How Sweet It Is: A Cure for Cabin Fever

I’ve never liked zoos because it makes me sad to see animals locked up in cages when they should be frolicking freely through the wild or, if they’re birds, happily flapping their wings through an expansive sky. So why I allow myself to stay cooped up for weeks on end reveals a bit of hypocrisy. I’m an animal, too, and I should know better than to stay within the four walls of my home for too long.

Like many outdoorsy folks, a few weekends spent indoors doing computer work is enough to turn you into a robotic creature that doesn’t blink and isn’t even aware that the cup of coffee on the desk has gone ridiculously cold (do robots drink coffee?). So, when I finally had the chance to escape the confines of Microsoft Word and venture off into the backcountry, I sprang on it like a cat on a ball of yarn. I knew that a trip into the wilderness was the cure for my cabin fever.

I ended up spending three glorious days in the Bow Lake area, skiing up to the Alpine Club of Canada‘s Bow Hut, onto the Wapta Icefield and up Mt. Rhondda. The feeling of release came immediately as I clipped into my skis and started off across Bow Lake. The sounds of my skis gliding across the fresh snow and my breath powering me forward brought with them the feeling of perfect contentment. I was at home out there in the great outdoors with nowhere to go but forward and up.

How sweet it is to be able to use our time in the outdoors to let go. It’s really as simple as that. Breathe in, breathe out. One ski forward, then the other. And when it’s time to go home again, you can’t wait for the next chance to breathe in the fresh air once more.

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