A Fresh Goodbye

My friend Jenn and I met last summer…

It was the most random encounter you could imagine. I had gone to a lake here with another friend of mine for a quick afternoon swim. We sat upon the rock and noticed a kayaker enjoying a leisurely paddle while his girlfriend watched from shore eagerly awaiting her turn in the boat.  We started making small talk and one by one began diving into the cold mountain water. The kayaker came to shore and joined us for a swim. I jumped out of the water and began bleeding everywhere – a sharp rock had just snagged my toe! The kayaker introduced himself as Riley and passed me his first aid kit to mend my wound.

After I was patched up and back to relaxing, the girlfriend, Jenn, noticed she recognized me from Instagram. From there we talked about photos, Squamish and dogs – Which eventually spiralled into climbing, biking, skiing, travelling etc,. We instantly began making plans to meet up and engage in these activities together. It seemed as though we had an instant connection, the kind of people that just clicked together.

Eventually we began going out and doing many awesome trips with Jenn and Riley. We scrambled mountains, swam in cold lakes, rock climbed, backcountry skied, fished the rivers, ate sushi, watched movies and basically anything else you can imagine.

The trips were endless and filled with silly photos, laugh attacks and sometimes Gin…

But some good things eventually come to an end and new chapters of life begin with new and fresh “good” things.

Riley decided to move back to his homeland and Jenn plans to find a good school to pursue zoology.

Growing close to people and watching them leave for their next adventure is always hard. We become attached to the memories, the laughs and the good times we’ve had together. But just like each season comes and changes, new seasons of life are beginning for these two.

Today I, along with Jenn and another friend, Kenzie, did a local hike together (Sort of a last hurrah before she leaves town this next week.)

The forecast called for showers and the morning was looking to be gloomy.

We hit the trail around 8:30 and started the 18km round trip. The trail we took is very straightforward and easy to cruise up – a perfect hike to chat about life and share stories together.

The rain stayed away and we enjoyed a interesting lunch of candy, artichoke dip, beef jerky and fruit at one of the top huts.

On the descent down I began thinking of Jenn – She is one of the spunkiest, funniest and definitely the easiest person to be around I have ever met. She loves peanut butter m&m’s, telling old stories, trying crazy things, being with animals and most of all singing! She can finish any sentence you say with a song lyric and quote any cartoon movie you can think of.

When Jenn isn’t on top of a mountain she’s either out in her kayak, taking a new line down on her snowboard or tripping and falling (a lot of tripping and falling)!

I will miss her every time I lace up my shoes for a trail run, slap my skins on my bindings, hear “Let It Go” on the radio and most of all when I see an amazing view. During her time here we started our outdoor women’s group WWD Club to help get ladies connected and inspired to explore together! I know we’ll meet up for more expeditions down the road but for now I’ll hang on to the ones I’ve had and anticipate for the ones to come.

– Sarah