I want to share with you my journey to exploring the Canadian Rockies that I recently did for Saint Catherine’s Hospice in Scarborough, and to do this I need to start right back at the beginning of this nearly four-year journey to get to Canada! I will share what my goals were and what I thought the journey was about, and I hope that after sharing my journey you also agree that the destination is not always the most important. It’s in those small, sometimes miniscule steps taken, where there is the most significance of all, and the most beautiful treasures.
A little back story about me. My name is Emma and I am a mum to four children: 2 girls and 2 boys. I am truly blessed with my role as a mother and now I am even more so becoming a ‘mimi’ (my version of grandma, inspired by American terms) to 3 beautiful grandchildren. I have just finished my undergraduate degree in Counselling, Coaching and Mentoring and am about to embark on a new career and further study. The Canadian Rockies trek was not only to raise awareness and source much needed funds for an amazing charity, but also a personal goal, some of the reasons which I will explore in this blog.
My journey to the Rockies started in September 2018 when I saw an advertisement when undertaking a sponsored sunrise walk for Saint Catherine’s Hospice. This trek offered a chance to raise funds for an amazing charity that is very close to my heart, for the simple reason that they helped me care for my mum when she was dying in 2017. They not only offered support for my mum in physical palliative care through their ‘hospice at home’ team but also offering emotional support too, inclusive of wrap around care for the rest of our family beyond mum’s death, with the opportunity for each of us to access free bereavement counselling. So, upon seeing this opportunity I just knew it was something I wanted to do for a variety of reasons; honouring my mum and the life she lived, raising much needed funds for the hospice, and personally to get off grid and have the much-needed opportunity to reflect and process the loss of my mum.
I signed up, paid the deposit for my place, and began to make plans of how I could raise the money. At the time I was a newly single parent and did not have spare amounts of money to self-fund this trip. I contemplated lots about my mum and about the things she lived for and loved. I came up with the idea with my dad to design T-shirts I would walk in, and began asking local businesses to sponsor me. This plan went well until 2020 when the pandemic hit and all businesses had to tighten their belts, some people lost their businesses and were unable to sponsor but the majority managed to. As you can imagine, the process of fundraising for the trek became challenging and I had to have faith when the trek itself got postponed until September 2021, then furthermore to July 2022.
Thursday 7th July was the day I, alongside 24 others, began what I thought was the beginning of our journey to travel to Canada to take on the challenge of the Canadian Rockies, little did I know at this point the journey had already begun nearly four years pervious! These years leading up to the trek, which I will call an adventure through the wilderness, offered me opportunities for self-growth, but little did I know my journey of training for the ‘Rockies’ began right here at the beginning.
Determination and resilience were developed and further cultivated through different scenarios as I dug deep managing home life, my degree, home learning through the pandemic, a lengthy divorce, and hamstring injuries and illnesses that hindered my ability to train. I find it interesting how the training I thought I needed was physical but the most valuable training whilst fundraising was about overcoming internal battles. This was invaluable on my trek.
We walked around 60k, mostly constantly climbing, for about 2-7 hours each day. Adjusting to the time zones, pitching tents up, and camping were challenging as I’m not a camping person by nature although I love being in the outdoors and walking. In strong contrast to the labours of the challenges, was the stunning scenery. My eyes were in awe of the greatness and beauty of the mountains and the higher I climbed; the view became more beautiful. I am a person of faith and I truly found I felt closer to God during this journey through the quiet stillness and beauty that surrounded me. At times I felt a whisper to not forget to look back to see how far I had come! In those moments I stood still taking it all in and looked back and the view was just beyond belief! I was reminded just how easily we forget to look back and take in just how far we’ve come. The trek gave me amazing memories that will last a lifetime, being able to explore beautiful sights such as the Valley of the Ten Peaks, Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, Mirror Lake, and many other awesome places. The highest altitude we trekked at was around 2400ft.
I had wonderful opportunities to walk with others and hear their stories about the lives of their loved ones which I felt privileged to be sharing in that space of vulnerability. The trek held a stark contrast for me in that whilst the views were delightful, they provoked many emotions within and created space for deep reflection. One of the days was deeply impactful and I came down the mountain carrying less emotionally than I had carried up there. I had opportunities to reflect and spend precious time thinking of my mum, her life, and the deep sense of loss. I believe I have learned to walk with a limp from the loss of my mum, and all that this brings. The trek was therapeutic and gave me space to walk through some of the loss, pain and trauma my body has held onto from being my mum’s carer whilst she was dying.
Reflecting upon this experience I am grateful for the challenges, opportunities, space, beauty, friendships, togetherness, and the solitude which was the most needed and yet the most difficult to embrace. I found a deep sense of peace being away and it felt like a digital detox and a beautiful pause from the demands of life. There are so many contrasting paradoxical moments that I am still reflecting on that I gained from my time in the mountains such as embracing silence and stillness and yet desiring to get onto the next part. Understanding that the journey didn’t begin when I travelled to London in July 2022 but began on the very first day I signed up to go! The journey on reflection is astounding, and the rollercoaster it has been when focusing on getting there, caused me to lose sight of the many tiny steps it took from September 2018 to trekking in 2022. Each one of those precious steps; 1,376 days of experiences, beautiful moments, tough moments, despairing moments, challenging moments, tearful moments, prayerful moments, were all equally as wonderful as my arrival in Canada. I learned on my return to the UK of the importance of embracing the whole journey; all of it, every tiny part inclusive of the valley moments and the mountain-top experiences.
Everyone is climbing mountains every day, this trek helped gift me with a great lesson of learning to be more present in every moment, celebrating those small steps of my journey and the small wins along the way. Before you know it, you’ve reached the destination and are standing in awe at the view, feeling the weight you have carried and the miles you have walked with your feet aching but your heart so full.
Every climb to higher places was definitely worth the pain it took to get there. It took 24 of us to remain focused and determined, we walked for those we love supporting a wonderful charity and we have successfully raised over £35,000 for Saint Catherine’s Hospice. It is astounding what can be done when a community of individuals comes together for the same goal.
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Author: Emma
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Emma’s Just Giving page has now closed but you can support Saint Catherine’s Hospice here, and if Emma’s trek inspired you they are organising another fundraising trek in the Albanian Alps in September 2023!
