This morning, we woke up at 6am, packed up our tents, and left the Lake Angeles trailhead parking area by 7AM. We drove to the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center, where we stopped for a few minutes to enjoy the view. From there, we drove down a nearby road to the Obstruction Point Trailhead where we would begin the day’s hike.
The plan for the day’s hike would be to descend from Obstruction Point to Grand Lake and Moose Lake before ascending to Grand Pass. From Grand Pass, we would descend back to the junction near Grand Lake where we would take a different trail back to Obstruction Point Trailhead. The entire route would be about 25 KM or 15 miles. The most difficult part of the trail was the near the end when we would be ascending steep switchbacks for about 45 minutes, before following the ridge back to the trailhead for the last 30 minutes of the hike.
After completing the trail, we drove straight to a Mexican Restaurant (Fiesta Jalisco) and each enjoyed huge Mexican dishes and beers. Personally I ordered a Mexican Fiesta Burrito with a Manny’s Pale Beer. The meal was enormous and a fitting celebration for the challenging hike we had just completed.
Throughout the hike and evening, I mostly spoke to Tyler and Sarah. Here is some additional interesting information/notes:
- Tyler is very interested in religions mostly for the same reasons that I am. He finds it interesting how different groups of people with contradictory beliefs are all fully convinced that their beliefs are the only true beliefs, and that everyone else (who is just as convinced as they are about their beliefs) is completely wrong.
- He previously worked for plumbing company which were of a penastocal? faith, which is a type of Christianity. They forced his team at the company to give 10% of their income to a church and pray on a regular basis
- He spent some time living with his Mormon cousins. Like me, he also agrees that Mormons appear to be a picture-perfect group of people. He was officially baptized by the Mormon church and was converted to Mormonism because missionaries promised him that if he did, they would provide him with inside secrets and proof that their religion is true. However, he never received the promised proof, never believed in the religion (“not even for one day”) and is not involved with the church any longer. He does however believe Mormon girls have something special about them and are cute/innocent and have good values. As of now, he is an atheist but is still fascinated by religion, people’s relationship with religion, and the psychology of people’s belief in religion.
- Tyler’s a pretty good guy; A mormon-like guy, without the irrational belief (I see that as a good thing). He has been in two serious relationships (5 years and 7 years), which is pretty unique considering he’s only 28 years old. He mentioned that being in serious relationships lets him share his experiences and enjoy life more. Also, one of the best feelings he’s ever experienced is knowing that a girl loves him; something which I haven’t experienced but can completely understand.
Sara is also an awesome girl with a great/playful/easygoing personality. She speaks in a cute/funny Irish accent and with Irish slang. Here is some additional interesting information about her:
- She graduated university in Ireland with a degree in sports medicine. Shortly after finishing school, she moved to Victoria after conducting some research online. She arranged to work at Ocean Island Hostel in Victoria for 3/4 days per week from 9AM-2PM in exchange for free housing in the hostel. While living at the hostel for eight months, she developed an extremely close friendship with four other people living inside her room (Room 21A aka the Fish Room). They developed such a strong bond that each of them now have a tattoo of a fish, forever reminding each of them about the time they shared together
- She now has her own apartment and is working as a gardener. She plans on going back to school to study horticulture, a field she’s very passionate about and enjoys. Her parents haven’t visited her yet, but she has visited Ireland a few times for Christmas since she’s been here. She plans to attain Permanent Canadian Residency and make Canada her permanent home
- She mentioned that she has a muslim (“Muse-lim”) friend from Libya who now lives in Canada. At first, her friend’s parents were very upset about him moving to Canada, but they have since come around and are supportive of their son’s decision.
