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Facing Your Fears…
- Ruthie Lanigan
- Nov 24, 2019
- 4 min read
What a day. Jim asked if I wanted to throw our “work” plans away for the day and head out to Fall Creek Falls to do some hiking and see some beautiful falls. I hesitated for about…. well probably a second and said “Let’s Do It”.
Jim always has such great ideas. We were on the road by 8:45. We packed food and liquids to make sure we didn’t run out of energy or water! We took a variety of clothes to make sure we were prepared for any type of weather we may encounter. We said goodbye to the cats and we were off!
We knew it would take a little over an hour and a half to get there but we were hopeful that we were leaving early enough so it would not be too crowded. Our timing was great. We arrived early enough to to beat the early afternoon crowd. The sun was out and the air was crisp. Perfect day for a hike. We parked the car at the first waterfall we were going to hike to and took off. It was a short hike. All downhill and rocky. Piney Creek Falls.
My first view of the fall was amazing. I was immediately impressed!
We hiked around a got many different views of the water. Then we found the sign that said “Suspension Bridge”. Well of course Jim wanted to go see it. So we hiked down to the bridge. He looked at me and I just said “No. It will make me sick”. He understood and told me to wait for him Again, I said “No. That will make me sick watching you”. He patiently smiled and told me to walk back a way so I couldn’t see him… but he was going to do it. Well of course I couldn’t turn away so I watched him. It wasn’t too bad. I really wanted to try it but I was petrified. I decided to try. This was a huge fear for me but I wanted to feel like I had accomplished something. I stepped out little by little. I held on to the cables on each side the entire time. Well, I did let go a couple times to take a photo.
Jim coming back across.
One of my photos from about 5 feet onto the bridge.
I only made it out about a quarter of the way but I just couldn’t get myself to go any further. I turned around and almost ran back to safety. Then I watched Jim walk back across. Whew. We were both safe. Whew!
Next we went to Fall Creek Falls. Stunning, amazing, beautiful, powerful…. Oh my gosh I was in awe. We parked the car and walked to the edge to see the Falls. The were so magnificent. There were still very few people there so we were able to walk around and get a lot of photos. After we were done taking photos, Jim wanted us to hike to the bottom of the Falls so we could see the view from the bottom. It was almost a half mile down and the path was basically a bunch of boulders. We took our time and made it though. The view from the bottom was almost as good as from the top. Well actually it was. It was just different. Just amazing.
Last stop was Cane Creek Cascades and Cane Creek Falls. Things were getting more crowded but still not bad. We viewed the Falls and cascaded from the top. We were lucky enough to see a double rainbow. That’s got to mean good things, right? Then we decided to go down next to the Falls and the cascades. We climbed down some pretty rocky terrain to get right next to the cascades. The sound of the water was so amazing. You could hear and feel the powerful force of it. Very humbling. We walked all around and got lots of great photos. Such beauty. We made the hike back up toward the top but the day was not over.
We had one final trek. There just happened to be another suspension bridge over the cascades. I knew Jim would want to cross it. I wanted to cross also. I was just too afraid. I had seen a family walk over it while we were down at the bottom. A thousand thoughts went through my mind. Can I do it? Will Jim understand if I don’t make it all the way? Will the gosh darn thing break while I am in the middle of it!!!!??? So many questions. I had walked up to the bridge already. I turned around and looked at Jim, who was behind me. Neither of us said a word. But he smiled at me. That loving, supportive smile that let me know whatever I chose to do would be fine with him.
Well I went for it. I looked straight ahead and faced my fear. Jim took a video of the entire thing. In the middle of the bridge I stopped and looked back at him and said, “If I go all the way across I will have to go back” (one of my more intelligent comments) Knowing he was behind me was comforting but I was still scared. But I did it! 56 frickin’ years old and I crossed over a suspension bridge. TWICE!
Face your fears everyone! It’s an amazing feeling!
Peace and love to all!
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