Fairy Falls 15x30

I can look at this image and the memory of setting a goal and keeping it. Deanna and Iris are beasts when it comes to hiking. Keeping up with them is like trying to find a way to travel through space at the speed of light - it ain't happening.

But when I lost all that weight in 2022, it wasn't just about my health (at the time, the doctor said I was borderline diabetic). It wasn't just after I saw the behind the scenes pictures of me in Iowa and how my gut was poking out in every single image.

It was so I could keep up with those two powerhouses.

So when I see this image, it reminds me of how I was able to keep up with Deanna and Iris nearly that whole week. The three of us ended up being the first to this location that morning and got prime views. I remember how we kept going a few minutes later to the mud pots beyond this trail. I remember bottling and tasting this water and looking through the plastic for any signs of floaters.

The most interesting thing? This image was made a year later, but even going to that spot was a reminder of the hard work, hearing the sound of falling water, feeling the spray of mist...I'm back there, two miles into the trail.

This trip I was the first of the party to make it to the waterfall.