Stuðlagil Canyon: 2 of 60

I saw the guy on the large column in the center of the river and thought to myself, he’s crazy. How did he get there? How can that possibly be safe? At the same time, I wanted to be on the other side of the river from where I was currently. The east side was the tourist side. The west side looked like the adventurer side. And I was in Iceland to prove that I could be an adventurer. I walked back to my rental, stopping in the small shop to ask for directions. The young man at the counter, in his broken English, told me to go back out the way I came, turn right, and turn at a road that I no longer remember the name of.

I followed his directions, wondering where I was headed. My cell phone without service and remembering my previous encounter with a gravel embankment, I drove slowly. I crossed the bridge, drove around the hillside, and found a muddy lot. The weather was cloudy, as most Icelandic days are at this time of year. I doublechecked my daypack: rainjacket - check; snacks - check; hat and gloves - check. And set out, the swish swish of my rain pants alerting everyone of my arrival.

The trail was full of other adventurers, wanting to see the large basalt columns in the canyon. I just wanted to record miles.

As I reached the end of the trail, the massive column that I had saw from earlier, with the guy hanging off the edge, appeared in my sights. I watched from the top of the trail as people tried to find footholds to get down to the riverbank. Coming up appeared more treacherous. I whispered under my breath—yeah, no way, am I going down there. I guess even my adventurer status has limits. I looked further down the hillside and it seemed the trail continued. With two bars on my service, I asked my favorite LLM if the trail continued. The rapid text filled my screen: the trail ends and it’s not safe to keep going.

I put my phone away and started walking. Let’s just check it out. Near the end, I found a different path to that column. I climbed and climbed. The rocks were slippery with the rain that had started falling. I kept saying to myself, go back Tracy. Then the other voice said, no, go forward. I walked forward and marveled at the canyon, the power of the river. I was on that column that just a few hours earlier, I had thought was crazy. The same column that I told myself, yeah, no way to.

Taking it in, I felt a smile cross my face, my breath exhaling as if I had been holding it for this exact minute. The minute when I would realize I had not given up on myself.