2.5 hours and was feeling better than ever.

Side note: I took the plunge and bought a pair of sunglasses with side shields on Friday and they were worth every single penny and more. Do I look like a bug in them? Sure, but back when I hiked up Quandary Peak, the glare off the snow was BRUTAL and felt like it was personally attacking my eyes from the side. After that, I vowed to get a pair before my next high-altitude adventure. Smith has some incredible side-shield sunglasses, though I opted for a tad cheaper pair from SunSki.

I made another trail friend, Hannah from Oregon, right after Devil’s Playground. She was ahead of her group and didn’t want to do the next stretch solo, but also didn’t want to sit around for 30 minutes waiting for her friends and lose all her momentum.

Something I never considered before this day was how many friends you make while hiking alone, simply because you’re so much more approachable. All the friends I made and people I met were hands-down the best part of the entire adventure. People on Colorado trails are typically pretty chatty and I felt like I got to talk with every single person on the way up Pikes that day.

After Devil’s Playground, I had a full view of what was left of the hike and it didn’t look fun. I knew the final stretch was a scramble that’s known to be pretty brutal, so thankfully, I was mentally prepared. On top of that, the brutal scramble was another big reason I wanted to do this hike. So much of Longs Peak is scrambling with tons of exposure, so it was important to me to do this one to remind myself that I’d be fine on Longs.

And guess what? I did exactly that. I managed to do the scramble in about ½ of the time I expected it to take me. It’s funny how without a hiking partner, and without anyone to verbalize my excuses or fears to, I just sat with them, and naturally, they dismissed themselves.

When my brother was working his first job out of college as a consultant, his schedule consisted of 6-9 months of hell, followed by 2 weeks of mandatory PTO. Once his projects were over, his boss would tell him to take at least two weeks off and it was a non-negotiable. Since last minute vacations are typically pretty pricey, my brother, a young consultant with a sh*t ton of airline miles, figured out pretty quickly that the most cost-effective (and fun!) option was a solo backpacking trip.

He always told me his favorite part of it was how it turned into an inadvertent meditation. You spend so much time with your thoughts and no goal other than to keep moving forward and your thoughts naturally melt away. I felt that exact same thing happening to me on Saturday — thoughts just melting away as I trudged along.

After a quick summit break, I had an uneventful hike down. I ended up running some sections because it was so steep and walking somehow sucked more than running. The way down was noticeably less crowded which made me wonder if some of my fellow hikers were hiking up and taking the train or driving down, but everyone I saw on the way down was happy and content and stopped for a 5-10 conversation break, so I took that as a good omen.

My absolute favorite moment was at mile 14 when I met two 60+ year old women hanging out in the shade. When I commented that they looked so content, one replied “It’s because we have these oranges! Want one?” and proceeded to give me the cutest little orange I’ve ever seen. I ate that orange about a mile later and was just hungry and dehydrated enough that I was wholeheartedly convinced that it was the best thing I’ve ever eaten in my life.

If 30 years from now, I’m hanging out in the shade with my girlfriends on a trail and giving out free oranges to hikers, I’ve done everything right in life.

My favorite part? Two weeks ago I was bored and decided to paint this. Now I’ll think of the groovy ladies on the Pikes Peak trail with the oranges every time I look at it.

Artiste Break

I realized a few weeks ago that somewhere in the last few years I etched “Talented At Drawing” into part of my identity, and the “Talented” part keeps me from doodling and letting myself make drawings that are just for fun.

Luckily, I’ve got a ton of paint and brushes lying around my house, and playing around with a medium I have little-to-no experience helps me circumvent those feelings. Here’s a little something I made for fun a couple days ago.

To Go Snacks

⛷️ The title of this podcast episode "Exercise May Be The Single Most Potent Medical Intervention Ever Known” should tell you everything you need to know. The Outdoor Community is amazing for a myriad of ways, but at the end of the day, a community focused on exercise is so incredibly healthy in nearly all ways possible.

⛰️ Killington Mountain is officially under new ownership! POWDR sold the mountain to private ownership and is looking to sell three more mountains now. Can someone do me a favor and write a book about the economics of owning a ski mountain?

❣️ Rainn Wilson had Alua Arthur, a death doula, on his latest episode of his podcast and she made an appearance in his newsletter to write a guest essay. Scroll all the way to the bottom to find it; it’s one of the more moving things I’ve read lately.

Next up: Long’s Peak recap. Wish me luck!

- McCall 🌻

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