Role Reversal

Last summer, July 2021, my husband and I journeyed to the far away land of Alaska. Our son and daughter-in-law live there and this was our second trip visiting them. They are 100% embedded into the outdoor life of the great outdoors of Alaska. They enjoy backpacking, hiking, fishing and biking. Then when winter hits they turn to ice fishing, cross country skiing, fat tiring in the snow etc. etc. Needless to say, we have excellent tour guides!

We started with a mountain bike trip in the town of Talkeetna, a small town a couple hours north of Anchorage. As we cycled further and deeper into the wilderness, there is always the worry of coming across a bear. Not to worry though, as we stopped for a water break, I saw my son had his pistol strapped across his chest. He is of the Last Frontier! Of course, we all have bear spray strapped to our bikes. They took us on a beautiful hike in Hatcher’s Pass.

When they returned to work on Monday my husband and I decided to repeat the same hike. Our son assured us this particular hike is not a heavily trafficked bear area. Packing water, granola bars and of course bear spray, we journeyed onward. 3 miles up, 3 miles back. On our way back, passing a few heavily packed hikers, the common question was, “Did you make it to the Hutt?” Curiosity getting the best of us, we questioned how far The Hutt was. 8 miles. Well as we continued hiking down the mountain, we thought that sounded like a pretty awesome challenge. Obviously, we would have to camp up there then hike back the next day. Feeling a bit confident, talking a plan through of lots of breaks, taking our time, we might be able to pull this off!

Then getting down-right cocky, we decided to ask Jonathan, our son, if we could borrow their gear and do this in the next couple of days. On our drive back our son calls, eager to hear how our day was. Enthusiastically, I told him it was great, revealing our plans and asking if we might borrow their gear. He listened quietly, (wait for it) then replied calmly, “We’ll talk about this when I get home.”

I told my husband, “We’re there, the roles are reversing!”  

Well, by the time I had a hot shower, and sat down for a nice dinner at my son and daughter-in-law’s cabin, nothing had to be discussed. Enjoy the outdoors as you can and remember Don’t Live Old!