Today the crew and I headed out to Sheep's River Falls. I must say, that for a 56 minute drive away from home, this place is absolutely stunning. The air is fresh, the scenes are picturesque, and you can't help but wonder... what that water really feels like. I'm sure the on lookers were looking at us like we were crazy but what entailed today was something I've personally wanted to do for 2 years now. A REAL cold water "swim."
In the last two years I "dove" into the Wim Hoff method. The Wim Hoff method is the process of controlling your breath and letting go. Sounds counterintuitive, but really its about truly listening to your body and understanding what it's going through and how it's coping with stress.
This years focus was on the cold. Last year I focused more on the breath-work and breath retention and let's be real I was a little chicken to go ice bathing etc. For those of you who don't know who Wim Hoff is, you can check out his website here: www.wimhoffmethod.com
A cold water swim in glacier cold water. We visited Sheep River Falls which was originally called 'Eetookiap', by the Blackfoot people which meant Sheep. They called it this because there were many bighorn sheep found at the rivers headwaters.
The water is crisp. Clear. Fresh. I couldn't help but feel the vast beauty of the mountains, the rocks beneath my feet and the super soul cleansing water. Yes. It was cold. My body acclimatized very quickly.
When I had realized I'm in it to win it I said to myself there's no going back now.
Needless to say once I was in the water, my feet got so used to it and I was enjoying myself quite a bit!
I wasn't sure if I was going to go in all the way but I really considered it.
Then I decided to really go for it...
I lasted a whole ten seconds after dipping myself in the water for the photo op and literally MARCHED off shore. DETERMINED to find a better spot to do it again because I couldn't stay in!
I found this amazing place where I saw a young fellow do a cliff dive once. So I wanted to see if it truly was deep enough and it sure was! My friend had to talk me about of it due to the fact there was no way for me to come back up. The rocks were too high up and there wasn't anywhere for me to go.
I told her no. I'm POSITIVE I can get up. But somewhere in my gut I decided not to jump and we went to find a way to access the waterfall from the other side.
Then we found a nice little spot!
And there it was.
My spot. I could see. It was perfect. Deep enough to submerge my whole self.
Yet I wasn't thrilled. I really wasn't sure if I could go in all the way but I got my forearms in.Then my arm then the rest of me. And honestly, I got used to it so quickly that it was so enjoyable. If you can get past the initial shock, the second stage is where you need to get past the point where you're ready to get out. Breathe through it and then you begin to seriously feel amazing.
All in all it was a beautiful day and the feeling I had after coming home words can't describe. Best of all, it was all right here in our backyard.