Epsilon Adventures

Failing Forward

By Colleen

Sometimes the adventure is in attempting and failing

We recently attempted a 1½-mile hike to the Petrified Forest in Theodore Roosevelt NP. As we were driving to the trailhead, I noticed that we were under a severe thunderstorm watch even though there was not a cloud in the sky. So, we decided to go to the trailhead and assess the weather once we arrived at the start of the hike.

The 45-minute drive out to the trailhead was such a unique experience. The dirt county roads that we traveled on were part of working cattle ranches, and there were grazing cows alongside the roads with signs saying that you were responsible for damages incurred while driving on the road (we inferred that to mean, “Don’t hit the cows”). The countryside was beautiful, and it allowed you to appreciate the beauty of North Dakota.

Once we arrived at the trailhead, we both agreed to hike for 20 minutes and assess the weather and decide whether it would be prudent to finish the hike or go back to the car. At the 20-minute point, the winds had picked up and the horizon was turning black, so we went back to the car and made it back to the trailer just as the heavens opened. We did not successfully hike to the Petrified Forest, but we had experienced something unique: the vastness of cattle ranches that allow “public access” on roads that pass through them, and the beauty of the North Dakota terrain. What we managed to hike was lovely, even though we did not get to experience the Petrified Forest.

The next day we went to the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. A fabulous experience, I highly recommend going.

His “Man in the Arena” speech is featured, and it was so inspiring. “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Another quote that stood out to me was, “It is hard to fail, but it is worse to never have tried to succeed.”

Hiking easy hikes at age 63 is not what he was talking about, but there is a core of truth that is universal about trying. This is the third hike that we have halted midway through in our journeys, and each was a great experience even though we didn’t complete the hike. It might have been a better experience if we had finished them, but we were blessed by the trying. Attempts are worth it; they are small adventures that enrich the soul!

Our failed attempts:

Notch Trail — Badlands NP (fear of heights and Steve’s Ménière’s disease got the better of us)

Rainbow Falls — Great Smoky Mountains NP (Steve and I were fighting off a significant cold and were not at our best)

Petrified Forest Trail — Theodore Roosevelt NP (foiled by the weather)