The Coquitlam Crunch is a popular exercise route.  With over 450 stairs and an elevation gain of more than 240 metres, streams of people of all ages regularly walk, run and jog up and down the route.  But recent snowfall accumulations and wintry conditions have changed that.  The stairs are now covered with ice and the highest flight of stairs are deeply blanketed with snow.  There is so much snow on this section that no stairs are visible at all.  It is just a diagonal sheet of white ice, much too treacherous for climbing up safely.

Looking around, there are alternate routes created by sunken footprints.  Some of these were created by humans and others by animals of various sizes.  A few paths lead off into the bushes, another leads directly up alongside the staircase, hemmed by a row of thorny bushes.  And one other path veers off to the right, eventually looping back to meet the path at the top of the stairs.  This is the route I chose to take and upon arrival at the top, I was greeted by warm sunshine and a fresh new vista to behold!

Life can sometimes feel like an ascending staircase.  When you reach a point where no more stairs are visible, do you turn back, forge a new trail, or look for alternate routes?  These are the choices that life offers.  Make choices that lead to outcomes you desire.  Reaching new vistas is something you will never regret but only cherish for years to come!