True Nature
Wilderness Therapy
Riding the White Rim, and Why it Mattered
The US government shut down on the day we set out. As we sank deeper and deeper into the canyon, focussing on staying hydrated, pedalling through red sand, and taking in the sweeping desert views, some of that started to fall away. Regardless of political perspectives and values, we came together to cheer each other up each hard hill, and as we rode rise after rise, ravens circled against the towering red canyon walls.
We slept under the desert stars for three nights The 13 women on our trip ranged in age from twenties through to mid-sixties (and notably, we summited the hardest hills in reverse age order). I didn’t know any of these women before we launched from Mineral Bottom. I had never ridden my mountain bike for more than two days in a row. We slept under the desert stars for three nights, rose with the sun to the stirrings of our trail mates and the mouth-watering smell and wake-up call for, “coffee!” and laughed (and cried) together over alternatingly pale white and red mile of striped sandstone. By the first day, descending switchbacks together clad in tutus and giggling, I’d already started to trust this group of women, and by the end of the fourth day, cresting the lip of the gruelling Schaeffer switchbacks with my new friend Kelly riding at my side, I knew that I could count on these women.
Confident, accomplished, empowered and connected.
It hadn’t even been a week, yet it was long enough for everything to become clear again. I knew these women had my back. I crested the final hill confident, accomplished, empowered and connected.
I returned to cell service remembering that my phone was a distraction, more than anything. I knew that there’s a place beyond politics, and tribalism, and our to-do lists, where we can all come together.
The news would again hit again soon after our exit from the National Park, where out of pure love for the land, some staff had continued to steward the space but we had a new capacity to navigate now. We had each other. And we had received that ever generous, ever loving gift from the land and from time outdoors in community: clarity, kindness, connection.
The temporary mermaid tattoo has nearly faded from my left bicep, but the clarity and the memories haven’t.
I’ll carry it forward.
Love,
Heather
If you want to sample a taste of The Desert DOSE, organizer of my White Rim Women’s Bike Trip with Western Spirit Cycling Adventures, check out Shannon Casson’s joyful, connecting offerings here: https://www.thedesertdose.com/dose-adventures
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