Why?

 And that's why !

“I read about this waterfall on the stream that runs by the cabin. There is no path to it. We can drive to within a mile of the falls and then hike the rest of the way. It’s only a mile into the falls, you want to see if we can find it!” I asked knowing what the answer would be  “Sure!” she said without hesitation.

Fast forward 2 hours and we are deep into some of the toughest terrain we have ever hiked .  The ground was steep and rocky. There was no trail and I was trying to pick my way along the best I could.  We would go through areas so thick you just had to lean forward and push the small trees out of the way. Then we would be on a hillside so steep we could barely stand up. By all accounts it was miserable hiking. 

Now I am 6 foot 2 inches tall and Lisa is 5 foot 2 inches tall. I always have to remember her legs are about half as long as mine as we do any hiking. I had to make sure I was taking it slow so she could keep up.

Every so often I would say “You making it?”     All I would hear coming from a few feet behind was a labored voice saying “YUP” as cheerfully as she could muster. 

I knew this was hard on us both, we are not young anymore and even at 25 this would have been a challenge, but on we trudged. GPS in hand and end goal plotted.

I remember thinking to myself “boy this waterfall better be good” as we slowly worked up and down the side of the mountain trying to reach our destination.

When we finally got there my heart sank as I pushed through the thick alders and could see the falls.

 It was MUCH smaller than I thought.  CRAP! I thought!! 

 Lisa made it through the alders and looked at the falls.

 I waited for what seemed like minutes for the “REALLY!” this is what I killed myself to get to?? I have new bruises and scratches and I took a chunk out of my leg and I’m bleeding, FOR THIS ??? ” and she would have been right and justified for her frustration.

But although all of that was true, and she was bleeding. She looked at the falls and said, “Isn’t that pretty!”   

THAT is exactly why I love her so much!  She always sees the best in every situation. Instead of focusing on the nightmare we went through to get there ( and what we needed to go BACK through to get back to the truck) she saw the beauty of the moment and sat on the rocks to soak it in.

How I got so lucky I will never know!