My husband and I checked a spot off our ‘bucket list’ this summer, a trip to the Canadian Rockies. It was a different type of vacation for us, five cities in 12 days not including a layover midway between Vancouver and Banff.
The beauty of this region is not only hard to describe, it defies description. Amazing and incredible were words that kept into our daily vocabulary, used more often than please and thank you.
We saw these majestic sights through the windows of a luxury train, a rental car and our worth-every-penny hotel windows. Taken away by the grandeur of all around us, I paused—what was it like before all of this? Russ seemed perplexed, so I continued: before the roads were paved, the trails marked and the lakes named. Man against nature, the first conflict, was what came to mind.
I am in awe of these first responders: trail blazers, battling parts unknown with just their wits, their skills and their desire to succeed. My hand would not have raised-up to join them in the journey so perhaps I romanticize who they were and why they were there.
I only know that I am glad that I, too, saw what they saw.
While there may be many adjectives to describe these mountaineers, there are none that truly do justice to what they saw. Or us.
Amazing and incredible will have to do.
