The Magic
The cold wind was biting through my beanie, juxtaposed against the warm winter sunshine against my skin. The sunlight was sending sparkles across the glacial ice beneath my feet, as I tightened my grip on the rope and looked down the dark hole in the ice before me to check on my new friend, Kim.
She had just battled her fears, decided to be brave anyways, and carefully made her way down a steep and icy staircase, plunging her deep into the shadows of an ice cave.
“Pardon my language,” she uttered in shock, drawing in a deep, slow breath to steady herself, before exclaiming in her southern drawl “but, I f**king did it!” as she turned to look up the icy staircase at me, eyes welled with tears and a huge grin plastered from ear to ear.
I could feel myself beaming back at her. “See!? I told you that you could do it. Just one step at a time. I knew you could,” I say, as I carefully descend the ice steps out of the wind and down into the dark and cool entrance to the cave.
“Thank you,” she whispers as she wraps me in a bear hug as I reach the bottom.
That moment, that magic moment I got to help another human face their fears, realize their own incredible strength and witness their eyes sparkle with wonder, is easily my favorite of the trip.
And that’s saying something – considering what we managed to pack into our six-day trip to Iceland.
We hiked out on a beautiful glacier in softly falling snow to ice climb, visited what felt like the top of the world snowmobiling on a bluebird winter day, soaked in beautiful hot springs, made snow angels on the famous black sand beach, visited thundering cascades, heard tales about the Trolls of Vik, partook in the local tradition of fermented shark chased with Black Death and watched as the northern lights danced overhead across the midnight sky.
But it’s those moments of connection, of community and camaraderie, that truly make Women Who Explore trips special. We like to call it “the magic”. And it’s true – there is something so magic in being able to be a piece of community that uplifts, supports and honors women and gives them the opportunity to do things they thought they could only dream of.
Author: Kristina Marx is one of the Portland Women Who Explore Ambassadors and owner of BaseCampBronco Soapworks
