I knew I could make it around him. Wietse was sitting on the end of a simple bridge over a tame upper Spray River, enjoying a water break. It was a warm summer day, the kind of day that you don’t want to end. A cool breeze in our faces with warm sun on our necks and the endless trail snaking its way gently down the Spray River Valley as it descended from a now-distant Palliser Pass far behind. As I stepped onto the bridge to get to the other side for my own seat in the sun, I suddenly felt myself slipping. I desperately reached out to grab the bridge deck as I plunged over the side and into the river below! Splinters from the rough bridge plank burrowed deeply into my left hand as I caught myself from literally taking a header into the shallow water below. Dang it man! What was happening? Why was I so off balance today?! I laughed at my own clumsiness but there was a frustration buried there too. There was indeed a reason for this uncharacteristic sloppiness on my part. But that reason is going to have to wait dear reader. First there’s much adventure to be had!
