As much as I love the city, every so often I need to get away, go outside.  I crave the fresh air, quiet, and long vistas free of houses and cars.  As congested as Los Angeles is, it happens to be surrounded by rugged mountains, golden desert, and the glistening blue Pacific.

This weekend I decided to get out and enjoy the beautiful lingering Los Angeles summer with a hike in the Angeles Crest Forest.  My friend, photographer Peter Bohler, and I headed out in the late morning with aspirations for an eight mile hike.

After a gorgeous hour long drive over windy ridges rife with cyclists and bikers, we reached our turn-out and already felt the quietude of the forest settling in–all until I reached back to exchange my flip-flops for my hiking boots and found they had somehow not escaped the grasp of the city.

It would be impossible for me to hike in flip-flops and impossible for us to turn around, retrieve my shoes and still have enough daylight to make our hike.  I was beyond disappointed.

Both Pete and I have had many outdoor adventures–from climbing Mt. Hood in Oregon, hiking the Swiss Alps, and exploring the Sierra backcountry.  As every seasoned outdoorsperson will tell you, there is a time to turn around and then there is a time to push ahead.

Inspired by a rousing conversation in the car about engineering, green technology and space exploration, Pete insisted he make me some moccasins out of whatever he could find in his car.  I thought he was kidding.  He wasn’t.  In fact, faced with the beauty of the day, there was no way Pete was going to return to the city without at least a few miles under his feet.  As I realized my only alternative was a long and boring sit in the car while Pete enjoyed a hike, I decided to humor him.

I watched in semi-hysterics as Pete scrounged the dregs of his trusty Subaru.  He emerged wearing a faux fur hunting cap and draped in a newly fashioned ultra-suede vest–the remnants of a jacket, whose sleeves he had removed to become the casing for my future booties.

Armed only with a Swiss Army knife (suitable for nothing more than spreading butter), a foam sun shade from his car windshield, the sleeves from said ultra-suede number, and a rope, Pete outfitted me with a pair a hiking booties sturdy enough for our hike and sure to rival the runways of Ugg.

Needless to say, I was impressed.

I was amazed at his resourcefulness and embarressed at my own doubt and negativity toward the situation.  As I venture out into the uncharted territory of my business, I am sure to encounter many more such impossibilities.  I would do well to keep the memory of this afternoon adventure, Pete’s ingenuity and positivity and of course the words of rapper and fellow entreprenuer Jay-Z in mind, “difficult takes a day, impossible takes a week.”–or in this case, about fifteen minutes.