Adam Bishop shares Mystic Beach experience with Power To Be
Mystic had been a place I’d always wanted to go and much like Mt. Finlayson (read about that adventure here), it was another case of seeing friend’s pictures of an absolutely beautiful place and trying to figure out not if, but how I could get there.
Thus TRON was born. It stands for TrailRider Over Nighter and is a great example of why I am so passionate about what Power To Be does. The staff team is wired like me; they don’t see barriers, they see opportunities. They knew I wanted to explore Mystic, but why just hang out for a couple of hours? Why not camp on the beach over the weekend? They knew tenting would be a little difficult for me (when you’ve got crappy balance, living in a structure that isn’t solid poses a unique set of challenges), but they knew the challenge would make me want to do it that much more. Throw in the fact that it would be Power To Be’s first overnight program with the TrailRider and we all got excited.
We camped at the Boys & Girls Club Metchosin Camp on the Friday, giving us a chance to get familiar with the TrailRider and finalize our plans for the rest of the weekend. The next morning, I was eager to get to the beach and see how we’d do with the TrailRider. The hike was unreal. There were definitely some challenging parts to navigate, but the group was awesome about it and really worked together to power through to get over whatever obstacle we encountered.
My favourite part of the hike itself was being able to get out of the TrailRider for a few sections of the trail and hike with the rest of the group. It was incredibly gratifying to tackle terrain that even able-bodied people find challenging and be able to make it through. With the help of my friend Olivier we were able to work out a pretty efficient system and rhythm that had us moving through the trail at a good clip.
As we neared the end of the trail we reached the stairs. I have no idea how many stairs there were (probably 100 plus), but they were the last hurdle between the beach and us! At this point I think I had it the easiest as all I had to do was walk, the rest of them had to navigate the TrailRider down all those stairs.
The first step I took onto the beach was an amazing feeling. A year of talking about it and four plus hours of hiking and we were finally there. Everybody let out a huge cheer and I couldn’t keep a big grin off my face as I took in the amazing view.
I knew how much it meant to me to be there at that moment, but I don’t think I realized how big of a deal it was to the others on the trip. Ko Zolotas, Adaptive Recreation program facilitator, came and sat down next to me and thanked me for being willing to do this and said that this really pushed him and showed him just how much they could achieve with something like the TrailRider.
To me this is what it’s all about. I’ve never approached life as though I’ve had any limits. It’s not about what I can’t do. If I see something I want to do I figure out what I need to do it and go for it. This is what Power To Be does as well, they take people beyond what they’re “supposed” to do and in the process instil a belief in the individual that they can do more than they ever thought possible. Case and point, my friend Robin said this about the experience, “This trip shattered all my expectations in the best way possible.”
Did I mention the rope swing? Yeah that happened, big shout out to Ko who used his knot and climbing knowledge to create a setup that got me up there. Best thing ever!
– Story shared by Adam Bishop, Power To Be participant
If you are curious to learn more about this or other programs, or would like more information on how to get involved with Power To Be please reach out to our Adaptive Recreation team.