New life goal: Be a "Tough Broad" as long as I can!

My bruised and scuffed-up elbow!

I fell while hiking this week: My foot hit a bump and the rest of me toppled like a cut tree, sending me belly-flopping onto a path full of hard dirt and rocks instead of a pool full of water.

That was not cool.

But at least I didn’t seriously hurt myself. I did get some nasty scraps and bruises, but nothing got broken or even sprained. 

So, that was cool. It was also cool that my hiking pants didn’t tear at all (thank you, Prana!) and that I was wearing compression pads on my knees so they were not ground into hamburger meat.

 

Knee injury circa 1990.

Yet it was still really scary to be suddenly heading straight for the ground with no way to stop myself. And it wasn’t at all like the last time I got such horrible bruises on my knees, when I was 18 and careless and climbing over rocks way too fast. After that spill I laughed, then pulled out my camera to document my wound. (Why? Hopefully it was to remind myself to be more careful, though I seriously doubt it.)

 

But this time I had not been careless. I was just walking. On a trail. That was nearly flat — then suddenly “splat!”Falling when you’re young can often be funny, but falling when you get older is almost always frightening. 

 

And therefore it is even more important to get up and keep walking if you can. And then get back on the trail the next day. 

So I was very glad to have also learned this week about the perfect book to inspire me to do just that: “Tough Broad: From Boogie Boarding to Wing Walking — How Outdoor Adventure Improves our Lives as We Age,” by Caroline Paul.

 

Like me, being outdoors is what makes her feel most alive, so Paul makes sure she doesn’t miss out on all the fun because, also like me, she’s in her 50s. Instead of sitting out things that seem risky or only appropriate for much-younger people to do, Paul argues that we should accept and even embrace the limits that come with age, then wring every bit of excitement we can out of the years and stamina we have left. Amen!

 

But the “Tough Broad” I am even more grateful to right now is a woman who just entered her 50s this year, a friend who inspired me to embark on two unforgettable adventures in one weekend: First a sunset swim in an alpine lake, then on a hike to a staircase in the sky that leads to the Sierra Buttes Lookout Station, a platform with such soaring views that you feel as if you’re hovering over the entire Sierra Nevada Mountains.

And yes, I documented both adventures in a video: