Day 1: The Plan.
“Let’s hike Buckskin Gulch. It says we have to hike through 10 pools of standing water but we should be okay.”
Day 2: The Hike.
“And back! That was 20 pools. Plus, the guidebook neglected to mention the water was barely above freezing.”
Day 3: The Sign.
Buckskin: Up to neck-deep pools
The Lesson
Sometimes it’s better not to know.
Had the order begun Day 1: The Sign, it is entirely possible day two might have read, Day 2: New Plan. Something safer.
But . . .
We would have missed finding petroglyphs etched on the canyon walls.
We would have missed the experience of freezing feet and toes. And surviving it.
We would have missed encouraging each other with words and looks that conveyed you can do it; and I got you; and just breathe, it’ll be fine.
We would have missed the telltale chatter of our teeth while in the pools and the exuberant chatter of our words on our hike back.
To be sure, do your homework, ask an expert, survey your surroundings.
Take a moment and stand at the edge of the pool rather than to charge right in.
Then go.
If we do not try something because we might get in up to our necks, it is likely we will leave a great many great things untried.
