Just Do It

Once again, the world has shown me that whatever it is you’re dreaming of doing, you really should just do it. You simply never know what’s around the corner at any given time. So go on that trip. Write that book. Learn that new skill. Take that jump off the cliff tied only to a bungee cord. Seriously, now is the perfect time!

You may recall that last month I finally went on a hike that I’d been wanting to go on for years. It wasn’t that difficult; I just always had an excuse not to go. When I finally got to do it, I found it to be truly an amazing experience, and I was so happy to be there.

Well, just last week I read in the papers that the Matanuska River nearby had eaten away a portion of the trail, making it completely impassible now. As in, whole chunks of the bank (and trail) fell off into the raging waters.

Not a huge surprise in retrospect, seeing as how the river has eaten whole houses and entire neighborhoods in the past. It changes its course with great regularity, so what was a “safe distance” yesterday might not be today! It’s very had to predict where the river will go from one year to the next.

What was a surprise was the borough’s decision to declare the trail as permanently closed. You can hike in from either direction, but you can no longer go through from one end to the other. They installed guard rails across the trail and issued warnings to all the hikers who regularly walk the trail, highly recommending they NOT go around the barriers. You can still go about a mile in from the Palmer side, and it’s still a beautiful little walk. You just have to turn around a lot sooner than most people typically did before the closure.

I just keep thinking to myself “I am so glad I finally did the whole thing before it closed down!!”

So, yeah… just go do it!