Back in the day, when I was a youngster, there were two trees I spent a great deal of time climbing. One was a cherry tree located in our backyard and the other was an apple tree located in the neighbors' yard. I do not think either tree was very tall, but as a child, I felt like I was high enough to touch the clouds.
Recently, our youngest daughter and family came for a visit. As we discussed entertaining activities to occupy our time together, the topic of zip-lining came up. For those unfamiliar with that term, a zip-line is a long cable that is usually attached between two large trees and one end of it is always higher than the other. The objective is to get on the high side, put a pulley wheel on the cable and ride to the low side. Easy. Simple. FUN. Riding a zip-line sounded like lots of fun and even my husband was up for the event.
We arrived at this adventure park and followed one of the young staff members to the training area. As we walked into the forest on a carpet of wood mulch, reality began to do a double backwards somersault. There in the high boughs of the trees were staggering amounts of platforms, wires, ropes, bridges and swinging walkways. This was not just going to be a zip-line experience, this was an obstacle course 30 feet off the ground.
As I seem to be at that delusional point in my life where I believe everyone who is my age is older than me, along with not wanting to let the grandkids think "G" didn't have what it takes anymore, I was nearly giddy as the staff member explained the gear. The gear consisted of a harness of webbing that had to be put on like a pair of footed pajamas. After the harness was on, it had to be tightened. I had to have assistance getting in the harness and since there seemed to be more of me than that of harness, I had to have assistance getting all the straps tight. Still, not to be outdone, I listened attentively to the instructions about how to keep oneself always attached to the cables. We did a short test run on a small course that was only a few feet off the ground and after everyone had accomplished it, we where off to the main platform.
There were eight different levels of "difficulty" to choose from and they all started from the main platform. The platform was about 20 feet off the ground and there were two choices as to how to ascend. One being a huge cargo net that draped down the side to the ground and the other was a makeshift ladder with the rungs placed about three feet apart. Since my legs are nowhere close to being three feet long, the ladder was out. I could imagine myself trying to climb those rungs and pitching forward off the first one, only to be found hanging in a most unsightly manner. Everyone scampered up the cargo net like squirrels and I lumbered along the edge of it since that was the only part with the least amount of sag.
Once on top, it was time to choose a path. Not paying too much attention to the choice made, I simply followed my husband, who was and still is, part squirrel. The first two legs of this journey where not too bad. I diligently placed the safety lines from one cable to another and made my way across a couple of suspended board walks. Thinking this was going to be a piece of cake, we arrived at the next leg and the silence of the tree tops was broken by our youngest granddaughter. She was not happy and I suddenly knew why. This next jaunt was like walking a tight wire without the tight. She had followed her father about to the halfway point and she could not go any further. I'm still not sure how she did it, but she climbed up the backside of her dad, hung on to his neck and he made it to the next platform. I watched as my husband, aka Mr. Squirrel, made his way across the wire, then it was my turn.
This wire had rope sidewalls. There were ropes that were about handrail level and then they attached to the wire at about every four feet and I will guess the whole thing was at least 20 to 25 feet in length. I placed my safety lines to the cable that ran over the top of my head and stepped out on the wire. I tried to do the stealthy walk I had just witnessed and on the third step, the cable was going one way and I was going the other. This is the sort of movement that, if not gotten under control quickly, leads to momentum and lots of it. I then tried to tuck the rope handrails up under my arms for balance and that did not work either. I finally resorted to pushing my safety lines ahead of me, hanging on to them for dear life, and pulling the rest of me to that point. It was the longest 25 feet of my life. When I arrived at the end, my husband reached out to help me to the platform, looked me in the eye and said, "That was hard." I agreed with him although there was a different answer echoing in my head.
Two more obstacle paths later, we arrived at the first zip-line. I do not think I had ever been so excited to jump out of a tree as I was then. Sailing through the air to the next tree was a welcomed relief to what I had just endured.
When I got to the ground, one young staff member asked me if I was going to be alright. I must have looked like I was standing at death's door because he asked me the same question three more times. He even went and got me a bottle of water because I did not think I could actually walk to get it myself.
Four bottles of water and one Gatorade later, I was back to my old self. As the rest of our group went on to try more levels, they told me I had actually done the second hardest course. The first level was right above where I was sitting and I watched the climbers struggling along. I was convinced I could do that level too, but, maybe some other day.
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