Waypoints

The "summit" of Mount Trashmore

I was introduced to geocaching through a number of bloggers who are keen on this outdoor global treasure hunting game. After registering on the website, I was able to download information on several geocaches in our neighbourhood and decided to go and find one of them. My husband got a hand held GPS unit last year to use in his fishing boat so I "borrowed it" (perhaps permanently) to locate the coordinates for my hunt.

Waypoint: N 43° 25.188 W 080° 29.491

Our hand held GPS unit

"Mount Trashmore" is an old landfill site in our area that now has a sledding hill, a leash free dog park and walking trails. I have climbed to the top hundreds of times over the years, up the steep back face and up the more gradual front slope. The GPS unit indicated I was 0.4 km from the cache when I started up the hill, a very modest distance but a good climb. The location was a bench and the cache was hidden in the immediate vicinity. I pulled out the little magnetic box, signed the sheet and returned it to the hiding place. My task was complete except for entering the find on the website before I downloaded the next challenge.

Only a 0.4 km climb to the top

I have been back to work since early February following my knee surgery last November. I was gradually improving and was very anxious to get back to my activity levels of last year, going for long walks, doing stairs at work and pushing past my current plateau. This first walk of the season to the top of Mount Trashmore was symbolic of my goal.

The next day I could barely weight bear at all and my knee was very swollen. It became worse over the following week and I was taken off work by our employee health office. As my job has a physical requirement and cannot be done from a desk, I was warned that permanent restrictions because of the flareup could result in me losing my position. I saw my surgeon this week and he confirmed what was already very apparent;- there will be no return to my previous level of activity. If I wish to continue working, which I do, modifications to my lifestyle will be necessary.

Dakota and the geocache

I have marked a new waypoint on the GPS of my life and acceptance of it has not been easy. For the first time my body is letting me know it is not synchronized with my perception of what it should do. I have counselled many patients to observe energy and joint conservation techniques but applying them to myself was harder than imagined. One of our recent patients was admitted with a neurodegenerative brain disorder. Highly educated, he had retired early from a prestigious and rewarding career to enjoy his senior years. Then came the gait disturbance, coordination and speech difficulties, and he withdrew, becoming very depressed. His cognition is still excellent and we had to help him focus on what he still could do rather than what he could no longer do. He had come to a waypoint that was far more challenging than mine, but when he left the hospital he had plans to engage in activities he could complete successfully.

Here I am at the target coordinates...now to find the cache

Will I try geocaching again? Undoubtedly, but I will look for caches on easier terrain and will use my walking poles all the time for distances. And I have to remember that I have buried my pride and unrealistic expectations. Hopefully I will not have to mark another waypoint for a while.