Reflections of Adventure

I grew up in a pretty outdoorsy family and have been blessed with some fun experiences when I was younger. However, they have been extremely hard on me and for the longest time, I thought I was just a wimp or out of shape. I always came in last in school sports, skiing was miserable, and I just never had that much energy. I started experiencing weird movements around puberty and by the time I was 15, things had started to go downhill. I was seeing neurologists and trying to rule out heavy metal poisoning, lyme disease, mental illnesses, etc. I had involuntary muscle movements that caused me to throw things, hit things, and hit myself. I was told I shouldn’t ski in case I twitched off the chairlift, shouldn’t drive in case I twitched the wheel and crashed, I shouldn’t cook with hot water or oil or curl my hair in fear of burning myself, and the list goes on. I was basically told to not have a life. I was finally diagnosed at 18 with Myoclonus Dystonia, a rare and chronic neurological movement disorder with no cure. By the time of my diagnosis, I had significantly reduced my time hiking, camping, climbing, shooting, boating and more due to pain and fatigue. I focused on hiding my condition to the best of my ability and climbing the corporate ladder. I excelled at my job, but my only vacations were day trips to walk nature trails, hang at the lake or pool, or using my PTO for sick days due to my condition. My condition continued to deteriorate and at age 29, I couldn’t navigate stairs, my vertigo was so extreme that I couldn’t be on escalators or hike, I tremored so bad I couldn’t type or text and the pain was taking a toll on me.

Right after I turned 30, I met a new neurologist who fast-tracked me to brain surgery to get a Deep Brain Stimulator. I had surgery 3 months later and my life drastically changed. I started walking faster than I ever have, I was obsessed with moving now that I could unhindered! The pain almost vanished along with the tremors, cramping and twitching. I got my dream job offer less than a year out from surgery and I was still recovering. I decided to decline the offer and figure out what I wanted to do with this amazing gift of a more able body. I co-authored a book with my mom about our journey with Myoclonus Dystonia, am in the process of starting my own business to help others, and am using this break to get back into the outdoors. Cue OutdoorMindset. I originally joined with my mom in 2018 after I had a grand mal seizure and a stroke and we did a few hikes in Boulder, CO but it was quite the drive for us and after I recovered from that, I landed an awesome job in Atlanta, GA. I rejoined after moving to Montrose, CO where Lisa told me about a gal in Ridgway that was a part of OM. After meeting her and adoring her perseverance and delightful attitude, I dug into OM some more and found the OM Scholarship. I knew I had to apply. I let go of most of my outdoor gear over a decade ago and without an income currently, I couldn’t justify trying anything.

While I have hiked, and camped as a kid and I have been hiking several times a week now that I can; I have never backpacked nor have I ever hiked in Utah. I applied for the OM Scholarship to try backpacking in Utah! The first location fell through due to the massive amount of rain we’ve had this year, the second location fell through due to road conditions and weather, but I was not deterred! I ended up backpacking in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. I asked the person who introduced me to Outdoor Mindset (my mom and my advocate) and my sister who has a rare disorder and is my best friend to join me on this adventure.

With a new bionic brain, a much more functional body, and my best friends by my side, I set off for the overall 748-mile adventure. The scenery got more and more spectacular as we got closer to Escalante and we kept getting more and more excited. We passed through Capitol Reef, Dixie National Forest and finally Escalante. We stopped at the Escalante Interagency Visitor Center to get our permit and our bearings. It was a little over an hour on 33 miles of washboard to the Hurricane Wash trailhead but we made it a few hours earlier than we had anticipated and decided to start the hike to shave off a few miles. My mom’s backpack was the wrong one for this adventure so we ended up setting up camp 2.25 miles in from the trail in a beautiful hole in the rock up on a hill with stunning views.

We got up early and decided to day hike as far as we could. We were camped without running water so if we didn’t find more by the time we had gone through half of our supply, we would have to turn back. Luckily, about another 1.3 miles in, we started to hit water. We filled up our containers with our filters and were eager to push on. When we hit the Coyote Creek Convergence a couple of miles later, we felt invincible! There was less deep sand, more shade and much more water so we changed into our water shoes and hiked in the creek for several more miles. While our packs felt lighter, and our spirits were high, I knew realistically we would have to turn back to camp at some point and the further we hiked in, meant the further we’d have to hike out. We couldn’t find the exact mileage to the Jacob Hamblin Arch so we had no idea if it was 1 mile or 10 miles. At mile 6 from camp, I decided we should turn back. I just wanted to go around one more bend. Then my sister wanted to video the next bend real quick. And there it was... at 6.15 miles from camp, THE JACOB HAMBLIN ARCH!!! ALL TO OURSELVES! We had made it and it was so grand, so spectacular and so overwhelming. We spent an hour playing in the water, eating some lunch and of course taking ALL the photos.

The overall hike was almost 18 miles, two nights camping under the beautiful Utah sky, and hundreds of miles in the Jeep. This trip meant so much to me. First off, finally being able to enjoy hiking without severe pain or fatigue meant I felt confident in trying to push my own boundaries. The trail also was not well marked so not only did I gain a TON of confidence in my physical abilities, but I also gained so much confidence in my navigation skills. The second thing that this trip gave me was realizing the overwhelming sense of community I have found, both inOutdoor Mindset and in the community of Montrose, CO. I had a couple of friends lend me their gear without hesitation and many friends were genuinely eager to hear how it went. This trip has opened my mind to the countless opportunities I now have after DBS. My heart is full of so much gratitude, a huge thank you to OutdoorMindset, my family and my friends who made this trip more amazing than I could have ever imagined.