River of Golden Dreams

Risk averse are two words I readily use to describe myself, which is why the picture of me on a zipline is so meaningful.  I PAID someone to strap me into a harness, put a helmet on, and stepped off a platform to zip 200 feet from one tree top to another, while suspended over a cold rapidly running river really far below carving a path between the majestic mountains.  It was the most terrifying, empowering, and joyful moment in my life outside of the birth of my children and grandchildren.  I repeat, ME, one of the most logical, controlling people on earth, engaged in the most illogical thing a person could do in life, jump off a giant tree suspended hundreds of feet above the ground.  The experience filled me with tremendous joy and a sense of being truly alive at its conclusion. 

Once I released the fear of dying on the first zip line, I allowed myself to take in the breathtaking scenery of Whistler and Blackcomb mountains as I glided through the air.  I stilled myself each time I jumped from the platform, three times in all.  Setting the intention to be in the moment.  The look on my face is that of pure joy, enchantment, relief…

So, let me put my fear into context.  Ten years before, I had taken my children and mother to Whistler, British Columbia on vacation.  Our search for family friendly tours led us to the adventure center in the heart of Whistler Village.  You know the place where they stand in the square looking for people with tourist written on their forehead. Fishing for salmon was too expensive.  Mountain biking with my mother was out of the question.  Hiking with the hungry black bears was not very appealing so we settled on a serene “guided” canoe ride along the River of Golden Dreams.  How hard could it be to paddle a canoe down a river for thirty minutes?  I paid the very helpful lady and scheduled our tour for the afternoon. 

               After packing our gear, which included a picnic lunch sealed in waterproof containers and dressing for the chilly June weather (it snowed the day before), we drove to the lake to meet our guide.  My first clue that this was not going to end well was the gigantic lake before us.  It certainly was not a serene river.

“Pick your canoe and I will meet you down by the lake”, instructed our guide. 

“What do you mean pick a canoe, aren’t you riding in the canoe with us?” I asked.   You see, I had my eight-year old son, my sixty-year old mother, and thirteen-year old daughter in tow and none of us had ever canoed before!

He answered, “I can only fit two people in a canoe, maybe three because your son is small.”

“Well, you take my mom and son.  I think my daughter and I can do this with instruction.”

After a brief lesson in guiding the vessel, we set out to cross the GIGANTIC lake.  Did I say the lake was BIG?  The guide gracefully directed his canoe (filled with my son and mom) across the lake to the mouth of the tree-lined River of Golden Dreams (sounds nice, right!).  Dez and I struggled, from the moment we set out, to get in sync with one another.  For moms with teenage daughters you are not surprised, right!  We clumsily zig zagged our way across the really big lake, following the guide who was more than fifty-yards ahead of us (show off).  I was panicking but could not let my family know this felt wrong.  Just wrong and uncontrolled.

We finally approached the river and we were instructed to navigate around the Lilly pads which are protected in B.C.  Dez and I watched the guide and my mother glide elegantly thought the Lilly pads.  I was pretty confident we could do the same, NOT!  After twenty minutes of paddling across the lake, we still were out of sync with each stroke of the oar, hitting each and every Lilly pad at the entrance to the river.  The guide, shaking his head in disbelief waited ahead to give us further instructions for navigating the river.  After finally making it to the guide, we lifted our canoe out of the water on to the small land bridge and waited for instructions. 

“The two sets of rapid ahead are fairly easy to navigate.  The only time people have fallen into the water is when they are being intentional about tipping the canoe, usually teenage boys are the ones tipping over into the river”, announced the guide as he drew a diagram of the river on the ground with a stick. 

“So, what you are saying is that there are rapids”, I exclaimed.

“Yes, but they are pretty tame”, explained the guide.

Comforted by his confidence in us, we lowered our canoe into the frigid water and set out on the thirty-minute ride along the “serene” River of Golden Dreams.  Oh, one more thing.  The most important tip the guide provided, “if you are going to hit something lean into it”.  Simple enough, do what is counterintuitive in the moment and lean in to any obstruction you encounter, which by the way happened as soon as we rounded the first corner, approaching the first rapids, which we heard roaring before we saw them.  As we were tossed around in the rapids Dez and I lost total control of the canoe and were headed straight for a bush on the river bank.  Dez who was positioned in front of the canoe did what most logical human beings would do in that moment, she leaned away from the branch that was about to strike her head.  The next moments unfolded in slow motion.  The canoe tipped over, filled with water, our lunch floated down the river and Dez and I were standing in chest deep 55-degree water.  I instinctively lifted the canoe to empty the water out, grabbed the oars and ice chests that were floating by in the rapidly flowing water, guided Dez to the river bank and yelled out to the tour guide, “we are in!”

The guide jumped out of the canoe with my mother and son, instructed them to hold on to the tree branch to prevent them from floating down the rapid running water without him and came back to save us.  By the time he arrived, we were back in the canoe.  Soaked to the core in our blue jeans and wet outer wear. 

Unable to turn back we had to set our minds towards navigating the second rapids, which were larger than the first.  I looked Dez in the eyes, told her to trust me and encouraged her to lay down in the canoe while we allowed the water to take us down river.   Once we safely made it through the second rapids, which tossed us around violently again, we settled in to a rhythm and paddled in sync for the remainder of the three-hour tour.  Yes, three hours not thirty minutes in soaking wet jeans.  Needless to say, we did not stop to have lunch since it started raining two hours into our trip.  We simply wanted to get back into our car to find a warm place and dry clothes.

Once we left the river and entered the dark still lake at the end of the tour we paddled with intention to get to shore.  The women who sold us the tour was waiting at the shack on the bank of the lake where we returned our canoes.

“Oh my goodness you took a dump, eh” she exclaimed examining our wet clothes. 

“Yes, right at the beginning in the rapids”, I answered.

“What do you mean rapids, the water levels were supposed to be down today?  Do you recall going under a foot-bridge during your tour?” she inquired.

“Yes, as a matter-of-fact we did.  That is where we had to duck into the canoe so we did not bump our heads on the bridge”, I explained. 

“Oh no, you should have been able to stand up in the canoe while floating under the bridge.  As a matter of fact, there should have been several areas where you had to walk the canoe across land to water.  Sounds like water levels were extremely high due to snow melt from yesterday’s storm.  I would have never sent you on that tour if I knew the water was that high.” she explained.  

I hugged my family as we laughed and joked about the experience being one we would never forget.  I loved the three hours I spent with my daughter as we persevered and paddled to safety.  So much for the River of Golden Dreams.

So that brings be back to the zipline tour.  You see ten years later, my children and I returned to Whistler on vacation.  In search of fun, we visited the adventure center again.  The same woman who sold us the canoe tour sold us the zipline tour, hence my apprehension.  I approached the zipline experience with much trepidation so I was relieved to survive, hence that big smile.