Part Three: Hiking My Feelings in the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne - Yosemite National Park

PART 3 // Vacation, Dedication, Realization

After mistaking Hetch Hetchy for the Tuolumne River on our first break, we started what I consider the "real descent" into the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne. As we did, we were now out of the safety and shade of the forest and making our way down at least 34,883 granite steps (rough estimate), inching our way closer to the water.

I was hot. Sweaty. On the verge of whining. Suddenly, KBong starts a word rhyming game.

I love me a good distraction.

I've always been curious about the creative process of different artists, whether that's fellow authors, musicians, actors, etc. As I tried to find words that rhymed, I couldn't help but wonder, "will this inspire a song?"

See, the first time we hung out with KBong, before the Virtual Campfire started, we were all jamming by the fire at the Reggae Ranch (our home base when we aren't on tour or adventuring). He wrote one about the Ranch itself, and then he asked us what we were thinking about. Knowing we were about to launch our program, Blaze Your Own Trail to Self-Love, I eagerly contributed, "blazing trails!"

Before the end of the night, a song was coming to life. In it, we sang:

"I'm blazing trails, I'm hiking up a mountain.
I'm blazing trails, I'm swimming in the sea.
I'm blazing trails, and I'm hiking all my feelings."

It was a night I'll never forget.

Back on the trail, out of reliving that memory, I contributed:

Vacation: it's really hard to define what is vacation and what is work these days since hiking is both my job, the key component of my diabetes management plan, and something I plan to do for the rest of my life.

Dedication: for the past three years I've been dedicated to managing this disease - take a hike, diabetes!

Realization: with every step, I realized that none of this - these rhyming games, these hikes, this friendship, this community, the book, the 200+ events we've hosted so far - would not be possible if I wasn't diagnosed.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, diabetes is the best thing that ever happened to me.

But really, where's the river? Will we ever get to camp? Will there be bears?

Part four tomorrow!