Helping a Friend

 

   Mac and Ellen are finally recovered from Covid and were anxious to take a day trip. Ellen wanted to go someplace that none of us had been before. Her choice was Minneopa State Park near Mankato.

   I had been there before, but I was pretty young and all I remembered was the waterfall. I looked at the reviews of the park and most of them were positive. Although it was a longer drive, I looked forward to the outing. 

   When C and I got to the park we had a little trouble finding Ellen and Mac. They were near the waterfall.  We drove around several times looking for them. After talking to Ellen on the phone and looking at a map, we realized that there are two park entrances. One is to the bison enclosure and the other is to the waterfall.

   Once we found them we walked on the trail to the waterfall. When we got to it we discovered that there was a small waterfall up river from the big waterfall. We found an overlook that had a view of the big falls. Not too far away was a set of steps.  There were 70 steps that went down closer to the river. C, Ellen and I went down the steps. Mac decided it looked too daunting for him. 

   The view of the river was nice from the bottom of the steps, but I wanted to get closer to the waterfall. I looked at the trail on the other side of the river. It was rocky and the path was uneven, but it was definitely doable. I crossed the bridge and walked and climbed along the path. C was nervous about me falling into the river. I stayed close to the bank. The river was not very deep, if I fell in I should be able to swim or wade out.

   The path curved around and in less time than I thought, I was at the waterfall. It was possible to get really close and I wanted to, but I had my phone with me and didn't want to ruin it by getting it wet. I stood close enough to feel a little of the spray from the water. I could see rainbows shining on the sides of the falls. The water below the falls was very shallow. There were a group of children from a YMCA camp wading. I didn't want to keep the others waiting on me too long so I went back to the bridge.

   Ellen was waiting for me there. I told her about the view. She  looked wistful and wanted to see for herself. She wasn't too sure she'd be able to manage walking on the trail. I told her that it really wasn't that bad and that if she wanted to go I would come with her to help. If she decided it was too much for her we could turn around. She started walking toward the trail nervous, but determined.

   I walked in front of her most of the time so she could see what I was doing. Several times I gave her my hand or arm so she could keep her balance as she climbed over rocks and navigated the trail. Our progress was slow, but steady. A few times she looked ahead and was nervous, but she kept on going. We rounded the last curve and saw the waterfall. 

   I looked up and saw C and Mac waving at us. We did it! We got to the the waterfall! Ellen was very happy and she took several pictures. We took a selfie with the waterfall in the background. It was a victory shot.

   We picked our way back along the path, pausing at one point to take a picture of some rocks that had been stacked together. A few times I helped to steady Ellen as she made her way along. 

   It wasn't too long before we were back the bridge. Ellen was happy and very grateful. She kept telling me that she couldn't have done it without me. I was happy to help and it made me feel good to be able to help.

   There's a lesson in this. In life there are many things that are way too hard to handle alone. If you have one good friend, a spouse or other family member who can walk with you, it is doable. Two strands are always  stronger than a single strand. Helping Ellen on the path reminded me of this.