I love running the river trail, but it does have some pretty good sized hills. I recently saw another saying on my favorite running site that said: "Earn your downhills." I love that, because hills are a necessary evil when doing long runs but, thanfully, what goes up, must come down!
Today, the kids and I decided to go on a hike. We woke up early, put the dog in her traveling crate, stopped for bagels and were OFF on an excellent adventure! We headed up to Mt. Bachelor (the ski resort 18 miles from our house). In years past, we have ridden the chair lift up to the mid-mountain lodge and hiked around in the snow, letting the dog run up and down snowy hills. So fun to see and feel the cold snow in August!!
This year, we decided to do some budget cutting! Instead of paying the $32 it would cost for me and my son to ride up on the chair...(daughter and dog are free because the first has a season ski pass and the second, well, is a dog!) we decided to hike up rather than ride up. And, the hidden bonus? The ride down is always FREE!
What a great experience it turned out to be! At first, the mountain was a bit intimidating...as we set out on the gravel road. We found a little dirt trail and did some switchbacks until we found ourselves directly under the chair lift going straight uphill. We slowly proceeded up the non-existent trail some 2 miles and rose about 1,400 feet in elevation. The ground was soft and crumbly, rocks that looked sturdy were not. Let's just say it was a lot more technical than it looked from below in the parking lot!
At a certain point, I realized that it would actually be harder to hike back down (given the loose rocks) than it would be to keep climbing to the top. That is when a little bit of anxiety mixed with equal parts dread and fear, started to creep into my psyche. My daughter, however was doing just fine. She is usually full of complaints and whiney retorts but, surprisingly, she was being a total sport! It was ME who had to be convinced to keep going this time.
Kids and dog take a little rest break...
As we walked, we talked about all sorts of stuff...her upcoming school year - making the leap from elementary to middle school, whether or not she wanted to go out for cross country, make-up brands and you tube videos that she likes...and a couple times, she would say, "Are you wishing we had taken the chair up?" Both times, I replied back, "No, because this way we earn our ride down the mountain and that makes it all the more rewarding!" I said things like: "If it were easy, everyone would be doing this" and "nothing great was ever achieved without a little hard work and sweat." Perfect teaching moments. We would see people above us, riding aimlessly and carefree on the chair and I'd say, "See, they have no idea how much work it takes to hike this thing and they are missing out." We on the other hand, were earning our free downhill ride.
Once we reached the top, we couldn't help but feel a little proud. When we looked down below us to the many lakes, buttes and mountain tops, we couldn't help but feel like we had accomplished something big. I told my daughter, "See if you can do this, you can definitely run a 5k!" I think that this small hike boosted her confidence level in ways neither one of us would have ever imagined.
Maggie enjoying the free ride down!
Life is a series of ups and downs. But, it is when you go through the hard stuff on the way up and "earn the downhills" that you truly realize your full potential.
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