Portrait 21: Sporky

When I was on the PCT, I met a guy at a stream crossing. Wildcat insisted that he and I should be friends. We only spoke for about ten minutes, but we exchanged info and loosely kept in touch. The next spring, he invited me to go hiking in Utah. At the time, it was a little outside of my comfort zone. I was intrigued and he seemed like a good person, so I decided to go. We went out with a plan of exploring BLM land until we could get permits for Zion.

On our second night in the park, we got to camp really early. He wanted to take a side trail that we had passed a half mile before camp. I remember feeling ambivalent and trying to not complain as I went back with him. The trans-Zion had been at the top of my wish list since I started hiking and I was completely underwhelmed. The experience so far felt like it was missing something. I followed him to the junction, followed the path, scrambled up some rocks, and watched the sun set over a stone arch. I remember saying to him that I felt like I had lost my sense of adventure. But one of the things I'll always remember is how infectious his playful curiosity was. It really lifted my spirits and stoked my interest again.

The next morning, I wound up vomiting into wag bags several times on the way to the next trailhead. It was elevation sickness. Sporky ran ahead for help while I slogged through the last few miles, and the rangers arrived not much later. After I had started recovering, they told me they were scared when they checked my vitals. I went to a lower elevation to rest. Fortunately, my lackluster attitude went away with my elevation sickness, and I was back out hiking after a few days.