It wasn't until my late thirties that I began to understand the importance of taking on the challenges of nature. After my trek in Nepal, where we climbed to about 15,000 feet, I vowed I would plan every year an adventure—some experience that would take me beyond what I could imagine myself doing. In the following few years, I trained for 10 months and then ran the Venice Marathon, served as a crew member on a two-week sail around Kodiak Island in Alaska, rode horseback 45 miles in two days in the Rocky Mountains alone with my 10-year-old daughter, and shot the rapids of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Those experiences have helped to shape who I am inside, giving me confidence to meet whatever challenges lie ahead.

The Colorado River, which cut the Grand Canyon, can be quiet and kind one minute, then outrageously wild the next. After I had gone through these whitewater rapids, I climbed up on a rock to photograph the raft with our supplies coming by. I set my shutter speed at 1/1000th of a second because my hands were trembling from the adrenaline coursing through my system.