Hiking the West Coast Trail: My Biggest Planning Mistake
Jul 16, 2024
Well, we did it; our family hiked the West Coast Trail which is said to be the most challenging backpacking trip in North America. Yay us! (It's amazing how a week of experiences, adventures, emotional ups and downs and such growth can be summarized into one little sentence - we did it.)
I must say that while we were getting ready, I had quite a few moments of fear and even some of abject terror. That’s because I made a significant mistake while planning (a few, actually).
You may have heard that what you focus on expands. Unfortunately, I fell into an old pattern of focusing on worst case scenarios.
Whenever I would mention to someone that we were going to do the West Coast Trail, inevitably, they would say something like, “Oh! When my cousin did that, he had to be evacuated when he broke his leg,” or “I had to walk out on a 3rd degree ankle sprain when I did that trip.”
My mind grabbed onto those stories, amplified them, and then substituted my kids to fill the roles of those strangers.
And it wasn't just what people said; I researched websites and books and while there was a lot of useful information, there were also a lot of scare tactics used to drive home the point that the trip is no walk in the park.
Even the night before we got on the trail, we had to watch an orientation video from Parks Canada that went through all the dangers. (Including but not limited to bears, cougars, wolves, rusty nails sticking out of boardwalks, ladders missing rungs, surge channels and more roots than you could ever imagine.)
I had to use every tool in my self-care toolbox as part of the planning and preparation. While I did pretty well, there were a couple of strategies I left out that would have made a big difference.
First, let's take a peek at what worked so that you can use these strategies too, whether for an adventure or just in everyday life.
What worked:
Whenever the fear and terror showed up, I observed them as soon as I could rather than diving into the worst case scenarios my mind wanted to play and replay. Then I loved the fear and terror because I knew they were parts of me that were just wanting some attention and love.
I also hired a lot of heavenly helpers to assist in the aspects that were out of my control. As I’ll share another time, they over-delivered in every possible way so that was effective.
I also set intentions for the trip for the best outcome and asked like-minded people to hold those intentions for me. I felt very supported.
What I could have done differently:
I kept all the fears to myself. I tried to solo it and when it comes to fear, that doesn’t tend to work so well. Finally, as our family rode the shuttle to the first part of the trail, my husband and I shared our fears with each other (at his urging - he could tell I was holding a whole lot of something inside).
Tears were shed, I got vulnerable and the fears lost their edge as I spoke them out. In retrospect, I would have benefitted from doing that much sooner. (After all, we booked the trip 6 months prior - that was a lot of time for pressure cooker to escalate.)
What else I could have done differently:
About 6 hours into our first day of hiking, we emerged from the old growth cedar rain forest we’d been climbing and winding through onto a long wide beach on the Pacific Ocean. It was gorgeous. Sunny, clear blue sky, waves cresting, and so much openness.
For the first time, it occurred to me that the journey wasn’t all going to be epically challenging. I realized that there would be wonderful fun parts too.
I’d been so busy what-if-ing on the problematic side that I’d forgotten to what-if on the glorious side. In that moment, as we hiked down the beach, I melted into the knowledge that the trip was going to be magical.
Had I remembered to do the positive what-if-ing sooner, I could have saved myself a lot of suffering.
A different perspective:
In other arenas of life, I tend to be really good at ignoring doom and gloom mentalities, but I guess there was a growth edge surrounding this trip. I let myself get sucked into the fears of others rather than staying in my own energy.
It was such a valuable lesson and the trip had barely started! I had to laugh at myself when I finally opted to relax and enjoy.
There were a myriad of other learnings on the trail so I’ll share those stories over the next few weeks, along with some more spectacular photos.
May you have a week filled with growing self-awareness and valuable lessons.
With great love and magical courage,
Christina
>Creator of Courageous Self-Care
>so grateful to be on the other side of the adventure
>feeling super connected as a family after 2 weeks of camping in a 4-man tent (and now ready for our own space!)
This month’s 9D Breathwork sessions are right around the corner, with both virtual and live options.
If you feel like the garden of your subconscious mind could use some weeding and pruning, join us for the virtual session, either on Sunday July 21st or Monday the 29th.
This journey will be less intense and is a great session if it’s your first time doing a breathwork journey or if you’re just wanting something a bit more mellow for the summer.
You’ll be guided to release old limiting beliefs and plant new seeds in your subconscious mind.
New this month: a replay will be available for 48 hours following the event in case you can't attend live
Click here for details and registration (scroll down about 2/3 of the page for this month's virtual event options)
Craving a live experience?
On Aug 3, gather with other like-minded people who are taking charge of their lives and dive into a powerful and empowering breathwork journey that will leave you feeling spacious, liberated, and open to new possiblities.
Click here for details and registration
Lord Huron is an artist who evokes big feelings through winding melodies and profound lyrics. This week’s song is called Ends of the Earth.
In keeping with the theme of the West Coast Trail, here’s a song we listened to in the car after the adventure. The trail is so remote (not even cell phone service!) that it did feel like the ends of the earth at times.
This tune captures some of that wonderful feeling of disconnecting from regular life and reconnecting with the vastness of nature.
