The gift of guiding a blind woman through the Grand Canyon twice

“We know what we are, but know not what we may be."

?– William Shakespeare

I’ve been honored and blessed to guide a blind woman through the Grand Canyon twice.?

The first time was on one of my retreats.

I’ll share more about that at a later date.

How my co-lead questioned my choice, and how it terminated our relationship.

How I didn’t tell the other participants that Shawn is blind .. because it’s not my story to tell.

How it was the biggest gift and learning experience for everyone there because we all saw the canyon through her lens.

What is life when we close our eyes? How can we feel our way through without seeing exactly what is in front of us?

Isn’t that the point of having trust and faith?

The second time, we broke the world record.

On October 8th, 2018, Shawn Cheshire, U.S. Paralympian, and adventurer, became the first blind woman to complete a double crossing of the Grand Canyon. This is known as the “rim to rim to rim.”

She also set the world record as the fastest known time for any blind person: 42 miles in 24 hours and 15 minutes.

Jesse Crandall, Scott Drum, and I were her guides on this extreme adventure. I could not be more proud of our team’s accomplishments.

It was damn hard.

We hiked through two nights of darkness, one sunrise, and a sunset. The canyon graced us with rain, very light snow, sleet, sun, clouds, intense fog, and a rainbow.

People ask me how many times I’ve hiked the canyon, and honestly, I have lost track .. But this was my first time hiking rim to rim to rim in one continuous day.

I was stretched thin between miles 38-40. I was spent .. mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

But giving up was never an option.

Below is a short excerpt from my journal:

“Like an out-of-body experience, my mind emptied as I trudged through the pain during those two hard miles, fully focused. Our legs were moving so fast. Yet I felt as though we weren’t moving at all. Listening to Shawn’s playlist blare from her BOSE speaker was a welcomed gift. I normally hate music in the canyon. All of the extrinsic noise drowning out nature sounds and silence. But this time, the music forced me into a much-needed rhythm.

It was so cold. My clothes were drenched in sweat and I was tired. I was so tired! My headlamp pierced the darkness as I watched Jesse and Shawn take every step ahead of me. Even in eerily still darkness with thousand-foot drops, I felt no fear. No anxiety or doubt. Listening to Jesse provide verbal direction to Shawn, there was only humble gratitude for being on this trail with amazing human beings in pursuit of what had never been done before. Tears welled up in my eyes. I wanted to cry, but nothing would come out. I couldn’t afford the energy.?

Stopping for a hot second to catch our breath, refuel, and change, the cold pierced my skin as I tore off all layers and threw on dry clothes. We couldn’t stop for long, as the threat of hypothermia would set in. So onward we went. Three headlamps, three lanterns hung to our packs, a blaring speaker, and darkness everywhere. 7.442 billion people in this world, and we were the chosen few on this trail at this moment. Making history – in hopes of inspiring others.”

We crossed paths with a woman on the trail that day. Explaining what we were setting out to do, she looked on in amazement and shared a quote from William Shakespeare in Hamlet:

“We know what we are, but know not what we may be.”?

I thought about this quote on the trail, over and over again.

We are human. As the future unfolds for each one of us, and tragic events happen in our lives, we don’t know what we’re capable of.

That is... until we are fully present.

When we step into life with courage, we give ourselves permission to feel, love, and embrace our experiences. We become awake to what is possible.

It is here that we find what we may be.?

Stay tuned for incredible life-changing 2023 retreats:

? Canoeing the Green River in Utah (Co-Ed)

? Adventuring the Grand Canyon (Co-Ed)

? Kayaking beside glaciers in Alaska (Co-Ed)

? A retreat center in the San Juan Mountains, CO (Women only)

Looking for an inspiring and motivating speaker on resilience? Message me and let’s create!

Ring my bell in my LinkedIn profile for daily motivation and learning.

Grab my book, Walk Through This: Harness the Healing Power of Nature and Travel the Road to Forgiveness. ??????????’s on Amazon!

Hit reply and give me your thoughts on this week's newsletter.?

And please, forward this to anyone who you think could use it.

I believe in you / us.

And I always will.

xo

Sara