This morning I went for a hike with a friend and came upon this view looking out over the Bridger Mountains near my home.
Looking at a peak that I climbed a couple weeks ago in the distance, I forget the pain, the struggle, the mental toughness that’s involved in getting to the top. I have to constantly fight my negative brain – tell it it to shut up. The side that says I can’t do it. I have to push mentally and physically the whole time, but yet be forgiving through the struggle. Find the balance. Climbing a peak takes everything I have. But when I look back after some rest, the feeling of empowerment and awe come rolling in and bring a smile to my face. It was worth it.
During these climbs or trail hikes with my girlfriends, we seem to work through our life issues. Through the pain of the climb we cry out our woes and then suddenly they are left with the wildflowers, and plants alongside the trail. As we climb, the tears of irritation, turn into tears of joy. The feeling of accomplishment rings in.
I realized on today’s climb, that the weigh of the world is pushing heavy on me. I haven’t told many people, but I am training to climb the Grand Teton in a few weeks. I have been climbing big, steep mountains the last couple months to get my body ready for the two day sufferfest that will ensue on August 9th and 10th. My dad recently asked me why I was doing it, and I didn’t have a good answer. I said, “I don’t know, because it sounded and looked cool, besides my good friend will be my guide.”
This mountain will be a challenge for me. It’s has technical rock climbing with high exposure. I realized the unknown of this challenge was weighing down on me, and talking about it has finally lifted the underlying stress I was carrying. Not to mention Covid burnout, and other nonsense in personal relationships.
Climbing mountains has the power to ground me, along with spending time in nature. Join me soon for some forest bathing and guided hikes coming up soon. Until then, stay safe my friends.
Much love, Diana
Up coming programs:
Medicinal Plant Walk
Stephanie from Bitterroot Botanicals is partnering with YARx and in this class, you’ll learn about the countless local medicinal and fungal plants that you can use for food, many of them can be found in your backyard and are considered weeds. We will walk in the local forest near Bozeman and identify and talk about the culinary and medicinal uses of those plants. This time of the season should provide some tasty mushrooms to identify as well. The walk is around 2 hours, very slow with lots of stops to talk about the plants. We’ll also talk about native plants, their uses and which ones you could plant at home, as well how to ethically collect plants in the wild.
Medicinal Plant Walk – in Bozeman, Montana – July 22
Guided Hike and Bike to Rock Lake – July 25th – 7am
We will mountain bike in a few miles, drop bikes then hike up as far as the group allows. It’s 16 miles round trip from the trailhead. The biking will take us through private and forest last along the flats and we’ll drop bikes around 3-4 miles in. It’s a big day, with around 2500 of vert to get to the lake.
Women Owned Business Hike with Prospera – July 30th, 9:00am -10:30
FREE – RSVP Here
If you want an excuse to forest bath in Red Lodge then sign up for this event that will be hosted August 1st. Sign Up Here
About Diana – Owner of Your Adventure Rx
If you thought you couldn’t do it, think again. If you hang out with us for too long you’ll start believing in yourself and leave knowing you can accomplish anything. Diana is an Adventurer, Certified Therapeutic Recreational Specialist (CTRS), worked as professional outdoor recreation educator for people with and without disabilities for the last 20 years, traveled to over 20 countries and is also certified in Wilderness First Aid. She climbed many mountain peaks, biked numerous trails and paddled all around the world.
