1761 METERS INTO THIN AIR: CLIMBING THE GOLDEN EARS, BC PROVINCIAL PARK

I have no clue what is going on in my life lately:
For the second time in less than a fortnight I aspired to reach the top - of a mountain!
 A week ago it was the top of Grouse Mt. in Vancouver, on Saturday it was the Golden Ears, literally down the road from us!

Of course it would be pure exaggeration to headline this post with "Welcome to my Backyard." Nevertheless,  the park entrance is less than 10 minutes from our house, the climb is on my bucket list and the year is getting older - therefore, let's hear it for the boys and girls who did this epic climb!

The Mc Awesome Family right at the start!
 

These are our comrades in crime- when life was still good, pain - and cramp less! Aka, first thing in the morning!
 

Dominic and our hiking buddy extraordinaire Jana! To your right is our Mr. Best Attitude in the whole wide world', Darryl! By the way, Darryl forgot to read the section in the guide book which states: "Avoid carrying a bag full of cherries on your hike! The bag might be a pain in the butt to carry, the excess consumption of fresh cherries might lead to a bloated feeling in the stomach area...."

Of we go, through some beautiful terrain -

and some challenging crossings.
 

.
The whole hike, to the top is a 24 km round trip.
There is only one way up and only one way down - or you make your own path and get lost!

 

Please note the wording: 'kmISH...

 

 

It wouldn't be fun if you couldn't throw in a few glacier fields, would it? Here is one of the three we had to cross before we reached the top:

Remember, we are having app. 28 degrees down in the valley!

 

Here we are, the Mc Awesome's at the top!
It took us Oldies 6,5hours! Our boys, the mountain goats, did it in 4,5 hours!!!!

One for Girl Power!

One for the couples -

the comrades &

one for the men!

And one for the readers: This here is Pitt Lake, the biggest tidal lake in the world!

Unfortunately, what goes up needs to come down as well. With no gondola or helicopter to carry or fly us down we had to rely on our legs again to make the decent!

Let me explain to you in one word how it felt like: HEAVY!

Here is another one: TORTURE!

Once again, our teenagers run and jumped back ahead of us to the parking lot in a mere 4,5 hours!! We made our boys wait for 2 hours until we reached our cars again! Help, my thighs are screaming, my back is sore (from carrying the backpack), my head is spinning from putting "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" on replay (that is Monte Python for you), I am filthy, tired, exhausted, thirsty and HAPPYYYYYY!

 

As you can imagine, we have a visitor: the -  two - day -  after - bitch has arrived. Delayed muscle soreness is at its worse on the second day. Yep, take it from me, it is true! And then, I ain't using my legs writing this am I?

 

Plan Ahead & Seize the Moment

 I love having a plan or spending time on making one! And since I became a mother I also like to have plan B and C in case plan A falls through.

It is Monday morning. After some strategic planning, the day was all accounted for.  The plan kept me moving and talking from 8.45 in the morning till 3pm in the afternoon.

By 9am, 15 minutes into my first appointment I realized there was no plan anymore: My lady friends stood me up! One due to flu and the other one due to miss-understanding!

I could have gone home, feeling sorry for myself and finish vacuuming the basement - the  Hoover was still out.                                                                                                                                                                

Instead, I thought “Sod it” and set off on my own (the basement will still be dusty when I come back). I did what I planned for the morning:  a brisk walk through our wonderful nature. This was a wonderful opportunity to have some ‘me’ time while trailing through rocky, muddy and wet terrain.  Ignoring the bear warning signs, I set off into unchartered territory.

If I have nobody to talk to, my brain has vivid conversations with itself. Marching through the morning mist, inspired by the colours and beauty around me, I couldn’t help but thinking:” How many meanings are there for the word “Snicker doodle?” (E.g. Have you been snicker doodled before?)  How will I celebrate when my book “Very Berry Extra-Ordinary” will hit the No.1 spot at Amazon .com?  What is the best strategy to get onto the Oprah Show? (I should get her phone number and call!)  If somebody will hand me one Million Dollars, what is the first thing I would buy?”(Pay off the house first or rather go on a cruise- or better still pay off our parents homes and then go on a cruise?) Ok, this is not mind blowing, world changing stuff, but these issues needed to be addressed anyway.

What am I saying?

Plans are good - but be prepared to have them changed!

And more importantly, seize the moment!

Like the previous Friday when I decided to reinvent myself as the next master chef!  The day started off with no plan, and all of a sudden there was one! The rainy morning was a perfect excuse to hang out at the library and stock up on weekend reads, i.e. cookbooks.

The Cauliflower Gratin caught my eye and after following the instructions step by step, the dish looked exactly like the picture in the cookbook.

Or on Saturday when I was forced to change my Saturday afternoon plan for our teenage son.  It involved a 45 minute car ride to pick him up from his soccer match.  He inconvenienced me – again- because he forgot one of our family rules: communicate with your parents if you need their help!  But, this trip turned out to be a blessing. Forty-five minutes alone in the car with your son can be turned into bonding time if you ask the right questions and keep the radio on low.  In Holland our children were always on their bikes and went everywhere on their own (much shorter distances, bicycle paths and street lights everywhere). Here, they still need us to get from A to B.

If we always wait for somebody else to join us, or if we need constant reassurance from somebody else, or if we ask permission to does something then will never get things done!

We don’t need to wait till the 31th of December to reinvent ourselves or to change a habit or to start something new. Let’s do it right now. The right moment, the right time, the right circumstance doesn’t exist! The right time is now!

We all should do what we planned for today – even if it means we have to do it alone!

To me, this is what being Extra-Ordinary is all about!