It’s Monday, and another weekend has come and gone. The upcoming week should be enjoyable, in that I don’t have any papers or especially large assignments due. More about academics later.
On Saturday I got up at a leisurely hour and packed my backpack to climb Blackmore peak. It was a little windy on Saturday, which although it wasn’t necessarily enjoyable while at the peak, was wonderful because it afforded me the opportunity to see tons of leaves fall. It was really an incredible sight– it was almost like snow coming down, the way that the leaves would swirl down and cover the ground.
The hike itself was only about 5.5 miles in each direction, but it was a more vigorous hike for than most of Hylight. About three miles in I came to Blackmore lake, as seen below:
It was really a pretty area.
I believe that Blackmore is the peak on the right. I’m not certain, but I believe that the path actually took me to Cottonwood Peak, which is the less precipitous peak on the right:
The grandeur of the scene is entirely lost on photography. This picture of me at the top does nothing to convey the overwhelming immensity and beauty of the “view from the top.”
On my way back down I spent some time around Blackmore lake. I like this photo becuase of the one brilliant yellow aspen which can be seen in the lower right-hand corner. 
On balance, the hike was good. I think I’m going to try to talk someone into going with me on the next hike, which I’m hoping will be Sacagawea Peak, next weekend.
In other news, I received my test back today in my Brit Lit II class. I had been a little worried about the outcome of the test since I felt that I was rushed and didn’t adequately address everything I was expected to. I did better than I expected. I was one point shy of a perfect score, and with the extra credit, I was bumped just over 100%. I’m glad I did well, since I only received a B+ on my first paper. It’s funny, though. As Dr. Myers was talking to me about my paper, she told me that she “was a tough grader, and graded tough because she wanted to see improvement.” I was expecting a C. I received a B+. The lesson of all of this, however, isn’t that I’m such a super-stellar student, but rather that college is a joke.
Let me elaborate on that a bit. Throughout high school I had several teachers who expected a lot of me, and always said “this is good preparation for college.” My chemistry teacher, Ms. Wolfe, is a good example. A typical lab for my Chem II class would be 7-8 pages, including a full hand-written page of introduction, and the same or more conclusion. Though onerous, I eventually learned how to write a lab which would earn a good grade from her. Unlike what I was expecting, however, the labs I’m writing for my Honors Chem 141 class are actually more simplistic than some labs I wrote in 8th grade. I’m doing less reading for my Brit Lit 217 class than I did for senior English, and I have less homework in my French 219 class than I did during each of my four years of high school french. I was honestly working harder and learning more during the last year of high school than I am at present, which concerns me. This is college. I’m paying (well, my parents and others are paying) large sums of money for this. My teachers have been going on for years about how hard this is going to be. But… it’s not.
Perhaps things will pick up at the semester progresses, but right now I’m rather disappointed. C’mon. Where’s the challenge? Where’s the education? Where’s the classes that I love? Troublesome..
In other news, I got a haircut on Saturday night, which was long overdue. Short hair is so much more enjoyable to wear. 
That’s my thoughts for today. Until next time, so long!
