Adventures in Waterton
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
”That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”
”I don’t much care where –”
”Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”
B and I decided to head to Waterton on a Wednesday this summer - and boy - what a good decision that was!
Let me just start and say - when a sign points two ways to get to the same place - but only when one choice is correct to get to the spot you are headed - both choices will end up being correct. B and I started up a path we thought would take us to our end goal (Bertha Falls) - when in actuality it took us halfway up a mountain, through a young forest with burnt sentinels standing guard, to a rocky outcrop and no falls in view.
That forest. Was something. Such a compelling contrast between death and rebirth. Remains of the old forest stand tall - burnt, warped…dead - but defiant to the end. The new growth reaches up - yearning to touch the sky, as the old wardens do.
Eventually we made it to the falls. After retracing our steps, stomping through heat drenched paths - the sun glaring down upon our backs, dodged by horse flies. Both of us growing surly, hot, drenched in sweat… and hungry….dreaming of ice cream. I would not be remis if I said there was a lull in the conversation as we gritted our teeth, hefted our cameras and fought the hike - daring the heat and sweat to get the better of us.
I am proud to say that we made it.
And that ice cream,
That ice cream was the best I have ever had.
Thanks B for the adventure - the laughs, the conversation - but mostly for bearing down on that dang path and fighting alongside with me to sit in the amazingly cool pool at the base of the falls.
I cannot wait for the next adventure!
