Thoughts on "127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place" by Aron Ralston

Dear Diary,

Quite an interesting tale. For those who don't know the story, Aron Ralston was doing some canyoneering and dislodged a rock which ended up trapping his hand against the wall of a tiny slot canyon. He was then stuck for 6 full days, running out of food and water, forced to drink his own urine. He eventually broke both bones in his forearm and then amputated his hand with a very dull and small jack-knife, set up a tourniquet, and walked out of the canyon after doing some one-handed rappelling. Inspirational, to say the least. Never give up.

This guy is also pretty crazy, too. Lots of solo winter mountaineering trips. Big risktaker. The book is really cool to me, because he lived in Aspen for quite a while, so a lot of the stories in the book talk about areas right around where I currently live.

Some of the book was a bit boring, I mean, he's just sitting trapped in a slot canyon, how much can you really say. Amazingly, he expanded the tale into a 400 page paperback. Overall, I'd say if you're interested in hiking and wilderness and survival stories this is a book worth reading. Aron, like many people who end up in beautiful mountain towns are smart, highly educated, but have chosen to pursue a life full of activity and beautiful mountain recreation instead of targeting a path in life of material possession accumulation, which I greatly respect.

To live the dream is much stronger than to acquire things thinking that all the things you acquire will add up to a dream.

xoxo,

Blake