CourtSchurmanGO.com 2024-11-19

Learn How to Get Unstuck: First Limit Choices

As I worked on blog post ten this week (twenty percent of the way toward my blogging goal), I hit a few snags and couldn’t get unstuck. (See, it happens to everyone!) The problems? First, I needed more time to do justice to my top choice for the week’s post; and second, the flood of other possible ideas overwhelmed me. I ground to a halt, and if not for my deadline of a blog a week, I might have stayed stuck. I decided my top priority was to limit choices.

Mason Lake with Mt. Defiance and fall colors in the background. Limit choices to get unstuck. Photo courtesy of Tonia Olson.

Unlimited Choice Can Be As Hard As Having Too Few

But my problem pales in comparison to what my daughter, a senior in high school, currently faces. What is the best way to coach her through the college application and selection process? She sometimes finds it hard to choose a cookie recipe to make or a frozen yogurt flavor to order. With hundreds of potential colleges, what’s the best way to narrow them down? If she could find a dozen that interested her, we’d help her apply to the top six. After all, what worked for me way back when could at least be a starting point.

I also faced what I call the “all-or-nothing” phenomenon earlier this week. I had an opportunity to hike on Tuesday, but I couldn’t decide on a destination. My non-decision ended up being my decision: I stayed in town on a beautiful day.

Later in the week when a friend proposed hiking to Mason Lake, I agreed. I appreciate it when someone else decides. Other times, it feels liberating to make my own choice. But sometimes, having unlimited choices is daunting.

How to Start Narrowing Down

So where do you start if you feel like you want to make changes? Say you want to alter your diet, start a different job, take steps forward in an important relationship, grab some new travel opportunities, expand your friendship circle, interact more with family members, and improve your physical health.

If you tried undertaking all of that at once, you would fail to succeed in any of them. What do you do if you want to change everything? The answer may be to limit your choices first by picking THE MOST IMPORTANT GOAL (whatever is weighing most heavily on your mind) and to provide yourself with a structure to explore it.

Whenever I face a blank page, it’s far easier to create if I’m given a prompt, an idea, or a structure within which to write. Take blogging: I limit myself to eight photos, keep my word count under 1200, and stick to the same format I’ve used during the past three months. I also tie whatever I write to the broad topic of moving forward and getting unstuck. Such scaffolding provides me with structure and coherence, and it provides my readers with continuity from post to post. Even so, I still face plenty of choices but it’s not as overwhelming as it could be.

On Having Too Many Choices

Curious about shutting down when I feel overwhelmed by too many choices, I looked online to learn what others had to say. Suddenly, I had my topic for this week’s blog.

From the article, Too many choices – good or bad – can be mentally exhausting. In the April issue of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2008, Kathleen Vohs discusses how making decisions, even about fun tasks like what movie to see or where to hike, can deplete our brain. “Simply the act of choosing can cause mental fatigue,” she says. “Making choices can be difficult and taxing, and there is a personal price to choosing.”

In a study discussed in the article Why you find it hard to pick your lunch or a Netflix show, according to new research, Colin Camerar (professor of behavioral economics at Caltech and author of the study) said the “ideal number [of choices] is probably somewhere between 8 and 15, depending on the reward, and your personality.”

When “Good Enough” is Good Enough

And in Too Many Choices, a Problem that can Paralyze, Alina Tugend of the New York Times introduces Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice. Schwartz says one strategy for dealing with too many choices is to become comfortable with the idea of “good enough.”

In coaching our daughter through the largest decision (so far) of her young life, we don’t want her to think she has to make a perfect choice, because according to the Swarthmore professor, doing so “is a recipe for misery.” If we can get past the illusion that there is a “perfect choice” and choose good enough, we will save ourselves pondering and reflection time, worry, and angst.

Take-Aways

The next time you’re debating about what to choose, impose some restrictions. If you’re experiencing writer’s block, set a timer for five minutes and allow yourself to play. Let your pen move nonstop across the page, or let your fingers fly over the keyboard. Or get outside in nature for some fresh air and movement. Sometimes taking your mind off the problem will give your creative self some inspiration or clarity.

If you have the whole state of Washington available to hike in, try narrowing it down to a single target area, with a possible elevation gain and range that fits your ability and mood. Washington Trails Association’s Hike Finder is a great resource.

And when I discovered the guideline of having an optimal number of choices in the range of eight to fifteen, I realized that encouraging my daughter to have a list of her top twelve choices is a reasonable place to start. What’s more, I realized we intuitively already know how to do this.

So if you’re dating a new person every weekend, put some limits on your choices. If you’re looking at the whole world as a possible travel destination, pick one or two areas to start narrowing down. And when you’re choosing a subject to write about, realize that you can always write another, next week. I did. And like that, I was up and writing again.

Finding Inspiration in Life and Graphic Novels: Oracle Code

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What I’m Reading: Oracle Code

When I look closely, I’m finding inspiration everywhere, including the Young Adult (YA) graphic novel, The Oracle Code, by Marieke Nijkamp. I’d borrowed this book from the library several times, but I’d overlooked it until I noticed it on a list of recommended books similar to others I’d enjoyed.

I'm finding inspiration just about everywhere, including Young Adult graphic novels. — I’m finding inspiration just about everywhere, including Young Adult graphic novels.

Oracle Code Summary

Hacker Barbara “Babs” Gordon gets injured in a shooting accident and finds herself in a wheelchair trying to solve the puzzle behind the unusual rehabilitation center her father sends her to. When Jena, a new friend at the center, disappears, Babs enlists the help of Benjamin, a rooftop hacking friend from outside the center, to try to help her solve the mystery.

A female protagonist (check!) overcoming physical obstacles (check!) in a mystery (check!) Sounds a lot like something I’ve helped people do for over two decades. Perhaps that’s why it resonated with me.

Quotes that Inspire

Two quotes from Nijkamp’s story jumped out at me.

Finding Inspiration in Life and Graphic Novels: Oracle Code — My daughter is a constant source of inspiration. Here she celebrates her first-place entry and Reserve Grand Champion ribbon for her Legos submission at the Puyallup Fair.

On Losing

“Losing is only permanent if you stop trying.” (p. 95) Another way to say it is the only way you can lose is to quit completely. As long as you are willing to try new things, explore different ideas, and consider a variety of ways to reach your end goal, you are still in the game of life.

One of the very first hikes I went on when I moved to Seattle in 1990 was Mt. Si. At the time, it seemed like a fun way to get outside with a friend from graduate school for some exercise. In 1999, my husband and I joined the Basic Climbing program with the Seattle Mountaineers. Hikes became a way to get in condition for technical peaks. Our daughter joined us in 2004, and our dozen annual climbs shrank to one a year. Hikes became very short.

When Governor Inslee closed all hiking trails in Washington in March of 2020, I felt a profound sense of loss–of freedom, independence, choice, fresh air, discovery, and exploration. I had to get back on the trails. At the very first opportunity, the day Inslee lifted restrictions, I returned to the trails and have been hiking ever since, sometimes three times a week. I had no idea when I started hiking that it would grow into something so important.

On Fear

If something prevents you from doing what you want to do, like COVID did for me eighteen months ago, try to name it. Would you call it fear? Uncertainty? Overwhelm?

Nijkamp writes: “It’s fear that keeps us sharp, that keeps us going, that keeps us figuring out the unknown.” (p. 190) The next time you’re afraid, ask yourself: what’s the worst thing that can happen? Can you expect the best while being prepared for the worst? How likely will that fear materialize? Who can support you if it does?

Inspiration from Others’ Demons

Lest everyone out there thinks trainers waltz up every mountain they choose, please realize that I could have let any one of three big obstacles stop me. My hope is my story will inspire you to move forward.

Lower Back Pain

While I’ve never been in a wheelchair like Nijkamp’s protagonist, Babs, I have battled lower back pain since the late 1990s. I first noticed problems while rowing starboard for my college’s crew. However, it only became debilitating when I competed in powerlifting, a sport involving single-repetition maximum lifts in the squat, the deadlift, and the bench press.

Flare-ups sometimes last for days, and even now, if I neglect my sleep, get too stressed out, eat foods I know cause systemic inflammation, or take shortcuts with my training, I end up hunched over like a ninety-year-old woman. Lower back pain is no fun for anyone. Fortunately, by learning to manage mine, I can also help others manage theirs. I’ve turned adversity into an opportunity.

Sugar Addiction

Until July 2019, I was addicted to sugar. Giving up sugar was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Alcoholics can avoid liquor; drug addicts can stop using; gamblers can steer clear of casinos and betting. But since sugar is pretty much added to everything these days (beyond the obvious sweets, it’s also found in breath mints, gum, yogurt, tomato sauce, dried fruit, nearly every cereal, etc.), it requires hyper-vigilance to avoid consuming.

(Note: If you feel you or a loved one is battling addiction, whether to drugs, alcohol, gaming, exercise, gambling, etc., a great resource is In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Mate.)

Now I cringe thinking about how many batches of cookies, bars of chocolate, bags of mint M&M’s, cans of sodas, and bottles of diet Peach Snapple I’ve consumed over the past three decades. When I reread some of my journals, I know that my earlier obsession with food was likely fueled by a psychological dependence on sugar. Struggling to overcome not one but five addictions gives me tremendous empathy for the struggles of my clients. I know firsthand how enormously challenging it is. And if I can find a way through it, so can my clients.

Skin Cancer

One look at my freckles and red hair and you can probably guess I’m of Scotch-Irish heritage. I’ve had four Moh’s procedures to remove skin cancers from my face and additional surgeries to remove basal cell carcinomas. For two summers, I wouldn’t go outside between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. unless every inch of my skin was covered. Now, I know how to choose appropriate hikes and manage the timing of my outings to keep my skin protected. I also know how crucial it is to get natural vitamin D from sufficient exposure to the sun while not burning.

So what?

Every single one of us carries baggage or has reasons to quit. We will always face obstacles and struggles. And until I can no longer breathe, I know I will continue to be challenged. Take a good hard look at what you’re carrying around. How has it weighed you down? What can you do to overcome it?

Because you can. You are the hero or heroine of your own story. One of my favorite song lyrics comes from Kelly Clarkson’s Stronger. Obstacles test us and make us grow stronger and wiser. Use greatness everywhere — fiction and biographies, songs and hikes — to help motivate you.

Final Thoughts

A sign over my desk includes a quote by Nelson Mandela: “I never lose. I either win or learn.” As long as you keep trying new things, you have not lost. I admire courage like Babs’ in The Oracle Code who shows inner strength to adapt and move on with her life. Reading about female protagonists overcoming tremendous physical adversity inspires me to take better care of myself.

When you feel like giving up, think about why you started in the first place. Whether you run marathons, climb mountains, play music, or write poetry, you do it for some reason. What does that thing provide you? What could it provide you if you let go of your fear and the word can’t? Can you get back in touch with the younger you and feel the joy, excitement, or curiosity you first had?

Try Something New, Get Out of Your Way, Get Unstuck

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The comment I heard most often from clients this past week is, “I keep getting in my own way. How do I get unstuck?” Could it be as simple as trying something new? A quick search through the holdings at the Seattle Public Library revealed at least a dozen self-help books with “get out of your way” in the title. This must be a common phenomenon. Why do we do it and how do we stop?

Try Something New, Get Out of Your Way, Get Unstuck — A burst of fall color in an alpine meadow heading up to Melakwa Lake, off Exit 47 north of I-90.

Be Still to Get Unstuck

In a recent issue of PNWA’s Author Magazine, Jennifer Paros wrote about being still in order to see our current reality, so we can get unstuck and move forward. This is a paradoxical concept, especially if you’re as accomplished with “doing” as I am. In fact, clients have heard me say, “If you feel deep down that you’re a climber, yet you’ve never hiked, how can you know unless you get outside and try it?” Perhaps the stillness Paros alludes to comes in pausing, quieting the doubts, and trusting oneself enough so that the path forward can make itself known.

Similarly, if you feel you’re a good enough writer to get published, yet you have never submitted your work for anyone else to read, how do you know? And can you find the courage to keep writing with only that inner knowing to sustain you, or might a critique group help you find out for sure? What if you entered a writing contest or self-published a piece to see what kind of response you get? What stops you from trying something new?

Create Goals to Get Unstuck

Hiking to Melakwa Lake had been on my “goals” list all summer. The mist that my pup Ajax and I encountered this week reminded me of the fear-and-doubt fog I allowed to obscure my path toward starting a blog. For seven years, I’d convinced myself I had nothing more to share after publishing my first book.

Yet in July 2021, I had no deadlines, no agent, no editor breathing down my neck. I also felt like I lacked direction and purpose. Wanting to have something to show for the summer, I had nothing to lose. It dawned on me that I wanted to write whatever I wanted to write. In two weeks, I took a leap of faith and launched my blog. All it took was two short weeks.

But, like Social Media posts, people only see the happy end result. I never revealed those seven years of being stuck. Did I even KNOW I was stuck?

Quiet the Voice of the Gremlin

My gremlin still tries to make her voice heard: “Think of what you could be doing today if you’d started the blog seven years ago.” To that little green monster, I stand with my hands on my hips, and say, “Better late than never.” Every time I successfully accomplish something I set out to do, the voice of the gremlin grows softer, weaker, fading like ethereal fog.

Whether you’ve wanted to climb for a decade, wished you could publish a poem, yearned to be a better communicator, or dreamed about furthering your education, every goal begins with a single step. But which one?

Rename Your Blocks

As a trainer and former climb leader with the Seattle Mountaineers, I have ventured into the mountains for over two decades. Some people think I just go out and do stuff without much worry or thought. If they knew the behind-the-scenes of my daily exercise routine (including how long it takes to pick a hike) they would know that’s not true.

No matter how much I train, every time I visit the mountains I feel a small element of doubt and fear that I have renamed excitement. As I get better at taking calculated risks, my sphere of comfort expands.

What will it take to get outside your comfort zone? Can you embrace whatever blocks you? Can you think of it as protecting you from the unknown? What if you renamed your block and rewrote your script? What if you set an intention and then carried it out?

Just like your muscles need to be regularly overloaded to get stronger, your mind needs a challenge, test, push. Think of it as exercising the habit of following through. If you never hike, you won’t get to the top of a mountain under your own power. You will not publish your work unless you find the courage to send it out into the world.

So, on a rainy Sunday morning following a restful night’s sleep, Ajax and I drove to Exit 47, and instead of turning left as we’d been doing all summer, we turned right.

A Visit to Misty Melakwa Lake

Why did I wait until the end of summer to attempt this hike? It wasn’t the mileage or gain; Ajax and I had covered fifteen miles together and ascended 4,000 feet on recent hikes. It also wasn’t driving distance; we had been to Exit 47 half a dozen times this summer. I think it was more about the uncertainty of maneuvering through the Denny Creek campground, the hassle of adding extra distance at the start and end of the hike, and not knowing how many people would be out hiking on a rainy weekend after Labor Day.

Lame, right? Really, what’s an extra half-mile? And what is really blocking us? Maybe I still wanted to hike with a buddy; it had been a month since I’d gone out solo. Those “solo hiking muscles” had gotten weak. Time to give them a workout.

Melakwa Lake is a popular hiking destination, perhaps due to the emerald green color and clear alpine water. But close proximity to the heavily used Denny Creek Campground probably increases foot traffic for those local hikes under ten miles. Apparently, it also has a decent scramble that will get you up high enough to look at Gem Lake, Glacier Peak, and the North Cascades on a clear day.

Favorites

My favorite parts were:

Fall colors – one of the reasons I went to that particular location
Seeing two new-to-me emerald lakes, Upper and Lower (this has been the season for new lakes)
Pika!! One came so close to the trail I got a shot of him with my camera phone
Handfuls of ripe blueberries and huckleberries, even bigger and more plentiful than the ones we picked the previous weekend on Mt. Catherine
Clean, pure exercise with my favorite canine companion
An hour of solitude when we veered off the beaten path to explore the trail leading from Melakwa Lake to Lower Tuscohatchie Lake

Pitfalls

The parts I could have done without (aren’t there always some of these?)

Rain, with mud in places; I’ve gotten used to a summer of dryness, but nothing a good dog bath couldn’t cure
Fog obscuring what I know must be stellar views, reminding me again of my recent trip to Blanca Lake
Slick, rocky trail in places that reminds me of part of the approach to Mt. Washington
Crowds. As we ascended the switchbacks we could hear the conversations of people in the valley behind us for a half-mile. If we are seeking a solitary experience, then we need to hike popular trails on weekdays or avoid them.

Today’s Step to Get Unstuck

What could you do TODAY that you keep putting off? What small five-minute task could you take that would get you one step closer to your goal and help you start building that follow-through muscle? For me, turning right instead of left committed me to try a hike that had been on my list all summer. Perhaps signing up with a coach or talking with someone you trust can help you figure out your next step.

Pause, feel whatever you’re feeling, and then take that next step, saying goodbye to that place of comfort, that previous place of familiarity. My wish for you is that you not wait seven years to do something that might take two weeks. Do you have favorite ways for getting unstuck or getting out of your own way? I would love to hear about them in the comments box.

Life Lessons: Picking Beautiful Berries on Mt. Catherine

View of Red Mountain (L center) and Mt. Thompson (high point right) looking north from Mt. Catherine. Hiking with family provides life lessons I can't get by myself. — View of Red Mountain (L center) and Mt. Thompson (high point right) looking north from Mt. Catherine. Hiking with family members provides life lessons I can’t get by myself.

I told my daughter about my most recent hike to Blanca Lake. When I mentioned all the ripe bushes bursting with blueberries and huckleberries, she wanted to see for herself. As an experienced mountaineering coach, I knew taking someone on an eight-mile hike with 3300 feet of elevation gain as a first outing would not be good for anyone. It’s one of those important life lessons we get with experience. Instead, I suggested we try somewhere closer to home, with less mileage, less elevation gain, and a high chance of finding berries.

Enter Mt. Catherine.

Do Your Research

This short, popular hike is accessible from Exit 54 off I-90. How I’ve lived in Seattle for three decades and never tried this steep trail escapes me. But I’m glad I know about it now. Normally, I would avoid visiting the mountains on Labor Day weekend (especially starting at 9:30 a.m.) I’m not a fan of crowds in the wilderness, but when I’m planning a family outing, I modify my expectations and adjust my criteria for success.

My husband and I researched a few trip reports to see if there could be any berries remaining. One person said the berries had all been picked, but another from the same day said the woods had plenty. With a Nalgene bottle, plastic pitcher, and cup container with a lid as our collecting tools, we headed up the trail. Luck was on our side.

Hiking with Family: How to Make It Work

I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve hiked with my family during the past eighteen months. It hasn’t always been that way. I wrote about Family Activities on our website and chaired the Family Activities committee for the Seattle Mountaineers for four years, starting when my daughter was four. We wanted to discover other like-minded families with kids her age who enjoyed hiking. That worked when she was young. But as a teen, she developed other school interests; our family hiking outings dwindled to none.

Adjusting Expectations

Instead of hitting my stride and drinking as I walked, I paid much more attention to how my daughter was doing and called a rest break when she showed signs of tiring.

She still likes to hike in what she calls “kid sandwich” formation: parent in front, parent behind, a kid in the middle with Ajax. Why? She admitted: if she’s in front, she feels pressured to go faster than she normally would and runs out of energy. If she’s behind, she has to race to keep up or feel like she’s going to be left behind. The sweet spot? Traveling bookended with parents on each end and the dog running back and forth.

What, exactly, were my expectations for this particular trip? My short mental list included:

Spend quality time outside together as a family (no screens!)
Explore a trail and area none of us has ever seen before
Do something memorable to celebrate the weekend of our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary
Get some exercise
And, above all else, pick berries

Know Your Parental Roles

On the ascent, my role became “the encourager.” My sense of distance tends to get a bit distorted when I’m traveling at not-my-pace. At minute forty-five, I made the mistake of saying, “I think it’s just ten more minutes,” only to have my husband say the identical thing … exactly ten minutes later. Who was our daughter to believe? Fortunately, we really were only five minutes from the summit. After a steep scramble, we topped out to wonderful views and a happy daughter.

The author's daughter is pleased to have reached the summit block. One of the important life lessons is to celebrate small wins. — The author’s daughter is pleased to have reached the summit block. One of the important life lessons is to celebrate small wins.

Learn From One Another

When we’re outside as a family, it’s more about the quality of the experience together, rather than the difficulty or effort required on the route. And while I typically don’t spend much time at any summits when I’m out by myself, we ended up spending nearly 45 minutes taking in the view, having a snack, watching for birds, and enjoying our little piece of the summit block.

I brought a pair of binoculars, which turned out to be useful. We might have missed out on identifying the female western tanagers and Williamson’s sapsucker sometimes found at higher altitudes in the state. My husband identified the birds while I pointed out as many landmarks as I could, from Red Mountain, Guye Peak, The Tooth, and Mt. Thompson to the north, and Kecheelus Lake to the east, to where I thought Mt. Rainier would be south of us, covered in clouds. I even got to test out my new lounge chair. I carried it, may as well use it.

Reward: Fresh Wild Berries

The best part of the whole outing was hunting for lush berry patches along the trail. This time of year the huckleberry leaves have hints of red, and darker huckleberries are mixed in with lighter blueberries. We carefully stepped on the soil, not roots or branches, to protect the vegetation, and spent nearly two hours collecting a quart of fresh berries. The resulting crisp was dessert for our anniversary dinner.

My daughter’s contribution to our bank of family knowledge came during our berry hunt. She pointed out that by squatting low and viewing the bushes from another perspective, we can discover more fruit that can be hidden from above. And by coming back through the same patch we’d just picked, we can find all those we’ve missed.

Hiking Take-Away

The metaphor for life was not lost on me. How often do we go about our day mired in our habits, hardly noticing the beauty and novelty right in front of us? By taking a different route to work or school, visiting a new cafe or store, or walking in a favorite neighborhood in the opposite direction, we “see” things in a new way. So, too, the berry bushes. When we hike with different people, we experience our world from a fresh perspective. So, too, by changing the age of who we talk to. And by adjusting our expectations to match the people we’re with, we can enjoy ourselves, no matter what we’re doing.

The next time you feel stuck, what is one thing you could try differently? Do you have realistic expectations for the tasks in your day? Instead of creating a list of ten to-do’s (guilty!), what is your number one priority for the day? Can you find a way to do that single thing with all your focus, while having fun at the same time? I’d love to hear how these tips are impacting your exploration of change in the comments box below.

Disappointment Becomes Gratitude at Beautiful Blanca Lake

My birthday hike to Blanca Lake was not without its challenges. It is a worthwhile objective and has a ton of things going for it, including:

Spectacular scenery to make the effort well worth a hiker’s time
A butt-kicking 3300-foot elevation gain in just under four miles; and
Ripe wild berries in late summer
Few people on a late summer weekday and
If you’re as lucky as I was, great conversation with a dear friend about all sorts of topics

Disappointment at arriving in fog gave way to gratitude when it lifted just in time for us to see the beautiful lake.

Blanca Lake north of US Highway 2, about 90 minutes out of Seattle, is a stunning color caused by glacial sediments from the Columbia Glacier. I chose to do this hike to celebrate a milestone birthday and was surprised by how challenging it was.

When Best-Laid Plans Go Wrong

On August 30, I left the house ten minutes earlier than planned, thinking I’d have time to walk Ajax before I met my hiking partner, Cherie, and her dog, Wonder. Ten minutes from home, I glanced at the fuel gauge and realized I didn’t have enough gas to make it back from the trailhead. I pulled into a gas station, reached for the pump handle, stuffed my hand in my pocket … The credit card and license that I’d shoved in my shorts pocket were still at home. At the last possible second, preparing for cooler weather, I’d changed my pants.

Darn it all. So much for best-laid plans.

Lesson Learned: have a secret stash of emergency cash somewhere in the car for emergencies such as this one. {One of the goals of my CourtSchurmanGo.com blog is to supply “tips from the trail,” unexpected things I have discovered with over twenty-five years of climbing experience.}

Plan B

Knowing my husband would not be awake to answer the phone for hours, and with zero cash in the car, my only option was to return home. I reached home without incident, grabbed my wallet, and filled up the tank before starting north again. Heavy northbound traffic, roadwork slow-downs, and a miscalculation of driving time meant I pulled into our meeting place, Beckler River Campground, far later than I’d promised.

I despise being late, especially to hike with a friend who is always punctual and who drives from the opposite side of the Cascades to hike together once a month.

Lesson learned: allow plenty of extra driving time, especially if you are unfamiliar with the area you’re traveling to.

Delayed Hike Start to Blanca Lake

Fortunately, Cherie had received my text. When I arrived, she gave me a big hug and convinced me that she can always use downtime to practice Spanish. No harm, no foul, except to my own punctual ego.

I took Ajax on a very short walk to calm my shaking hands. Beckler River Campground looks like a fabulous place to stay overnight for numerous day-hike excursions along US-Highway 2. When we got back, Cherie transferred her dog and pack into my car. She became my chief navigator for the sixteen-mile, half-hour drive to the trailhead.

We started our hike after 9:30 instead of the anticipated 8:30. Fortunately, it was overcast and cool, so heat would not be our primary enemy. I also didn’t notice any bugs, thank goodness. A few minutes from the car, both dogs left us gifts and we almost retraced our steps to look for a missing leash — only to find it behind us on the path a few steps

Lessons learned: Be flexible and extend flexibility and grace toward all party members. Carry an extra rope/baggie or two as part of the Ten Essentials whenever hiking with dogs.

Trailhead to Virgin Lake

The trail to Blanca Lake is one of the toughest approaches I’ve done in the past two years. Think Old Si and Old Mailbox in terms of gnarly root balls and giant steps. It ascends in unrelenting switchbacks that had me checking my dog’s breathing. He seemed fine. In hindsight, perhaps it was my breathing I was worried about.

Fortunately, we had temperatures in the upper 50’s all day, under mostly cloudy skies. By the time we reached the ridge, a light breeze teased us, making me think perhaps the fog and clouds would burn off.

A very unexpected, delicious surprise awaited: huckleberries, salmonberries, and blueberries on just about every bush. We couldn’t resist stopping for a few minutes to pick a handful or two.

Once we attained the fog-covered ridge, the next destination was Virgin Lake. I’ve visited a large number of lakes in the past two years. Compared to most, this small one was not that memorable. Wonder disagreed, however; he jumped right in to take a brief swim while Ajax watched from shore.

Lesson learned: Have a lightweight empty container handy if your destination is likely to include berries. Teen daughters LOVE fresh-picked berries.

Descent to Blanca Lake in Fog

We found the path that bordered the lake and started our 500-foot descent into thick fog and dense clouds. Thank goodness for windbreakers, gloves, and hats.

Neither of us had ever hiked this trail before, but I knew from trip reports that there was a gorgeous-colored glacier-fed lake. Somewhere.

We spotted a couple with a dog sitting on some boulders by what I guessed must be the lake, but we still couldn’t see it. Disappointed, I muttered, “We’ll have to come back sometime when we can see what’s around us.”

A few minutes later, we stopped at a large felled tree for lunch. All that work, and nothing to see. Infuriating!

I pulled out my Thermarest chair and kicked back to enjoy a snack. Then I remembered: this was day three going without nuts, to test my theory that they were causing my congestion, not a summer cold. Munching on carrots and apple slices made me long for the days of chocolate bars, freshly baked cookies, and homemade GORP. So much for a birthday “summit treat.” Carrots and apples just don’t cut it.

Lesson learned: Investigate tasty gluten-free, sugar-free, nut-free, corn-free trail snacks. On this trip, I learned to add hummus and lunch meat as portable options to go with cheese and fruit.

Blanca Lake Reveals Herself

As we snacked, Cherie finally pointed at an opening in the fog and a tiny sliver of the green lake. I jumped up from my spot and whipped out my phone, hoping for a glimpse of green before it clouded over again.

I headed twenty feet down the remainder of the trail with the dogs. The sun burned off more and more of the fog until we could see the entire lake. Trail descriptions that use the word “Gasp-worthy” are right. My jaw dropped.

Blanca Lake is a greenish-gray color that I have only seen in Glacier National Park and New Zealand. Within minutes, we could see across the valley to a hanging glacier where waterfalls drain melt-off from the Columbia Glacier. I recalled part of an earlier conversation Cherie and I had about disappointment. In her words, “It comes when we have such strong expectations that we are unable to appreciate happy accidents.” If I’d been on time, we might not have even seen the lake. Now, I appreciate being late.

Lesson Learned: Think outside the box. Look for the silver lining. What’s GOOD about what’s happening right now, and what can I change to make it better?

Happy Accidents

It may sound like a cliche, but I believe things happen for a reason. We may not know what the reason is at the time something happens, but with patience, we can often find the larger meaning or greater life lesson. I found myself pondering the idea of “happy accidents” in light of the late start to Blanca Lake and in the larger picture of the global pandemic.

COVID kicked off eighteen months of disappointments for everyone around the world. Including us. Two days before my husband and I were to chaperone my daughter’s every-four-years high school marching band trip to Ireland (in March 2020), the ten-day trip got canceled. Everything collapsed from there: school closures, my daughter’s sixteenth birthday plans, cancellation of her last summer of horse camp, closure of the Washington State Fair she competes in every year, and the Canadian border shutting us off from a trip to Jasper National Park.

Turning Disappointments into Gratitudes

The series of events that led us to starting an hour later than expected made the tardy reveal at Blanca Lake even more special. More appreciated. And memorable.

So, too, did the pandemic deliver unexpected gifts over the past eighteen months. On my drive back home (three hours later than I’d told my husband,) I realized how grateful I am for recent turns in my life:

Visiting over fifty new-to-me hiking trails with my wonderful dog over the past eighteen months;
Attending virtual writing conferences in Seattle, New York, and LA that I would not have otherwise attended;
Completing online courses in writing, change psychology, and physical therapy that I wouldn’t have taken;
Increasing my understanding of and appreciation for the many animals at Woodland Park Zoo that I wouldn’t have had if my Animal Unit Volunteer position with the giraffes had continued as usual;
Increasing familiarity with Zoom, a technology I knew absolutely nothing about prior to March 2020, which means I can stay connected with family, writing friends, and others around the world that much more easily;
Deepening relationships with a few important people I don’t think would have happened otherwise;
And, finally, supplying me with the courage to start my own blog.

While I would never wish a pandemic or illness on anyone, I have been thinking about what makes people more resilient than others. Is it due primarily to a positive outlook on life? Or, like a growth mindset, can we cultivate a positive outlook? My personal assignment from now on whenever I struggle is to look for what’s going well, even if only a tiny bit.

Lessons Learned: What are your current struggles? Can you find the positives? What is your silver lining?

Stay tuned to more blog pages to get unstuck.