Days in Alaska – NOLS Mountaineering Course Journal (Preface and Acknowledgement)在阿拉斯加的日子 – NOLS Mountaineering 課程經歷（前言與感謝）

Preface

Looking at the giant K2 poster hanging on the wall in my office, I still can’t believe that I am back from the mixture of rocks, ice and snow to this pan demoniac civilization. I can’t deny that during the 28 field days, several times the thought “I want to go home” crossed my mind; however, in spite of unpleasant conditions we have encountered, living in the wilderness is easier – it is simple and it is intuitive. Now, I want to go back.

Old friends and family members are shocked that I have become an outdooraholic. Before I came to the States, I had never backpacked, neither had I exercised regularly. I didn’t do any sports, and I couldn’t run 3 miles. But I have always admired mountains, I touch and talk to flowers, and I love adventures.

I moved to the States for graduate study at age 23 in 1998, but not until 5 years later did I do my first backpacking trip, and it was miserable. In the same year, I also discovered a shocking truth that my little fantasy of being satisfied not dreaming about climbing the highest peak but the second highest peak is so naïve. K2 is way more unreachable than Everest, but at least – I thought – I could work on getting closer, and K2 is a more cadent slogan to encourage myself to carry on when I feel out-of-breath during an endurance workout.

I thought that was my main reason to climb, but after this trip, I realized that the reason to climb is in fact more simple. This course is the longest length I’ve been living in the wilderness so that I had abundant field days to collect and concrete the wonders floating in my mind. Why am I here? What did I get myself into? Where will I be? I’ll be among mountains and wild things because that makes me feel good, oh, I should have said “that makes me feel REALLY good.”

Living in the wilderness and climbing mountains requires physical strength and mental training and that is why I took this course. I still have much to learn but this course certainly opened up the window for me. I hope people find my experience interesting and if you want to climb, don’t just think about it.

Acknowledgement

Without the support from Jeremy, my husband, I would never imagine that one day I could set my foot on any peak in Alaska. His impregnable belief in me makes me believe in myself and gives me indispensable strengths for wilderness living.

前言

看著掛在工作室的巨幅K2海報，還是不敢相信，我已經從混合著岩石、堅冰、以及白雪的冰河，回到喧囂的文明世界。不可否認的是，在野外生活的這28天，好幾次動了「想要回家」的念頭。一路上是經歷了許多艱辛，結論終究是：野外生活還是比文明生活容易許多—它簡單，而且質樸。

家人和老朋友們聽聞我的戶外經驗，常直呼不可思議。他們問，是什麼轉變了我？來美國之前，沒背過大背，沒走過大山，也沒運動習慣。對什麼運動都不行，也跑不了五千公尺。有的只是對山野從不改變的戀慕，喜歡碰觸花草並與其交談，熱愛冒險嘗新。

1998年，我23歲，來到美國讀研究所，卻遲遲等到五年後，才有第一次的backpacking經驗，而那經驗，難以忘懷卻是慘不可言。同一年，也才發現一個殘酷的事實，我本著東方人謙恭的本性，想著就算作夢也只需要夢想「第二」高山即可，「最高」的山就留給別人爬吧。這個夢想就算只是白日夢，也真是太太太天真了，K2遠比Everest困難、遙不可及。唉，不過，至少我可以努力地縮短我倆之間的距離，我這樣想著，更何況，在跑步時上氣不接下氣的時候，鼓勵自己撐下去，喊著「K2、K2」也比「Everest、Everest」來得更有節奏感，更容易振奮人心。

一直以為那就是我爬山的主要驅動力，從這次的課程返家後，才發現事情遠比我以為的還要單純。這次是我在野外生活最長的一次，所以我有相當充分的時間去感受、去思索、去整理腦袋裡浮游的紛亂思緒。我為什麼在這裡？我把自己帶到什麼環境來？以後又要到哪裡去？我知道我喜愛步向山林，在群山綠水環繞之下生活，因為那感覺美妙，喔，我該說，妙不可言。

在野外生活以及攀登高山需要良好的體魄，以及健康的心理，這也是我參與此課程的理由。還有很多東西是我需要學習的，不過這個課程為我打開了第一道門窗。在這裡我把我的學習經驗分享給大家，也鼓勵大家，如果你想要爬山，就去吧，別像我一樣等了那麼久。

感謝

如果沒有我老公Jeremy，我大概沒辦法想像有一天我可以登上阿拉斯加的任何一座山頭。他對我堅定不移的信心，是我相信自己真有能力登山的最大理由，也是賦予我在野外生活必要的韌性的泉源。