Chapter 31 ~ The Scout Let's Go Ch8sing Waterfalls

This amazing video which sets the tone for this chapter, was captured, produced, and shared by our new family member, Eddie Bradley, aka Waterfall_Hunter on IG and The Waterfall Tribe on YouTube. He and his beautiful wife Jennifer aka JenB.TheArtist on IG., led this ch8se to join us in our first collabo adventure. Ya'll these two are so spectacular, I am blessed to have shared space and time with them, and so looking forward to being with them again soon.

Let's go Ch8sing Waterfalls.....

The power of social media has immeasurable reach, a space without walls, limitless opportunities, and priceless connections. That's how we met. Instagram to be exact. Two apparent lovers of waterfalls stalking one another's page, or simply scrolling by, waterfall_hunter meet ch8singwaterfalls, or vice versa, either way our pages collide.

This ch8ser discovers the waterfall tribe is a few hours drive from the ch8se base. She notices beautiful waterfalls unch8sed and in walks the epiphany. Hey @waterfall_hunter, we should do a collabo in 2020, to which he replied, sounds dope, or something to that affect. And there ya have it.

His lovely wife, Jen approves of the collabo, (Thanks Sis) and here enters the plan. They check their schedules and lay out dates of their availability. The Bradley's recommend a spot, and of course, I'm super excited. All that's left is to wait, and wait, and wait. During the wait, we even exchange patches in the mail. What a cool idea.

Finally, 2020 is here, life is good, we are anticipating the collabo. This ch8se champion has done what she always does, and is expecting more than twenty-four ch8sers. The van is secured, research for a lunch spot is underway, and the plan is in motion.

Then, the universe throws an ugly curve ball called COVID19, or Coronavirus to be exact. Yep Corona 2020, as many of us call it rears it's deadly head and changes the face of the new norm. We are entering a pandemic, though not quite there at the time of the ch8se. The nation warns of large group gatherings, and encourages social distancing. This all forces the game change.

Ch8singwaterfalls is powered by GirlTrek, which means we were built as a result of our passion which evolved because of GirlTrek. We ch8se because GirlTrek forced me to practice self-care, which forced me to see, and be me. GirlTrek is my lifestyle and the nation that has given me life. We have built our following because of GirlTrek. We share our shine in GirlTrek and on GirlTrek; therefore, we are powered by GirlTrek. Get it?

Once the pandemic encouraged social distancing, our GirlTrek founders suggested we limit our gatherings to our smaller, trusted tribe, postpone season launch celebrations, and most of all remain healthy and safe. In doing so, we changed our narrative. We removed the event from the map, and postponed the ch8se. Now remember, Eddie and Jen had worked us into their schedule, so though our group has been delayed, Corona would not delay our collabo. So we loaded up the truck and we moved to beverllllyyy...hills that it is, black gold, Texas tea.....Nah, but really though, this ch8se champion would not miss the opportunity to meet this dymanic duo.

The trusted tribe call went out to the three ch8sers that I knew without a doubt would gladly take the trip with me. So we loaded up the truck and we......you get it. Lol, that dang song is just stuck in my head now. Yours too, right? (smdh)

Amidst positive vibes, good conversation and a small group of friends, we make our way to Wallahala, SC, to Yellow Branch Falls. The name in itself was a whole vibe. True to the divine orchestration of the universe, Jenn and Eddie were just as amazing in person as I had hoped they would be, and as I had translated via social media. Their love story, omg, how I would love to be the one to tell it, yet it's not mine to tell. Beautiful in every way. Wait for it, I'm sure it will be a great reveal in their timing.

We do our introductions. Their friend Shayla has joined us for this epic adventure. She too is pretty dope. We commence to doing our talk before the walk. As it unfolds so does the story of the waterfall tribe. The anticipation of hitting the trail was wearing me down, kinda like a kid the night before the first day of school. The housekeeping was done, introductions done, safety checks done, ya'll it was finally time to hit the trails with Jenn & Eddie, how about JenEddie or JenEd for short? (ROTFLMAO!!)

JenEd takes the lead, and I chose to sweep. I wanted to just take it all in and watch from afar. I chose to stay in back to enjoy it all, to soak in this amazing orchestration of goodness. I chose to follow and not lead, to be present just be, and it was perfect. Jenn is as adventurous and daring as Dynamic Deb, and Awesome AyJay, isn't that scary? Eddie is the perfect gentleman, he took great care and patience with his first group. Nice job Sir. Nice job, Ma'am.

We literally went over the river and through the woods to such a beautiful space, that made it all worth it and then some. Not only did we get into the falls, all up on the rocks, four of us ventured to the top top of the waterfall. Just call us mountain climbers, why don't you? Yep, we climbed a very steep trail with just our hands, hiking boots, and determination. Shayla even did it in tennis shoes. Straight beast mode. Ya'll, we did that. But no lie, it was hard, it was tricky, I may have been a bit nervous in a few spots, but dag nabit, we did that!

The trail was mild to moderate. We literally crossed streams by stepping on either logs or stepping stones which took caution and patience. We had a few spots of incline that called for pause. Overall, it was a great trail, and one I cannot wait to return to with the rest of the squad.

Eddie, the waterfall_hunter not only nailed the video, he also captured some amazing pics, simply amazing. We had the best time ever. Ya'll we laughed, paused for the cause, and safely made our way back to the trailhead.

I sit now on my back porch enjoying the sounds of the birds and the wind blowing. It's a nice day out and after planting some seeds, I rest assured that as with all things, this too shall pass, it has to, and it will. Together, we are all in this together.

Stay safe, healthy, blessed and well fam.

Thank you Eddie & Jennifer Bradley for an amazing adventure. We will see you again soon.

Until we ch8se again....

Love, Peace & Waterfalls,

Your Ch8se Champion

Deborah McGlawn aka Dynamic Deb