Golden

Thursday May 28
On leaving Rogers Pass for Golden we passed through several snow sheds. These sheds are roofs over the highway to protect it from snow falls and snow slides but they create a nervous ride through a dark, tight-shouldered tunnel for the bikers. Luckily Mel was wearing a flourescent vest for visibilty.
Just after passing through one of these sheds, Lindsay and I stopped to take in the scenery at a look out. Mel and Harry, mucky from snow sheds and needing to clean up, followed us. We noticed a Parks Canada pick up pulled in behind us. The driver jumped out and hurried over.
"I finally caught you - I didn't know how far I would have to drive." Apparently he had seen the brochure we had left back at the Rogers Pass Visitor's Centre and when he realized we had already hit the road he decided to see if he could find us. "This is really important what you are doing" he said, "People need to know more about mental illness and that there is help." With a sparkle in his eyes and a sense of humour he shared a story about mental illness, support and recovery.
Before heading back up the highway he went over to his truck and returned with a bundle in his hand. "Here, take this." It was a flourescent vest for Harry. "Visibility helps."
At the high school in Golden we had another opportunity to create visibility around mental illness. The principal, Iris Trask invited us to speak to a couple of grade ten classes. The students were very attentive to Mel's presentation, but when Lindsay spoke there was absolute silence. They were focused on every word. When she finished there were many excellent questions for Lindsay. Clearly she made an impact.