In October of 2017, I had the opportunity to get away with my husband on a survivor/caregiver hike and camping adventure. All thanks to True North Treks, I was able to see and appreciate a beautiful part of nature with my husband and other cancer survivors and their caregivers. We traveled from Chicago (my home) to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan ( Escanaba, MI to be exact), We enjoyed the evening overlooking beautiful Lake Michigan and gathered for an amazing meal and getting to know each other. The next day we woke up to breakfast and yoga facing out towards the lake. We then packed up our hiking bags for our overnight camping on the shores of Lake Superior. We drove to the camp site and headed in for an amazing hike. After exploring we set up camp and enjoyed the natural environment of Lake Superior. It was such an amazing site to see. I had no idea that I would be experience how wonderful nature is. We enjoyed each other’s company on the beach and in the late evening experience an even bigger surprise in the sky. I’ve always seen photos and said that I’d love to travel north to see the Northern Lights and behold we were greeted with a beautiful night sky filled with stars and the Northern Lights. Luckily, Jeremy brought his high tech camera and captured this amazing sight! After we experience this beautiful sky, we all sat around a fake fire (we weren’t able to have a real fire at this camp site) and had time for meditation. As usual, I was distracted, but it was a time for me to focus on my breathing and focus on the moment and the meditation that was being presented. I had never meditated so it opened my eyes to possibly trying it when I got home. The following morning we went for a hike to do some yoga and captured some group photos before transitioning back to Escanaba for dinner.

Returning back to Chicago was tough. Even for only 2 nights away from city life, my eyes were open to what being in nature can really do for your body - mentally and physical and how it can heal in many ways. I had already begun to see what I felt like in nature when going for walks or experiencing trips after my cancer diagnosis. This adventure, woke me up to so much more and I would do my best to explore as much as possible whenever I could.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I had another amazing opportunity to travel with True North Treks on my own with 10 other cancer survivors. My adventure actually presented itself after a trip with my First Descents Tribe unfortunately had to be canceled. Every year since our First Descents white water kayaking trip in Hood River, Oregon an amazing woman (now friend), took lead on planning reunion trips for us to all get back together. The first to Maine, then to Montana and this year was planned for outside Denver. Due to work and life I was unable to join them in Maine and Montana which made me that much more excited about Denver because I would be able to join them for a few days. Plans were made, flights were booked, the AirBNB was confirmed and then the C word (Cancer) altered our plans! Jamie who was fighting metastatic brain cancer and Eidan who was fighting brain cancer both received news that no one was expecting. Their cancer treatments were no longer working and they were told there were no other options for them. This hit all of us really hard. A few ladies decided that Colorado wasn't going to be where they needed to be which was completely understandable. This left three of us to discuss going on the trip and as much as I wanted to see these ladies, I just couldn’t imagine being there without everyone who had confirmed going. Two weeks before my scheduled flight, I decided that I would not go on the trip and eventually it was just canceled. For many reasons, I had been counting down the days to this trip. I was so excited to have a break from everyday life and to enjoy a few days with some incredible human beings in a beautiful place in Colorado while exploring nature. We had planned to go hiking and white water rafting and it was an adventure I was looking forward to. Living in Chicago is amazing, but there really aren’t that many opportunities near by to have hiking or water adventures especially with people who get your every day life of survivorship. As I just stated, many people don’t understand the life of a cancer survivor - at diagnosis, during treatment and especially post treatment. My FD Trib totally got me. You’ll be able to read about my First Descents experience in another post. Anyways, before I canceled my flight, I had this idea to reach out to one of the founders of True North Treks (TNT) to see if one of their upcoming treks to Wind River Mountain Range had available spots or if he had any connections with any Denver based cancer retreats or organizations that I could checkout.

David Victorsen (one of TNT’s founders) sent me to Epic Adventures and also connected me with their program director who told me to just submit an application for the Wind River Mountain Range. Unfortunately the adventure Epic had going on at the time was full and so was the TNT trip. I was told that if the TNT trip had a cancelation that I was the first on the waiting list. TNT’s program director also shared, “ We also have 1 spot left on our Survivor week on the Green River, flyer attached for that as well.” I took a look at the Green River trip, but it was a week long. I didn’t know if I could do that long away from my family. With complete sadness, I decided to cancel my Denver flight. I still felt like I needed a few days away, but wasn’t really wanting to go alone. I called my sister and then started calling placed in nearby Wisconsin and Michigan. No one had anything open for the days I was looking. I decided that I guess I just needed to stay home and things would work the way they were supposed to. The Green River was still an option, but I still kept thinking of the length of time. I decided to just submit an application for this trip just to see. If it filled up by the time my application got to them then I would just have to find something else for me to explore. I received a response back right away asking for a form to be sent to my oncologist for clearance. I started to get really excited and wanted to make it work. I sent a note and called and got my ducks in a row. After a week, I received an email “ Good news! You are cleared! Please confirm you are taking the spot!!!” I couldn’t believe it. Now I had to tell my husband! He is always so supportive of me and gave me the green light to take this trip. I scheduled friends, family and a babysitter for the week I was away and it was then time to review the packing list for a week long trip camping and canoeing the Green River (in the middle of nowhere)! I believe this trip came to me at the right time and I was meant to be on this trip with the 10 cancer survivors and 3 staff that would be leading the trip.

On September 22, I woke bright and early to head to Denver for a layover before arriving in Grand Junction, Colorado. Unfortunately, due to mechanical issues with our plane there was talk of canceling our flight. I immediately went into traveler mode having had my flights canceled before. I called one of the trip’s staff members and got in line at United. While in line I overheard a group talking about driving - I jumped in and asked if they would want a 4th rider! They seemed receptive, but I was still hoping that I could get on another flight. There was nothing else that day. I couldn't believe that now there was a chance that I wouldn’t make it to Grand Junction to start my paddle on the river. While speaking with one of TNT’s staff members, she mentioned that I actually was in Denver with 3 others who would be heading to Grand Junction for our trek. I hung up from her to attempt to find the other travelers because there was a chance we could be driving together to Grand Junction. As soon as I did, this lovely young lady approached me and asked if I was going on a TNT trip. I responded with a “yes” and then a kind gentleman said that he was going on the trip as well. It was funny how we found each other so quickly. We continued to wait for an update when finally they decided to put us on another plane that would be arriving a few hours later. I had lunch and worked on a few things and then had a great time getting to know Anastasia (who I would find out later goes by Stasia) and Eric who are both from Chicago.

We finally made it to Grand Junction where we headed to the KOA (Kampgrounds of America) where we would set up camp for the first night since there was another cancer survivor that would be arriving later that night. All but one were at the campsite at this time, we dumped everything we brought and were instructed how to pack our wet bags that we would be living out of for the next 5 days. I followed the packing list that was sent out, but it was really tough to pack. I definitely brought a lot with me, but I’m used to packing this way for my vacations. After day one on the river, I would realize that I would most likely be rewearing a lot! After, packing our gear, we enjoyed a nice grilled cheese and tomato soup before gathering around a campfire with meditation.

The next morning we took a 2 hour ride from Grand Junction to Ruby Ranch (Ruby Ranch is private property and there is a fee). Here we learned about canoeing- the canoe, the paddle, paddling in the front and back and how we would load up all the gear we had for the week. We had lunch and then set out down the river. The first day we traveled around 10 miles until we hit our first campsite. It was absolutely breathtaking. We would be camping on the sand with beautiful red rock across the way. We had an amazing dinner and ended the night gathered around the fire with meditation as we would the following 3 nights. The next morning we headed down river. The red rock just kept getting bigger and the canyon more pronounced. We settled at our campsite later on where we would be looking at amazing red rock that we would eventually climb and have a morning of yoga. We had an amazing dinner (as always) and a deep meditation. One of the most amazing parts of this campsite was the night sky. The sky was filled with so many twinkling stars. It put my amazing experience in the water (on a boat) in Grand Cayman to the test! We would have the Milky Way right above us and straight ahead was the Big Dipper. It not only was an amazing site, but the few of us that were stargazing really had amazing conversations and started to build a beautiful bond with each other.

The next morning we would head out with a new paddle partner down the river where we would stop for lunch on a sandbar. A few of us decided we needed to do a little cleaning so we shampooed our hair with biodegradable all purpose soap! After rafting up our canoes and a few more miles we arrived to another amazing campsite. This campsite was right on the river, but a little further back in the red rock. Tents were set up, conversations took place with new people and we enjoyed an amazing dinner together. One thing about camping the way we did is that there is no bathroom or an outhouse. We would use the “outdoor loo.” This was very eye opening to me, but at least there was a lid for the bucket and there was toilet paper and wipes. Each campsite had its own unique private location for the loo. This site would have the most unique and hard to get to loo. I know it’s TMI, but I would have to use this since I wasn’t able to use any of the ones before!

A mile down from our camp, was Bowknot Bend where we would hike up to the top. This sector of the Green River canyon is known as Bowknot Bend because of the way the river doubles back on itself. This was quite an experience. The day before we had hiked to the top of the Red Rock at our campsite, but this was nothing like it. Both beautiful views and amazing experiences, but there was something about this spot that felt like I had challenged myself in a really good way and the nerves that I usually would have were not there. I kept looking up thinking there is no way we are climbing to the top, but we did it! Each and every one of us that took the challenge - scared of heights or full of nerves - made it to the top to see the amazing river running down and up all at the same time. I even challenged myself to stand on a rock and do a little yoga tree pose. After our hike down, we traveled down the river to our lunch spot. We did some bathing again and enjoyed the trip down until the wind gusts started blowing at us. This was the first time all week that I struggled and questioned my strength. I felt that I was working as hard as I could in the front of the boat trying to give us speed, but we were moving at a much slower rate than the rest of the group. It was a struggle, but we finally made it with some confidence to the final camp site. Every night we would talk about our “rose, thorn and bud.” I usually didn’t have a thorn, but this day I did. I wasn’t giving up on myself, I just felt like I didn’t understand the struggle to get the canoe down the river with the wind blowing at my face. I was certainly tested that day.

The evening approached, with new conversations taking place, an amazing Mediterranean pasta being served and later meditation around a campfire. I couldn’t believe it was the last night of camping. We would paddle the remainder of our journey to Mineral Bottom starting the day in silence. We awoke early this morning and in silence. It was amazing how hard it was, but it was a beautiful experience of silence and it was so peaceful.

On the bus to dinner after we all took showers and smell clean!!

I will forever remember this adventure, the miles of river we paddled, the red rock that we climbed, the tents we set up with our camp-mate at each new campsite, the meals we ate, the conversations we had, the moments of meditation we experienced and the new things I learned about myself. I am forever grateful to those who allowed for me to go on this trip - including the Cassie Hines Foundation and the survivor who chose to pay it forward.

I have chosen to pay it forward so that another cancer survivor can go on a TNT trip in the near future. If you are at all interested in supporting me, check out my fundraising page. https://www.classy.org/fundraiser/2335936 Otherwise, please spread the word about this amazing organization to anyone in your life who is a young adult cancer survivor. It’s an experience they shouldn’t miss.

On a True North Trek