I had chosen what I thought was the right path for me and perhaps that path had finally come to its end. But I had no regrets for the decisions I had made. One decision to go hitchhiking had changed the path of my life forever. When only a year before I had been living a normal middle-class life near Toronto. How did I end up in Alaska in the first place? I thought. It seemed like the biggest mistake of my life. It was thirty dollars, but I only had fifty to my name, so I left it on the shelf. I remembered the girl who had given us a ride that morning who had insisted that we got bear spray. I couldn’t decide if I should wake her or let her sleep. My friend Heidi was sleeping peacefully beside me, unaware of the dire situation we were in. I hoped it wasn’t a grizzly, but I had seen so many that morning there was no doubt that it had to be. I could hear the creature’s claws tear the thick Alaskan moss as it circled us. I looked around, but I couldn’t see in the pitch-black night. I held my breath and hoped that whatever was beyond the thin fabric wall would go away. The strange noise provided a quick reminder that I was camping in Denali National Park – six million acres of raw Alaskan wilderness. The sound of something breathing deeply woke me up from my sleep. But nothing in the world can get you more time. Time and effort can get you anything you want in the world.
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