Conquering nature!

This week was a week of relaxing and day trips with my wee family. As a busy, self-employed gal in health care, I get very little time off, and it is much needed.

Over the past few years I had worked myself so deeply to the core that the term 'burn-out' was an understatement.  My personal health care team couldn't figure out what was going on with me and it took a year to get a specialist who could figure out, and I quote a Nurse Practitioner, 'weird.'  It was difficult to work and then take the dogs for a walk. My body was literally buzzing, my brain caught in the longest fog storm in history and my muscles and heart, simply not cooperating (I'm pretty sure my adrenals were pooched but we can't prove that). If I worked and then tried to exercise, I was having to hang on or I was hitting the pavement after ten minutes at a slow pace. I was told to slow down at work and in life in general or I wouldn't be able to work or enjoy life again (The point was...I'd be dead). So, last year, I hibernated outside of work and did absolutely nothing. I mean it. Nada, zilch, zero, nothing. I lay out on the couch and buzzed away.

This year, through said 'weird' specialist, we discovered my body was attacking itself and I am just starting (with the help of thyroid medication) to recoup some energy and use my muscles outside of work. Not back to where I was, that's for sure, but yay energy!!

We were going to be headed to the beach this week, a great beach, 2.5 hours away (it's that nice), but the weather wasn't potentially cooperating, so we decided to drive 2.5 hours in a different direction and hit Niagara Falls, Canada. If you've never been there, you are missing out mother nature at her finest. It is spectacular. One of my all time favourite haunts.

The 'thing' about Niagara Falls is that you need to walk. A lot. I can walk for over 90 minutes at a good clip now, so I was prepared. What I wasn't prepared for was my own brilliant idea.

'Let's do the gorge hike! It's my favourite!' I enthusiastically encourage my family.

'Okay!' They all agreed.

I was excited. I was hiking the gorge. It's a bit like a fairy tale down in the gorge, an especially beautiful sanctuary for daydreamers.

We parked and looked at the map. I got laughed at by strangers (and some head shakes with eye rolls) as I urge my kids to hike the routes by the rapids marked DANGER on the map (there are two areas near each other marked Danger, I wanted to do both).

'Let's do Danger! Danger!' This was going to be fun!

Long forgotten was the fact that you need to hike down the cliff-side a mere 200ft,, climb open stairs (see through stairs scare the life out of me) and descend steep slippery stones and stairs before leaving the trail to climb giant boulders that have long fallen off the cliff-side and have been polished smooth by years of wet and snowy weather.

200 feet down from the hut at the top (red circle) to the rocks at the rivers edge. Red arrows indicate our route along the rivers edge

This is my favourite hike. I live for this hike. Observing the rush of the river as it winds its way toward Lake Ontario at the uuber slow speed of 1.5 million gallons per second. Pictures, though I'll add one or two can not visually translate the speed at which this mighty beast moves. You have to experience it for yourself. Awesome is an understatement.

We descended and reached Danger area 1.

This area did not prove thrilling enough for my family, so we decided to head to Danger area 2. This is when Mama (me) got a little over-ambitious.

Instead of climbing back up the hill we made the decision to go around by the water to the next rapids area. This required dangerous traversing on slippery boulders, jumping across potential ankle breaking crevasses, scaling sloped angles, finding hand and toe holds and hoping to hell you don't slip and fall. There is no immediate rescue if you fall into the Niagara River, especially into the rapids. This was fine and dandy for my fit husband and kids, but after 10 minutes of this crazy rambling to Danger 2, my leg started to give out. An unfortunate gift from my thyroid symptoms has been peripheral neuropathy, and didn't it decide to arrive right when the most difficult aspect of the climb began? I was frightened, my kids who don't understand physical and biochemical dis-ease, taunted me for suddenly slowing down and holding everyone back. My husband, however, gained brownie points for actually tracking back and travelling at a snails pace behind me in case I slipped or just couldn't weight bear on my leg.

Putting things in perspective: My 'boys' are 6'5" tall each, and my daughter hovers around 5'10"

Never in my life have I had to use such sheer will and concentration to physically achieve a goal as I did to complete the climb from Danger 1 to Danger 2 (okay, partially untrue, delivering babies required focus). I realized I had too lofty of a goal for a body that hadn't done much physically besides work and walk in a few years.

I made it. I ended up crawling for half of it, but I did it (Sit, reach, scoot. Sit, reach, scoot, crawl).  I did it and I was queen of the world for a few moments.

We enjoyed waving at the people in the boat that was battling the force of the rapids (the rapids almost won), hearing them shrill in terror and excitement. I enjoyed watching my husband and children defy death by inching closer and closer to the river's edge (I would have done so too if I had a deeper trust in my left side at that moment). It was beautiful. It was a rare moment where there were no outside thoughts, just the present.

This boat holds approximately 50 people

Before long it was time to head back so we would have time to take a gondola across the river and walk beside the majestic views of Horseshoe Falls, the American Falls and Bridle Falls. I stood up and realized that I had to climb up more rocks at un-kind angles and then hike up that 200 feet we came down.

Oh crap. I thought I might not make it.

Thirsty. I was thirsty and it was hot and I was sweating and my leg was trembling and I had to, oh, I don't know...breathe.

By the time I stepped up that final stair, my clothes were soaked to the bone, my heart almost fell out of my mouth and I honestly felt about eighty years old. I have to admit that I was a bit peeved at my body for nearly letting me down and embarrassing me in front of my kids.

I had a drink, took a brief rest on a bench and began to cool down. My mind changed. Once I was no longer thirsty and sweaty and my heart returned to it's natural home in my chest versus my throat, I realized that my body didn't fail me. It cooperated with my mind and though out of shape and a bit slow at the end, it did exactly what I needed it to do. It completed the hike I so wanted to take with my family. It carried me up those awful, awful, slopes and steps. It allowed me to enjoy the mossy covered stones in the lower trails, it kept me from falling down into the rapids and though I couldn't keep up with my kids...it only put me a minute or two behind.

My body didn't fail me...it allowed me to conquer nature! It pushed me to my limits physically and mentally and gifted me with new hope. If I can finish this hike, what else can I do?

I guess we'll have to find out!