Magical Whistler

About a mile into the mostly uphill, stairmaster-style hike on Day 1 of my three day hiking trip on and around Whistler, I started to question why I was doing this to myself. When I first signed up for this trip through REI, I was charmed by the pictures that accompanied the description of the trip. Crisp, glacial lakes, the snow-capped peaks, the magical vista from the top of a mountain. All of this, I gotta see! That it was hotel-based only made it more appealing – a camper I am not!

But a little over an hour into what was billed as an 8-9 hour roundtrip hike, I was dragging. I had done a fair amount of hiking in my life, and had prepared for this trip by doing urban hikes all over my home city of San Francisco. But apparently not enough. I dropped to the back of the group, bringing up the rear, but committed to keep going, putting one foot in front of the other.

At our first rest break about 45 minutes later, I inhaled gummy bears and a chocolate granola bar and felt a surge of energy. I slowly picked up my pace and eventually ended up with the leaders of the pack. My companions at the head included a retired couple who must have been in their mid-60’s. They were in excellent shape, and I told myself that if I could just keep up with them, it would all be fine. I also thought that I had to keep this up so I could be as active at their age!

Along the way, I took up conversations with others on the trip. One was an author/psychic who had just published a book about past lives. Another was a married mom of tweens who came by herself since no one in her family enjoyed hiking. There was a father-daughter duo who were spending some time together before the daughter left for college in the Fall. A couple other single women – one from Chicago and another from the Bay Area. Each person was interesting and friendly, and we all fell into easy conversation with each other. We continued to climb as the sun shone down on us, and the views became increasingly spectacular.

As we made the final push to the top of the trail, I looked around at the other mountains surrounding us, and the clear, icy blue glacier-fed lake below us. It was breathtaking. The air was crisp and clear, and I felt renewed just breathing it in. It was only as we began the descent that it dawned on me that I would have to do another hike tomorrow!

Once we made it back down to the van, we all drove to dinner. Sitting around the table chatting and drinking beers, I mulled over the idea of spending the next day at the spa instead of going on another hike, which promised to be at a higher elevation. I ‘fessed up to the group, and they all loudly protested my idea. I absolutely HAD to do the hike the next day. Go back to the hotel and shower, they told me, and you’ll feel better, especially after a good night’s rest. A couple of them even volunteered to keep me company bringing up the rear if I wanted. They were all so encouraging that I felt ashamed that I had even thought about giving up. I needed to believe in myself, that I could make it. That even when my legs felt like they were going to give out, I had to have faith and keep moving.

And so, as Miley Cyrus put it so wisely:

Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb.