The Journey of Hope and Build America have become two very successful staples within the fabric of Push America. Having participated in both of them myself I can speak highly of the unforgettable experiences and amount of humility that members of Pi Kappa Phi are able to gain from participating. The Journey of Hope preaches about the empathy and mental strength that goes into cycling from coast to coast, all the while gaining fuel to burn from the people you meet along the way. And Build America offers the chance to really get close to the people who are benefitting from our knowledge and willingness to make a more accessible world. But there is a relatively new creation that is growing within our national philanthropy that gives its participants a whole different perspective and appreciation for the abilities of all people. During the days of July 17 to July 22, 2013, eleven Push America Challenge participants took Yellowstone National Park head on with our Enabled Athletes Program: here is a story of one of our team’s adventures. After about an hour drive of winding through the forests and switchbacks of Yellowstone National Park, our team had made it from the campsite in Grant Village, to Firehole Canyon Drive. Traffic dropped down to a gradual speed of fifteen miles an hour to climb the 8° incline. Any other time, motorists may find themselves frustrated when moving so slowly, but that is not true in this canyon. It provides for more time to experience, and be surrounded by the features that make up the mountainside, a wonderful place to take in your 360° context. The area is surreal, majestic, and speckled with pine trees that tell tales of past historic fires and future generations of the awesome power of nature. While in the Firehole River Valley, this is where we proved that Push America’s Enabled Athlete Program truly does give people the opportunity to find their personal summit. Once we found an open spot along the cliff side, we parked and exited our fifteen passenger vans in awe and ready to conquer whatever trail of obstacles lay before us. Our goal was to swim in The Firehole River, so named because it collects all the runoff from Yellowstone National Park’s geothermal geysers and springs (the water in the river can reach upwards of 86° Fahrenheit!). To reach it we would have to scale down a steep and rocky path. The group of us collected our water bottles, towels, life jackets, and one of our team members, Luanne Burke of Boulder, Colorado, brought along her mobility cane. --- “Ok, about twenty-five feet from us now, fifteen, ten, five… Alright Luanne, we’re going to start descending this steep incline.” --- “I’m ready for it.” Luanne was a part of our team as an Enabled Athlete. She has partial blindness, and she wanted to experience Yellowstone by catching glimpses of the wildlife and ‘keeping up with the young’uns and all our activities’. Little did Luanne know what she was getting herself into that day. --- “Feel just ahead of you, there’s a good foot ledge off to your right. Nailed it. Good.” --- “I’ve got it, I’ve got it.” Firehole Canyon Drive is a very popular part of the park. People come packed in their RV’s and SUV’s for a chance to climb down into the valley and swim. Scattered rocks create ledges for sitting, or leaping off of, and into the steady current of the river below. Visitors can hear a chatter of all sorts of dialects, all excited due to the make up of the scenery and their current activity. --- “Two more steps down and there’s another group of people camped out, let’s move around to the left. Here, good. --- “I can hear ‘em. I hear the river too, are we close to the water’s edge?” --- “One more big step over that root… You got it! Lets do some swimming!” Now, when swimming in Firehole River, it is not a simple pool for lounging about and sipping on a sweet tea. Nor is it a lazy river. Instead the current pulls its users at about the strength of an infinity pool, down stream. People of all ages and abilities fight against the force of the water to reach a highest possible point and then glide down on the theme park ride created by mother nature. We explained this to Luanne, and she geared up to the challenge. --- “Ok Luanne, this is going to take some strategy.” --- “What’s the plan?” There is no way someone would be able to swim directly into the current and win the fight. The river zigged and zagged through a medley of jutting out rock faces that accelerated the current in some spots and relaxed it in others. We decided it would be best to use the areas behind the rocks and crisscross from bank to bank in order to get breaks from the pull of the river. --- “Luanne, we’re going to be cutting across the current at angles to make our way up the river. From where we are right now the water is flowing left to right.” --- “OK! How far do I have to swim?” --- “About twenty feet. Just keep coming to our voices and we’ll snag you up!” We moved as a unit back and forth up stream, all the while keeping Luanne in the middle of the group. Other Yellowstone travelers saw our group and gave a hand when they could as well. They would point out good handholds on the rocks, or suggest spots to aim for to collect ourselves. We snaked across the river six different times before we reached a point when the rocks were too plentiful and jagged to continue upstream. Then we watched all the people before us leaping into the water and enjoying the ride! We pulled ourselves out of the river and made our way to the edge of a low, flat rock. A few of us sprang in one by one and floated on easy street after putting forth so much effort to reach the top. Then it came to be Luanne’s turn. --- “I’ve found the edge with my toes. I just leap straight out, as far as I can?” --- “That’s right! The rock we’re on is level with the water, and it’s plenty deep, you wont hit bottom.” --- “Three, two, one…” From the moment that her feet hit the water, until the others caught Luanne downstream, she did not stop laughing. - - - Later, on the last night of the trip, our temporary tribe sat around the biggest fire we had created to date, and shared closing thoughts on what the Yellowstone Adventure had meant to us. We were in love with all the sites we were able to take in, we appreciated the food and good weather too, but what we agreed was the best part of our time together was how great of a team we made. The trip was about setting personal goals and achieving them through teamwork. --- “I’m a do-er.” Luanne said, “For my whole life so far, and for the rest of it, I plan to be constantly on my feet and doing something. Thank you to all of you for pushing yourselves and others to find our personal summits.” Push America does it again. Each event is so spectacular in its own way. They each teach different lessons on viewing life through an unfamiliar perspective, and in turn it molds us all into better people. Thank you to all the participants in any Push America activity, I am so very proud to have an organization like this created, and still thriving, thanks to the hands of people within our fraternity of Pi Kappa Phi.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 20:56:25 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015